Lush

I took a walk in the Dykeman Spring Nature Park wetlands area this morning on the way to the grocery store. It's full Summer, and we've had enough of both heat and rain to make things very, very lush. While I was walking it started to rain, a very gentle Summer shower. So I found my favorite bench at the north end of the north duck pond under the big, old Norwegian Maple and settled down out of the wet to watch and listen. There was a beautiful serenade by a Cardinal, a Song Sparrow, and several Wood Thrushes. It was very serene and I almost hated to leave, but the rain moved off and it was time to get back to errands. Still, that brief stop by the pond settled and refreshed me, and now the rest of the week should be fine.

The wetlands in the Dykeman Spring Nature Park are very lush with all the heat and rain we've had lately.

Along the trail in the wetlands

Daylilies along the trail in the wetlands

Rushes beside the north duck pond in the rain

© 2014 by A. Roy Hilbinger 

Summer Solstice 2014

I know, I know, the Solstice was yesterday morning. But it was raining and dreary here all day yesterday, and the mood just wasn't right for a Summer Solstice photo shoot so I put it of for today. And today was much, much better, with more summery conditions, including sunshine. So I went up to the Dykeman Spring Nature Park to find summery scenes and found plenty - Summer flowers, butterflies and other bugs, and even a farmer haying. So let's do a little Summer celebrating.

White Campion along the Dykeman Walking Trail

Canada Thistle with a visiting Bumblebee in the Dykeman Spring wetlands

A Little Wood Satyr butterfly in the Dykeman Spring wetlands

A Daylily in the Dykeman Spring Wetlands

The haying continues up on the upland meadow

A Nodding Thistle with a visiting Skipper in the upland meadow

A patch of Deptford Pinks in the upland meadow

Daisy Fleabane being visited by a small Wasp in the upland meadow

And what would my seasonal posts be without a little appropriate music? Here's the Divine Sarah (Vaughan) singing George Gershwin's "Summertime". Enjoy!

Photos © 2014 by A. Roy Hilbinger

Staying Cool

Today's goal has been to stay cool on a very hot and humid day. I also wanted to get out and about a little to take pictures. I figured the best way to do both was to seek out shade and cool water. Here are the results.

A shady section of Branch Creek behind the Shippensburg borough offices

Crown Vetch along the Dykeman Walking Trail

An Ebony Jewelwing damselfly in the Dykeman Spring wetland

Duckweed in the Dykeman Spring wetland

Catalpa blossoms along the Dykeman Walking Trail

© 2014 by A. Roy Hilbinger 

On a Warm Monday Morning

I'm off today and tomorrow, and the Summer weather has returned. After a gorgeous weekend of dry (meaning not humid) mild (in the 70s F, 21º - 26º C) air with a pleasant northwest breeze, today the humidity is building and the temps are in the mid 80s F (around 29º C). I slept with open windows through last night, but now the windows are closed and the air-conditioner is running, and it'll probably stay that way for the foreseeable future. Yup, Summer is barreling right at us like a runaway freight train!

Anyway, I did my usual walk through the Dykeman Spring Nature Park on the way to the grocery store, looking to see what wanted to be photographed. Being a bright day, the contrast between sun and shade was a bit daunting, so there are only a few shots passing quality control today. 

Cool water on a hot day - the creek in Dykeman Spring Nature Park

Moth Mullein in the upland meadow

Haying has begun up on the meadow

© 2014 by A. Roy Hilbinger 

Double Vision

I'm off today and tomorrow, but there don't look to be any long walks involved this time. The weather is atrocious; it's not really hot yet but the humidity is horrendous, the air wet enough to wring out like a wet washcloth, which around here means the constant threat of pop-up showers and thunderstorms. Not to mention getting wringing wet just from the minimal effort of walking down the street. Plus my own problems with breathing in air this thick. So today I took about an hour's walk around town looking for good shots. What I got were three scenes which looked good both in color and black & white. So for this post you get both. See what you think.

The roofscape along King St. at Prince St.

A little stone stairway down the bank of Branch Creek

A brick shed in a backyard along Martin Ave.

© 2014 by A. Roy Hilbinger

Small Things

I'm not in to work until 2:30 today, so I decided to take a morning walk in the Dykeman Spring Nature Park. The first thing I noticed was that there were a lot of baby Eastern Cottontails hopping around munching on grass. I stopped counting after seeing five. There were also a lot of newly-fledged birds testing out their new flying skills. All in all, it was a pleasant walk, and I brought you some things to look at from it. Enjoy!

A baby Eastern Cottontail neat the Little League fields

A baby Eastern Cottontail on the nature trail

A shelf fungus colony on an old log in the wetlands area

A Tiger Swallowtail by the north duck pond

An immature female Red-winged Blackbird preening in the wetlands area

© 2014 by A. Roy Hilbinger

Blossoms

According to the weatherman today is the meteorological beginning of Summer. It's certainly a gorgeous day - blue skies, mild temperatures with a nice breeze out of the northwest, and low humidity. I went looking for the signs of the season on my way to the grocery store this morning, and I found them along the Dykeman Walking Trail in the Dykeman Spring Nature Park. Yup, it's here!

Multiflora Roses along the trail. These are a sure sign that it's June. And the scent is heavenly!

Blackberry blossoms along the trail. Looks like there's going to be a bountiful harvest come July.

I don't know what this flowering tree is, but it dominates one stretch of the trail

And here's a little welcome to Summer, the medieval round "Sumer Is Icumen In", performed here by the Hilliard Ensemble. Enjoy!

Photos © 2014 by A. Roy Hilbinger