The wild chicory (Cichorium intybus L.) is finally opening, and some little pollinators are already all over it! I think these little guys or gals are all hoverflies of some tiny variety.
Another type of thistle has opened, unfortunately the invasive Canada thistle (Cirsium arvense) this time, but it is also popular with the pollinators. On the left is a large bee-fly (Bombylius major), a fly that mimics bees but neither bites or stings, and on the right is our ol’ buddy the bicolored striped-sweat bee (Agapostemon virescens), a real bee that can sting, but just a little, and who we first saw last week.
The field bindweed (Convolvulus arvensis), which has been out for a while, continues to attract attention. In this case, it appears to be a bright green Scudder’s Bush Katydid nymph (Scudderia).
Sick of all these bugs and blossoms, are ya? If so, then I’ve got just the antidote. On the left, of course, is yet another family of mallards, this time with 6 ducklings! I can’t walk down to the river these days without coming upon a brood of mallard ducklings it seems.
On the right, is a chipmunk, who we’ve seen many times before, but when this guy heard that I took a picture of a little bunny sitting up on its haunches, he said “hold my beer! Wait till this joker sees me holding a morsel I’m in my own fuzzy little paws and nibbling on it! I’ll give him ‘cute’.”
Well, the Shorewood Farmers’ Market will be kicking off soon in its new location, the south end of our park, so maybe I’ll mosey over there to check it out. Let me leave you with one last bug on a blossom.
Signs of Life in Estabrook Park 