6.20.26 Palmisano Nature Park, Chicago, IL

 

Widow Skimmer

Note that it's jerking its head to the side. I have seen these behavior a bit recently, and I do not know why dragonflies do this

Red Milkweed Beetle eating a common milkweed flower bud

On a clump of Ohio Spiderwort flowers

Red milkweed beetles mating

On the growing top of a common milkweed

Eating a common milkweed leaf

Black Saddlebags in flight!

Goldenrod Soldier Beetle eating the pollen of Common St. John's Wort

Nom, nom

Western Honey Bee

bzzzzzzzz

Bumble Bee action!

Asian Lady Beetle

Cool

Black Swallowtail among lots of Ohio Spiderwort

Black-crowned Night Heron waiting for some anglers to give it some fish. Herons figured this stuff out by themselves. Herons are smart

Another Black-crowned Night Heron hunting, not waiting for anglers to give it food. Has an Angler ever angled an Anglerfish in an angling between anglers? I just made up that tongue twister.

Canada Goose Family

Tall Blue Wild Indigo seed pods. This plant is imperiled by the loss of its specific habitat, but Palmisano has the perfect habitat for it! It likes rocky soil, which the park has 'cause it was a quarry. It also requires regular wildfires, which are being mimicked by controlled burns in many Chicago prairie parks

Queen of the Prairie flower

Turtles!

Black Swallowtail stuck in a Prairie Milkweed flower. My mom and I helped it out. Milkweeds have star-shaped flowers with little slots where pollinators naturally put their feet. These slots have sticky globs of pollen that guarantee the pollen is spread form flower to flower. Unfortunately, this butterfly was banged up, weak, and had its legs twisted. Thankfully, we succeeded in letting it go

Flop!

A Western Honey Bee with its legs stuck in the flower. As a non-native pollinator, Western Honey Bees have not adapted to the milkweed's sticky pollen, so they're more likely to get stuck. They are invasive, too, so I didn't give it any help.