As summer approaches, cottonwood seeds begin to float through the air. Flowering Dame’s rockets attract many pollinators such as hummingbird clear wing moths, red admiral and tiger swallowtail butterflies. You will also find a variety of bee visitors. Dragonflies are emerging from the ponds and will increase in numbers through July. The vibrant common whitetail cruise along the pond edges coming to rest on a stick protruding from the water. Ash trees, black locust, and wild grape vines are flowering. The “Gunk” calls of green frogs fill the air with an occasional jug o rum call of the bullfrogs.  The melodic whistle of the Baltimore oriole is a frequent sound around the trails. Look for their hanging woven nests above the trails. Great blue heron wade through the water lilies (in full bloom), stealthily spearing unsuspecting fish. Sunfish and blue gills hover over their gravel nests fanning it with their fins. Black swallowtail butterflies may be seen laying their eggs on wild carrot leaves. Keep an eye out for snapping turtles laying their eggs in early morning. They will sometimes travel a fair distance to find a suitable place to lay their eggs. With Monarch butterflies returning, look for them to be laying eggs on common milkweed plants.

The extreme rain we received last week has led to an explosion of mushrooms and Wildflowers around Reinstein Woods. Wild bergamot, purple coneflower, butterfly weed, and swamp milkweed are in full bloom. Wild bergamot has attracted pollinators such as bumble bees, silver-spotted skippers, and other skipper butterflies. Banded longhorn beetles, yellow-collared scape moths and other butterflies can be seen on purple coneflowers. Look for monarch caterpillars on the leaves of swamp milkweed and common milkweed along the sunny trails. Staff witnessed a goldenrod crab spider capture and kill a bumble bee that was visiting a wild bergamot flower! Goldenrod crab spiders are able to change color from white to yellow to pale green depending on the color flower they hide in to ambush prey. American goldfinch can be seen collecting seeds from Canada thistle. Newly emerged leopard frogs, American toads and spring peepers are common along the ponds. A doe with fawn twins and a turkey hen with baby poults have also been encountered on the trails. Soon we will hear the night sounds of crickets and katydids.