Miscellaneous Monday

I'm calling this post "Miscellaneous Monday" because the images seem totally unrelated, although they have the unifying theme of being from the same walk at the wetlands area where Piper and I often ramble.

Chalk-fronted corporal dragonflies were alighting on the overlook platform and posing for portraits.

Bright red bullseye spots on maple leaves aroused my curiosity and I had to look up the cause (of course). These are caused by midges, a sort of pesky fly, and it's called leaf spot gall. Happily, they don't seem to cause any lasting damage to the trees, even though they look pretty dramatic. (I always imagine the trees must feel itchy when I see something like this.)

At the second wetland overlook, Madame Red-winged Blackbird scolded us roundly for disturbing her nesting territory.

She watched us carefully until we left the area to allow her safe access to her babies again.

Tiny red-orange fungi were beginning to bloom on a rotting log. They're in the slime family somewhere, I think, though not the kind Piper stuck her nose in not very long ago.

The pattern in the bark at the base of this tree caught my eye. I love the crossing lines and especially the little rows of short cross hatches in between the longer diagonals.

Finally, Miss Piper did a good job of checking on everything and particularly enjoyed the chipmunks that chattered and scampered off into the woods.