Monarch Caterpillars Appear.

8-25-20 VERMONT: While we were not paying attention, August has slipped away. It’s two months since the Summer Solstice and the sun is now more than half way back to the Equator. From late August to early October the sun moves from 12° North of the Equator to 12° South of the Equator and leaves us in the deepening darkness.

It’s still dry, there have been a few showers, without much accumulation, and I’ve been watering every few days. I finished weeding the terrace and the old chimney bed, removing and transplanting the ferns, and replanting the bed with hostas, seven from various places in the yard where they were not showing well and three new ones, Hosta x ‘Royal Splendor’, Hosta ‘Gold Standard’, and a lost name tag. I added two White Moss Thyme, Thymus praecox ‘Albiflorus’ and one Wooly thyme, Thymus pseudolanuginosus to the edge of the bed. I did more weeding in front of the porch.

Last year we had many Monarch butterflies that produced caterpillars that covered every stand of milkweed, and turned into hundreds of adults that were everywhere last fall. This year we have had a handful of adults and no caterpillars until today when I saw two good sized ones in the bed below the deck. I have been looking for caterpillars and signs of caterpillars—eaten and chewed leaves and caterpillar poop on the plants—but these are the first I have seen, I hope there will be more.

New blooms: sedum, aster.

Last year we had literally hundreds of Monarch butterflies. This year only a few so far.

But I did find this Monarch caterpillar and another one on the milkweed, again last year there were many, many, many.

Nice sunset after a shower.

Followed by heavy morning mist.

Atlantis Fritillary on echinacea.

Judy said that I take too many close-ups, so here are some whole garden shots, mostly Judy's pix.

War on Ferns II.

Here's a better pic of the phlox that I described as borscht colored and the golden rods.

The War on Ferns.

8-20-20 VERMONT: It’s still too dry, but we have had some rain a few days ago, several showers, but none today. Last night it was in the low fifties, and it barely got to 70° today. These cold nights leave heavy dew in the morning, and the grass doesn’t dry out until mid- morning or later, the soggy mornings make up, in part, for the lack of adequate rain.

I have finished re-working the brook to remove mud and gravel and finished exposing the rock face behind the brook. The ferns that were there are now transplanted to the area behind the new pond, the mostly dry pond.

I’m now working on the terrace beds and terrace to remove weeds, grass and invaders, leaving behind the acceptable volunteers, wild strawberry, violets, forget-me-nots, fever few, columbine, bleeding heart, anemone, and ajuga, thyme and dianthus that I have planted between the pavers. The bed to the east of the old chimney by the terrace was totally overgrown with ferns and gill-over-the-ground [GOTG] that drove out the bleeding hearts that used to own the bed.

I have pulled most of the ferns and moved them to another site behind the new pond. I hope that pond will be backed by all fern as they fill in, and the pond fills up. The GOTG was chucked.

I like ferns, in fact I love ferns, but if you neglect a flower bed, the ferns will take over. I pull them out and transplant them to spots where nothing else grows.

Monkshood has been out for a week or so, and I forgot to list it in the last post.

New blooms: clematis, monkshood.

This clematis, White Star, takes over its corner of the deck every summer.

It has the tomatoes in that corner in its grasp.

The gold of August surrounds borscht-colored phlox.

A Day on the Pond.

8-14-20 VERMONT: We were out early yesterday to canoe Miller Pond here in Thetford. It’s relatively small, round pond with a launch site near the dam. There are only a few houses and a small summer camp so a lot of the shore line is wild and undeveloped. The water is crystal clear, lots of people fish there, including loons. We saw one loon almost immediately and got pix between his/her dives. Later we spotted another loon, or the same one, in a different area. They dive for fish, spend a long time under the water and surface, often, far from where they dove. It occurs to me that very clear water is a necessity for a loon nesting site. We knew they were there when we were at the launch site, when we heard the plaintive and eerie call just before we launched.

Otherwise, I made a batch of gazpacho, using our tomatoes, the other day. It will last for a while. I’ve also been working on the brook to clear the mud from the bottom so that it doesn’t end up in the big pond. We have had a few short rain showers.

We have a small, yearling black bear in the neighborhood. I caught him on the game cam a week ago and then saw him next to the front porch two nights ago. I thought it was a dog at first glance. The night before that s/he raided the bird seed. The game cams also caught a raptor that remains unidentified.

New blooms: big-leaf aster.

On Miller Pond, a loon between dives, note the green neck and red eye. The green is from iridescence of wet black feathers.

