sports

June 2025: ICE, No Ice, and Bounty in the Garden

/ Chris Thaiss / Leave a comment

Double-crested Cormorant preens and scans atop dead Oak, east bank of our lake, at sunset, June 8, while visiting Osprey looks on doubtfully

In this month’s blog:

ICE vs. Worker Shortages: More News from a Bizarro 2025
Climate Log: “No Ice” in Alaska; Here Comes the “Heat Dome”
Our Garden: Produce Galore in a Rainy Month
The June 2025 Photo/Video Gallery: Virginia Travel and Local Color

Honeybee sips from a yellow-purple Pansy in our garden plot, warm morning, June 18

*********************************************

ICE vs. Worker Shortages: More News from Bizarro 2025

ICE agents warn onlookers as agents handcuff one protester in Los Angeles (LA Times photo). From Jenny Jarvie and Grace Toohey, “Raids by ICE are stunning, but no surprise,” June 16

As I look at photos of Donald Trump’s Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents surging unannounced into workplaces (Home Depot, clothing factories, etc.) then handcuffing people in Los Angeles last week and this, I have to remind myself that this is the strange, new US in 2025, not scenes of Darth Vader stormtroopers from Star Wars (see below). The likeness is uncanny, though: the masks, the armor, the heavy weapons, the lack of identification of any kind, the immediate violence. I’ve certainly not in my lifetime seen so-called “US law enforcement” acting as a federal government secret police force. Russian KGB and East German Stasi during the Cold War, yes, but not US law enforcement, which over recent years (and especially since 2021) has been trying to become more people-friendly and transparent in their tactics.

The five-month-old federal administration keeps trying to convince us that undocumented immigrants are an ongoing threat to US citizens and to our economy. But where’s the evidence? The claim is that these brown-skinned, admirably bi-lingual (English/Spanish) families are “taking our jobs,” as if there were a glut of workers in the US, and as if US citizens cannot find open jobs.

At last look, however (June 3), the US Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that there were “7.4 million job openings” in the US. That’s 7.4 million. Shortages of workers–not a glut–continue to be reported in many fields, including manufacturing positions, first responders, air traffic controllers, teachers, nurses, child-and-elder-care workers, hotel and restaurant staff, retail sales, construction workers, agriculture workers, etc., etc., as well as in the agencies that Elon Musk’s DOGE (Dept. of Government Efficiency) rampage of firings left understaffed.

To take just the first of those many categories, the New York Times (June24) analyzed data from the Business Roundtable (“Why Factories Are Having Trouble Filling Nearly 400,000 Open Jobs”) that pointed to severe lack of qualified applicants and the falling rate of community college enrollment.

Meanwhile, the workforce gets steadily older, as the percentage of over 65s keeps increasing and the US birthrate keeps declining.

Bottom line: this country needs more workers, not fewer.

So it’s extremely puzzling why the administration wants to deport all these workers–and why the President’s advisors want to terrify US communities into shunning places of business where ICE might attack next. What does this administration have against the people of the US and the businesses that fuel the economy? The ICE assaults in LA, for example, have left many prosperous economic hubs deserted (“LA Neighborhoods Clear Out, As Immigration Raids Send People Underground,” LA Times, June 21). Onlookers have seen adults and children grabbed off the street, no questions asked, and pulled into vans. People across these neighborhoods don’t want it happening to them or their loved ones. Would you?

Home Depot on Sunset Blvd. in Hollywood, where ICE arrested dozens on June 19 (LA Times photo)

To make matters worse, Trump chief advisor Steven Miller earlier this month ordered the Dept. of Homeland Security (which controls ICE) to increase the daily toll of captures and detainments to 3000 per day! What can possibly be the goal of this frenzy? Why would Trump and Miller want to weaken the US economy and hamstring businesses by creating much greater worker shortages than those that already exist? What do they have against small and large businesses, who need more workers, and against us consumers–who will have to pay even higher prices as supplies dwindle because of a shrinking workforce?

According to the Business Roundtable (New York Times, June 24), a path to citizenship and aid to education for the undocumented could help ease the shortages of qualified workers (NYT photo)

******************************************************************

Climate Log: No Ice in Alaska–Here Comes the “Heat Dome”

Heat Index in US, June 24 (Washington Post ) as the “heat dome” has arrived

As described in last month’s blog, Americans keep dying and being made homeless through record flooding in the US heartland, but with never a word of sympathy or even awareness from the current President. To add insult to injury, he’s gutted the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), which we had always depended on to offer emergency supplies and funds for rebuilding after such disasters. Instead, he wants the states (most often red states who voted for him in the 2024 election!) to foot their own bills for their stricken citizens. Because he and his appointees claim that climate change doesn’t exist–and all facts to the contrary don’t matter–obviously those record floods didn’t happen (or so their actions and inactions claim) and those stricken people and communities are on their own.

