HUNTLEY MEADOWS CONTINUED...

 

It was a day for conversations. Not ten feet into the park a little boy ran up with an insect box showing two colorful frogs inside. They were hard to see because there were fresh leaves inside. He chattered away as his mother came up behind him and whispered quietly, "They aren't real, just toys." I smiled and listened to the dear child telling me about his 'frogs'. The insect box was real and I told him how wonderful his frogs were. He said his mommy was going to get him more and I told him what a wonderful mommy he had. His sister came up behind him, maybe two years older, and started chatting also. 

They were with another lady and her two children about the same age. The mommies looked similar, sisters perhaps, and all were smiling. What a wonderful thing they were doing for their children, to introduce them to nature at such an early age.

I noticed a spider's web and snapped a photo.

I found this plant very interesting. Checking with my plant app I was given two dogwoods, Red osier dogwood and Silky dogwood. I am not sure which is correct. They aren't the dogwood I am more familiar with. You can check the link on their names to see what I mean.

This is the same area where we saw the Canada Geese and their goslings. Every time we visit, the water level is different due to the beaver dams, which were always very visible. The last couple of times it has been on the drier side. One of the photographers told us that the park people had told him the beavers have moved to the west and took their beaver dams with them. The lodge that I have become used to, near a bench we always sit on, is slowly disappearing back into the mud. They weren't discouraged, they just upped and left!  We were sorry to hear that as we have loved seeing the beavers over the years, along with their intricate engineering skills. Maybe they will move back. I will always remain hopeful!

One constant is the frog! Thankfully they are still around! All you had to do was look at a damp, muddy area and there they were, occasionally obscured by twigs and reeds. 

What we were actually seeing was the American Toad.

They are found throughout large portions of North America but are not generally present in the southern states. This is what I read anyhow, and perhaps our southern bloggers can agree or disagree on that. American toads shed their skin every couple of week or so while growing. They can also eat up to 1,000 insects a day!  

This Snapping turtle was a bit shy!

There were lots of dragonflies in the area. I came across a few settled on the boardwalk. I am still very much a novice on identifying many things, dragonflies are on top of the list. I believe this is a male Common Whitetail Dragonfly.  If you are more knowledgeable, please let me know if I am incorrect. I would rather know than not.

Below is a female Common Whitetail Dragonfly. The Juvenile males are very similar but their wings are more like the male above, whereas the females are more like this. You can go here to see what I am talking about. Anyhow, it was fun to read about them.

This isn't a very good photo but it looks like a female Red-winged blackbird. It is easier to identify the male...

and here he is. I took more photos of him because he was right on the sidewalk as we were walking towards him to go back to our car...

and a collage of the same bird. If you click on this link, you can hear its distinctive call. 

I think I will stop here with today's post, and will share more photos another time. Thanks for looking and I wish you all a great day!