Canada Lily

It's amazing how a plant can disappear from your radar and then years later poof! it's there.

It has been years since I've seen a Canada Lily (Lilium canadense) . Last year I saw a seed head, but no flower. And now here they are,in all of their glory.

A bike, a dead mouse and the moose.

Warm and humid this morning. Just perfect for a bike ride.

I went down to Oquossoc,turned off a side road and parked.There is something about a Maine summer morning. Bird calls, the green leafy canopy, the whine of mosquitoes, ahh!

I took off up the road, crossed Rt 16, and continued on up the Kennebago River Valley. About a quarter mile up the road, the alders rustled and then a young bull moose comes running out of the bush. I skidded to a stop, breathless and shaking.

I continued up the road and finally I came to my turn around point, the Kennebago River Bridge. I always stop and look around, catch my breath (it's downhill to the bridge and one has to ride through wet grass to get there, so wet brakes make for a breathtaking ride.)

I was stand on the abutment looking down and scared a young garter snake who them dropped down to the concrete below. Scrambling down,to one, check on the snake and two, I saw a dead rodent. Curiosity always gets me, so I had to check it out. It turns out to have been a Woodland Jumping Mouse, Napaeozapus insignis.

I see one on occasion ,but not long enough to really get a good look. The knife is 6 cm.

Riding back and stopping to look at things, I kicked my bike.

Saddleback Mt.

I've been busy the past several days, but last Monday, I took a hike up Saddleback Mt with a friend. I love the alpine environments of the Northeast. At 4120' it's the 14th highest in Maine and with The Horn, (a summit attached to Saddleback), 4041' and the 21 highest . And that also means it around treeline. The Appalachian Trail runs along the summit ridge, views are great and the weather isn't always the best. We hit it on terms, calm winds, temps in the 70's.

Scattered patches of krummholz are about on the top, like this clump of balsam fir(Abies balsamea) and labrador tea(Ledum groenlandicum).

Mountain Sandwort (Arenaria groenlandica) was very abundant. It thrives in disturbed areas, especially in places disturb by frost. The trail was fringed with it.

I love the bonsai qualities of the krummholz.

Around my yard

Dew

Beetles

A friend of mine gets creeped out by bugs. So what's a guy to do? I hope she closes her eyes when she looks at this post.

More rain.

This is no longer fun. For a lot of birds up here, the nesting season was a failure. Cool temps and way above average rainfall made the act of egg sitting and finding food a tough job. I just checked the last 2 nesting boxes on my property. All 4 had tree swallows, and only one of those boxes was a failure. Three eggs were still in the north box. They gave up several weeks ago.

Hummingbirds in the state pretty much gave up. Reports of northern nesting shorebirds are already returning . Our neighborhood bluebirds have been successful and I've been watching the family making the rounds.

Beauty of the woods

Tamarack (Larix laricina)

Sheep Laurel (Kalmia angustifolia)

Fair thee well you Low.

Finally after what seems to have been an eternity, Maine is beginning to clear out. That doesn't mean we still won't have daily storms, but we'll take what we can,as long as it comes our way.

Rosa rugosa

Clouds