This month, the floods continued, and the administration again took no notice. The story (by Dana Hedgepeth, Washington Post, June 16) reported that 4 people died in flash floods in West Virginia on June 15. One state official said, “I’ve never seen anything like it,” but cries for attention like that fell on the deaf ears less than 200 miles east in DC.  Moreover, as one of the nation’s poorest states, West Virginia is in no position to deal with the destruction without federal help.

West Virginia flash flood damage, June 15 (photo by Wheeling, WVA, Fire Department/AP)

At the same time that the heartland floods were still occurring, the Post was also reporting (Ian Livingston, June 16) that “Part of Alaska is Under a Heat Advisory: That’s a First.” https://www.washingtonpost.com/weather/2025/06/13/alaska-first-heat-advisory/

Temps across Alaska for Sunday, June 22 (National Digital Forecast Database and Washington Post)

If you are among the great majority of US residents who acknowledge the climate change that our President says doesn’t exist, you will take note that these unprecedented June forecasts are part of the “heat dome” pattern that is becoming more frequent worldwide (“June is the New July: Why Intense Summer Heat Is Arriving Earlier,” Washington Post, June 25) https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2025/06/25/global-heatwave-climate-change/

Worldwide heat map from NOAA, June 24, in Washington Post, “June Is the New July”

According to even Fox Weather (almost always a mouthpiece for the President), “heat domes” are especially powerful high-pressure systems that can be 1000 or more miles wide and long. The domes can

  • move steadily eastward in the US,
  • last for days until a stronger system erodes the dome, and
  • produce record-setting temps and humidity.

Now, this week,the “dome”–with temps close to and perhaps over 100 in the Northeast US–will have affected during its run three quarters of the US population.

And it’s only June. But please, if you accept the President’s Bizarro version of things, don’t believe what the weather people–who know what they’re talking about–are telling us. If you want to stay completely Bizarro, just nod your head at whatever the administration tells us.

Fox Weather infographic on the current “heat dome,” June 20

**************************************************************

Our Garden: Produce Galore in a Rainy Month

On a rainy morning, June 16, we collected this produce from our small patch in the community garden

The “heat dome” described above has just reached us in Virginia, but until this point in June we’ve had substantial rain (3-4 inches!) and moderate temps–so our 225-squ.-ft.garden has been producing magnificently.

Our 15′ by 15′ garden of diverse flowers and veggies has filled fruitfully over 2.5 months, as have the gardens of our hard-working neighbors (June 16)

Here, by contrast, was our garden just two months ago:

On April 25, here was our garden, with all plants in ground, newly mulched, and with veggies and flowers beginning to thrive in the steadily warming temps.

Three types of tomatoes, four types of peppers, two blueberry bushes, zucchini, crookneck squash, strawberries, Swiss chard, thyme, oregano, mint, rosemary, and sage have grown steadily since late April–and now daily produce delicious edibles. Meanwhile, ebullient flowers–dahlias, dianthus, coneflowers, buttercups, vinca, snapdragons, cosmos, pansies, petunias, zinnias, salvia, the flowering herbs, and three types of marigolds bring pollinators to the garden and a rainbow of colors.

Magenta Dahlias and red and white Snapdragons, morning, June 20

We have gradually been getting to know our neighbor gardeners, most of whom have been growing in Virginia much longer than we have, and not only do they answer our questions readily, but they offer us some of their produce, as we offer ours.

Mockingbird in a neighbor’s Berry patch, morning, June 18

Weeding, of course, is an ever-present chore in this humid climate–the productivity of our garden includes lots of productive weeds! Because we are all organic gardeners, we’d rather weed than subject our plants, the pollinators, and our bodies to herbicides. Crab grass is torturous, but blue speedwell (AKA “creeping charley”), while prolific, comes up easily–and then comes back for more fun!

Multi-color Marigold display, all grown from seed, brings pollinators and dominates the crab grass that we pull from the garden, June 11

Conversely, we’ve always looked upon “volunteers”–plants that just show up uninvited–as opportunities to learn about new species. In our garden, for example, one volunteer was the Buttercups that have brought pops of yellow that complement the reds, pinks, purples, whites, oranges, and blues of our plantings.

Our “volunteer” Coneflower plant, in full bloom and with more buds coming, morning, July 23

The majestic pink coneflower that emerged in late March as a “weed” is now a tall, multi-stemmed beauty that stands next to our “sweet millions” tomatoes. So what if it competes with two of our pepper plants? They all have enough room, even if crowded. And our two perennial strawberry plants? They also emerged in March to surprise us, and they produce better than any strawberries we ever planted in California.

