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.

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.

Clouds

Sunny day

Aspen (Populus tremuloides)


Bunchberry (Cornus canadensis)

Bracken Fern (Pteridium aquilinum)



Savannah Sparrow (Passerculus sandwichensis)

Pooter

We have not had much sun this month. It has been a wet month and so when the sun shines, even for a few hours, it's time to rejoice. Or pick yourself up from your fetal ball and dry your eyes and have some fun.
It has been with some trepidation that we go into summer here in western Maine. The last few years summer began in July and ended in early August. So while the sun shines it's good. With luck and hope we might have summer.

Hawkweed and roses

Normally I don't photograph macros in full sunlight. They wash out, and can look downright bad.
But what do you do when your subject only blooms in full sunlight?
Don't fight it,embrace it. Get on your belly, grab your longest lens, and shoot.

And if you want roses.

Summer morning

On what rare clear days we've had this year, I've been awake at 4am. It does make the day longer, but it's summer,and this is Maine.

Day after

I lay in bed last night listening to an approaching storm. As the sky darkened ,thunder rolled over the land and an occasional flash of lightning could be seen. I love adverse weather, it animates,enriches and gives depth to the land. And I'm a sucker for fog. But for the past week or so, we've had a upper level low hanging around, which meant a lot of rain, and thunderstorms. Which all seemed to come over western Maine. Enough is enough. Lakes,rivers and streams are full . Mosquitoes are over abundant, but oddly the blackflies which usually make the area unpleasant in June aren't that bad.
I live on the edge of town. The wild edge. More nature than houses.