June is always an active month at Mud Lake. With the Ottawa River retreating from it's flood levels, the trail becomes fully accessible all around the lake. Warmer temperatures brings out the leaves and flowers. Newly hatched/fledged birds were about as well
A year ago I had a red-winged blackbird (RWB) approach me obviously looking for a handout. That was a first, but I didn't have any seeds with me. A few weeks ago a (same?) RWB landed on my head, but again I didn't have food with me. Last week it came to Gwen's hand which had seeds in it. Again this visit, it did the same thing, after trying to land on her hat. Then a little further along the trail (on the ridge) a juvenile RWB came to hand - a little skittish - it's father was quite upset with it doing that, but the kid didn't listen. A little later, by the beaver dam another RWB adult came to hand.
A great blue heron was patrolling the river shoreline and must have gotten close to a red-winged blackbirds nest(s) as several males (circled) started harassing it.
A fully fledged black-crowned night heron juvenile was out looking for a meal. Seemed early for that, but there it was
An adult, which looks very different to the juvenile, was searching for a meal as well in another part of the lake
Two male northern flickers were having an interaction of some sort, jumping and flitting about
Canada Geese and their families were everywhere on the grass, blocking traffic...
The mother goose on the nest which was featured last month turning over her eggs, was joined by a male mallard keeping her company
But more importantly she was being joined by hatching chicks. There were two goslings, one still damp from a fresh hatch. Later in the day we were advised 4 of the 5 eggs had hatched and mum seemed to be waiting to see if the 5th egg would hatch.
Another goose whose nest was flooded out earlier in the month started nesting again in the same spot she had chosen before.
A mother wood duck had her brood of 8 (?) 5-7 day old ducklings out for a swim
As did a mallard mum, her clutch looked only 2-3 days old
Two cardinals were offering two of their calls and a pileated called out while I had the video going
Some of the wild turkeys were having a late season parade down the trail
There were two very young raccoons hanging around at the "duck rocks" by the entrance to the trail. They had been there for quite a while, not sure where their mother was. But it seemed obvious that they were used to people (see video) and very likely had been fed by some people.
A very few chipmunks were about
I hadn't noticed map turtles at Mud Lake, but maybe I just hadn't been looking closely enough. The one on the right is a map turtle, the other two are painted turtles.
The snapping turtles were laying their eggs, the eggs provide food for raccoons and others
A small speck of dirt on a leave turned out to be a spider wasp
Damselfly on an anemone
A few garter snakes were around, one stopped to pose for us
While early June is not the expected mushroom time, there were a few around, including in the right photo, deadman's fingers that grow each year on one particular stump.
A large Dryad's Saddle fungus was growing on a tree nearby
A good number of wildflowers were in bloom, some late spring, some early summer ones (scroll over photo to see their names)
Dame's Rocket
Ground Ivy
Forget-me-not
Daisy
Anemone
Lily of the Valley
False solomon seal
Wallflower
Yellow waterlily
Elderberry (with resident spider)
Wild rose
Hawkweed
Bird's foor trefoil
