We were gone for a few weeks (Paris and Geneva – I’ll post a story as soon as I get my photos organized) and now the prairies and the butterflies are into their summer glory.

I’ve been pulling White Sweet Clover and Wild Parsnip from the wetland – those are the weeds that have my attention right now. They’re both pretty overwhelming problems – I’m feeling a little discouraged. Invasive species are the biggest problem we have in this restoration project.

Several big trees fell across our paths, so we haven’t been able to mow since last fall. We finally drove around and cleared the paths last weekend.

One of trees was a piece of a giant Cottonwood that grows along the road to the cabin. Here it is, blocking the path.

And here’s the path after we cleared it.

This is the other big tree – farther up cabin road.

Mike working on the fallen tree.

Now for the rest of the photos – I have so many that I’d better get them up soon – I’m getting behind!

First the butterflies – there are dozens of butterflies in the fields and on the driveway.

This one is an Acadian Hairstreak – a new butterfly for the farm, and the first time I’ve seen one anywhere.

Aphrodite Fritillary

Baltimore Checkerspots

Baltimore Checkerspots even like Wild Parsnip.

Cabbage White

Compton Tortoiseshells

Eastern Commas – the darker summer form

Hackberry Butterflies – they’re very friendly – they fly around and sit on me and on the gator.

I love the photos I can get with this camera – so close that you can see the scales on the wing, the hairs on the body and the reflections in its eye.

The top of a Hackberry Butterfly

Meadow Fritillary

Pearl/Northern Crescent (these two are hard to tell apart)

I watched a Red-spotted Purple Butterfly lay an egg on a willow leaf. They lay one egg at a time, right on the tip of a leaf. I took the egg home, and I’m hoping it will hatch and I’ll be able to raise the caterpillar.

Red-Spotted Purple egg on willow

The egg through the microscope

Tawny Emperor

Little Glassywing

Great Spangled Fritillary

Little Wood Satyr

Here are some of the flowers.

Black-eyed Susans (Rudbeckia hirta) behind the house

Black-eyed Susan with bee

Butterfly Weed (Asclepias tuberosa)– we don’t have many Butterfly Weed plants in our remnants. This one is on the east side of Indian Grass Prairie.

Hoary Vervain (Verbena stricta)

Narrows Prairie with Oxeye

Oxeye (Heliopsis heliathoides)

Northern Bedstraw (Galium boreale)

Northern Bedstraw with Crab Spider

Prairie Cinquefoil (Potentilla arguta)

Purple Prairie Clover (Dalea purpurea)

Spiderwort (Tradescantia ohiensis)

Clasping Venus Looking Glass (Triodanis perfoliata)– a new plant for the farm, and a record for Buffalo County. It’s an annual that grows in disturbed, sandy places. I found several dozen plants growing at the north end of Western Prairie.

White Indigo (Baptisia alba) – There are lots of these plants blooming this year. These are in Pat’s Prairie.

Wild Indigo with a Silver Spotted Skipper

Harebells (Campanula rotundifolia) on one of the cleared places on Hidden Oaks Point

Rockrose (Helianthemum bicknellii) and Yarrow (Achillea millefolium) on Hidden Oaks Point

Rockrose

Purple Milkwort (Polygala polygama)

Purple Milkwort flowers – they look like tiny orchid flowers

Here are a few of the interesting insects, other than butterflies, that I’ve seen in the last few weeks. Margot has been helping be figure out what they are.

A weevil – Polydrusus sericeus

Mating Plant Hoppers – in the family Flatidae

And here are two species in the same family – Asilidae – Robber Flies.
These two are wasp mimics (mating)

These are bee mimics – (mating) Laphria sp.

And here are a few birds.

These are Rough-winged Swallow babies, sitting on the wire, waiting for their parents to bring some food.

Sandhill Cranes in a field a few miles from the farm.

Scarlet Tanager sitting in the very top of a tall tree in the Knife Edge Prairie