First Sun

Birds sighted (Daniel Webster): green heron, common yellow throat, red-winged blackbird, cedar waxwing, tree swallow, bobolink, Canada goose, mallard, phoebe, house sparrow.
Birds sighted (Burrage Pond): Great egret, blue heron, savannah sparrow, house sparrow, common yellow throat, eastern meadowlark, grackle, starling, osprey, American kestrel, cardinal, crow, red-winged blackbird, eastern kingbird, barn swallow, tree swallow.
Amphibians: painted turtle, snapping turtle, green frog,
Mammals: muskrat

Monarch on milkweed

Juvenile male Common Whitetail

Juvenile male Common Whitetail

Monarch on milkweed

This is the first weekend it hasn't rained in recent memory. We had something like 25 days of rain in the last month or so. This Traveller grabbed her camera and went wandering. The dragonflies are out in force. The turtles are happy sunning themselves. I even saw a snapping turtle sunning itself on a rock with about six painted turtles for company. The bull frogs were in full chorus. Along with the first sighting of an eastern meadowlark in at least 25 years (see below) the other thing I saw that made me happy was that it seems the honeybees are making a comeback. They have been all but absent for the last several years but they are out in numbers this year.

Twelve-spotted Skimmer

Yellow-sided Skimmer (not sure if juvenile male or female)

These are not great photos of the osprey at Burrage Pond. I was, unfortunately, facing into the sun approaching the nest, which isn't great for photos, but still had a great time watching this magnificent bird circling the lake.

Osprey taking off from nest

Osprey circling above my head

Bumble Bee on the Nightshade

Green frog

Grass with very small bug