This Week's Walk in the Park

The Autumnal Equinox is fast approaching (Friday), and there are signs of the approaching season, but it still looks more like Summer because of the warm, wet Summer we had this year. And there's more rain yet to come as the remnants of Hurricane Florence approach early in the coming week. There are still plenty of flowers in this week's walk, including some early Fall bloomers, as well as plenty of bugs. And there were two surprises: a squash vine growing by the parking lot and beginning of the Dykeman Walking Trail that has sprouted blossoms (one with a visitor); and a juvenile Great Blue Heron hanging out by the north duck pond.

A note on how the final pictures emerge... The first shot below started out as a shot of the complete blossom and part of the vegetation, but as I cropped and tweaked it became obvious that the star of the show was the little pollen-covered critter in the middle. So one more crop and the real picture from that shot emerged.

A Dwarf Bumblebee gathering goodies in a Squash blossom

White Snakeroot growing along the Dykeman Walking Trail

Arrowwood Viburnum with berries along the Dykeman Walking Trail. When the berries ripen they'll be a dark blue/black.

A juvenile Great Blue Heron by the north duck pond

The resident pair of Muscovy ducks by the north duck pond

A faded Painted Lady butterfly on Snakeroot up on the meadow

© 2018 by A. Roy Hilbinger