Loon going the other way.

On the other side of the pond, possibly a different bird.

Miller Pond near the launch site.

In our pasture, a young, retriever sized black bear.

Helenium means August.

White turtlehead by the pond, our pond, this is a volunteer plant.

The chef is about to make Gazpacho with our tomatoes.

Big-leaf aster, the first and least impressive aster.

Mystery bird caught by the game cam, looks like a raptor, suggestions include broad-winged hawk, peregrine falcon and accipiter.

A Day on the Lake.

8-10-20 VERMONT: The weather was not supposed to get too hot until the afternoon, so we took the canoe to Lake Fairlee for a little paddling. The public launch now has a ‘Greeter’ to make sure you don’t contaminate the lake with some invasive from a prior excursion. She helped us wipe off the canoe hull.

The lake bed was dug out by glacial action and the lake was enlarged by a dam at the southern end many, many years ago. There were and are many camps on the lake, all closed this year because of the virus. Some of the permanently closed camps have been re-purposed.

We paddled north and went by Aloha Hive Camp, where some of our grandkids spent some of their summers, and on past Treasure Island, the Thetford town beach. The wind and water were still, giving us reflections of mountains and sky. On the way back we saw a blue heron on the other side of the lake.

Near the launch site is the entry of Middle Brook, on of the tributaries of the lake, and at the center of Aloha Horizons Day Camp of which we also have alums. The river mouth is filled with water lilies and cattails. We saw a couple turtles on a log there.

Back at the house, Judy picked blueberries while I napped.

New blooms: white turtlehead, lobelia.

Calm winds make for great reflections.

At the northern end of Fairlee.

Aloha Hive Camp closed this season.

Quiet camp.

Heron from far away and something sleeping on the dock??

Aloha Horizons Day Camp located where Middle Brook enter Lake Fairlee.

Sharing a log.

The highway bridge over Middle Brook.

Going up Middle Brook by Horizons Camp, footbridge.

Under the bridge by Horizons.

A Day on the River.

8-8-20 VERMONT: We got a lot of rain from TS Isaias, 1.75 inches, with moderate winds, only enough to shake a few small branches loose. Last night we got another 0.15 inches of rain with a little L&T that got Kaley upset. The grass is greening up, but we still need tons more rain.

Scott finished the drain work in the swampy area, and I did grading and seeding and watering of the raw dirt patches. I also cleaned a lot of mud out of the brook and filled in open spots with rocks. All the left-over gravel filled holes in the driveway. Today I propped up an old, original supporting post in the old house cellar that will need replacing. Yesterday I had put my hand on it for a moment, and it moved—not good. 

I also found a water leak in the corner of that cellar under the kitchen and where the refrigerator lives. I pulled the fridge out of its spot in the corner and saw water dripping from the connection for the ice-maker. After a quick trip to Home Depot for a replacement brass fitting, things seem dry, and we’re getting ice.

Yesterday we went canoeing on the Ompom, short for Ompompanoosuc River, near where it drains into the Connecticut River. There are muddy deltas in the Connecticut and mud flats on the Ompom. We went out to the CT under the Route 5 bridge and the railroad bridge as a train was headed north. We saw ducks, Blacks and Mallards, all females and ducklings. A Blue Heron, a Kingbird, a Raven and a flock of smallish, gray birds that flew by. On the way back in we went past the landing and up the Ompom and under the I-91 bridge. There were lots of ripening cattails.

The daylilies are finished as we get closer to mid-August and the days are noticeably shorter, but next week we’re back in the 90’s.

New blooms: tree hydrangea, black-eyed susan, echinacea, lily, helenium.

Lily, true lily, not daylily.

Judy and Brady and, I think, Maizie amid the goldenrod.

Two frogs on the water lilies, there were several basking, as well a small turtle, who was camera shy.

Indian pipes lack chlorophyll. They are parasitic on fungi that grow on tree roots. The fungi are saprophytic with the trees.

Two Great Spangled Fritillaries on an echinacea flower.

Canoeing on the Ompompanoosuc River, locally referred to as the Ompom, we got a long toot from the engineer.

American Kingbird on an island in the Connecticut River.

While we were on the Connecticut, we got some nice reflections.

Great Blue Heron at work in the shallows.

Black Duck, female, with friends or duckings.

Raven on mud flats caught a snail, but where will he get the garlic and olive oil.

Phlox are all popping out.

Black-eyed Susan from the garden not the smaller, wild ones in the pasture.

Morning fog and rain, it all cleared by afternoon.