Purple loosestrife, Lythrum salicaria, is blooming. This beautiful, aggressive, non-native plant has become established in nearly every state in the country, plus most of Canada. It reaches over six feet tall in clumps of clones sharing a common root. 

Grousewinged backswimmers, Notonecta undulata, patrol the surface of ponds, nabbing mosquito larvae as they come up for air. 



On hot days the beautiful blue flowers of chicory, Cichorium intybus will fold up by noon; every part of the plant is edible; root chicory, Cichorium intybus var. sativum, is cultivated for its root, which roasted, ground, and used as a coffee substitute. Chokecherries, Prunus virginiana, and the first blackberries, Rubus allegheniensis, are ripe.  The black raspberry, Rubus occidentalis, (which is a black version of the American red raspberry, Rubus strigosus) is called “blackberry” by many in the Northeast. Confusion abounds. 



Green frogs, Lithobates clamitans, are prolific reproducers that would fill ponds to the brim if they weren’t being eaten by many birds: American black ducks, Anas rubripes, mallards, Anas platyrhynchos, herons, Ardea herodias, American bitterns, Botaurus lentiginosa, crows, Corvus brachyrhynchos, and northern harriers, Circus hudsonius. Several reptiles and mammals also have the green frog on their menus. Though wood turtles, Glyptemys insculpta, are most visible to humans in uplands, they spend a lot more time in thick vegetation near water. Male scarlet tanagers, Piranga olivacea, are looking strange as they molt from red to green. For centuries the scarlet tanager was considered to have its own family, Thraupidae, but it has been classified as belonging to the cardinal family, Cardinalidae, since 2009.