Tiny Bee in one of our two Strawberry plants, with many blossoms, morning, June 18

But here comes the heat dome. Now we get to see how our plants do in the hottest heat of summer. Bring on the “heat dome”! We’ll meet the challenge as best we can. We have experienced neighbors to help advise us.

Sage, Thyme, Strawberries, Marigolds, Blue Aster in bloom, June 6

*******************************************************************

The June 2025 Photo/Video Gallery: Virginia Travel and Local Color

This month’s gallery includes, among a range of artifacts from our lake community and garden, photos from our trip early in the month to Tidewater Virginia and the historic towns of Williamsburg, Yorktown, Jamestown, and Gloucester along the York and James Rivers, where refugees from England encountered the indigenous Powhatan people for the first time in 1607, and where the English built their first settlements in North America. Professional historians, including four of our Virginia relatives, whom we visited on the trip, have done an amazing job of keeping alive this tumultuous 425-year history of immigration, conflict, rebellion, slavery, and warfare–but also the steady, progressive development of the democratic principles that have made the US great and that still, we hope, will continue to guide the future of the nation.

As we walk around our lake, Green Heron flies into the dead Willow Oak on the east bank of our lake, then preens and scans. Such serendipity!

Red-winged Blackbird in the same Willow Oak, but on a rainy morning, June 16

Bumblebee in Juliet Tomato flower in our garden, morning, June 18

On our Tidewater travels, we toured Jamestown Island, where the first English settlement was built. Here I snap a Red-bellied Cooter in the marsh at the island’s edge, June 1

This simple cross commemorates at Yorktown the French soldiers and sailors who died in this final battle, 1781, of the American Revolution. Without the French aid and sacrifice, the Revolution would not have succeeded.

Cottontail beside duck statue, east side of our community, morning, June 20

Bluejay in morning shadows along the southside path in our community, June 20

A pair of Cormorants scan along the lake from the west shore dock, rainy morning, June 16

Grey Catbird pair sips from puddles on north end path, rainy June 16

In our garden, Pink Dahlias with Honeybee and Red Dianthus, June 20

The majestic fallen trunk of one of 4 Yellow Poplar trees that still grow at historic Zion Poplars Baptist Church in Gloucester, VA, May 31. These poplars are honored as a Remarkable Tree of Virginia for their historical significance.

Zion Poplars Baptist Church, Gloucester, VA, May 31. This church was the first Black Church in Virginia established (1866) after the end of the Civil War. Early services at the church were held under the seven Poplars, of which four remain and which are pictured above.

Crookneck Squash blooming and fruiting in our garden, June 18

Husky Cherry Red Tomato plant in our garden, loaded down with fruit, early morning, June 23

Snapping Turtle, first sighting of the year in our lake, pokes head above water, lurks, then dives, June 20

Oxeye Daisies, St. John’s Wort, and Daisy Fleabane among June wildflowers beside the north shore of our lake, June 20

Common Moorhen male, my first sighting, in marshland at the Yorktown battle site, May 31

In our garden, Hot Burrito Peppers, Sage, and Mint plants, morning, June 18

Cardinal male atop dead tree in the Jamestown Island marsh, June 1

Foundation of the original meeting house of the Jamestown settlement, 1607, and statue of explorer, writer, and founder John Smith, by the James River, June 1

Song Sparrow calls singingly from atop a young Willow Oak on the north shore of the lake, June 12

Before sunrise, June 11, mist rises from the lake, with Red Maple and Elderberry in foreground and downtown buildings in the distance

Mourning Dove on wire west of the lake, morning, June 12

Five House Sparrows try out the new yellow feeder on our porch, morning, June 17

In two months, like our garden plants, the young ones of our Canada Geese families have matured from two throngs of fuzzy goslings to almost fully-grown adults. See the flotilla of 30 here in the Northeast corner of the lake, early morning, June 23

What adventures await us in the last week of June and into July?

June 2024: Going to the Source

/ Chris Thaiss / Leave a comment

Making a connection with wildlife: Our youngest granddaughter cradles a Painted Lady butterfly, June 13 

In this month’s entry:

Going to the Source: Susquehanna Journey
Williamsport to Cooperstown: Baseball, but Not Only
Ithaca and Serendipity: The Call of Birds
Amish Country: A Living Past, a Model for the Future?
The June 2024 Gallery: Potpourri

A pair of Grackles at the Susquehanna source, Cooperstown, NY, June 10

The Great River of the East: Susquehanna Journey

On a bridge above the tiny Susquehanna, we look toward its source, Otsego Lake, June 10

For many years, I had been tantalized by the Great River of the East Coast, the Susquehanna. The longest river east of the Mississippi, this queen of East Coast waterways winds 444 miles from tiny Lake Otsego in Cooperstown, New York, through majestic mountain gaps in Pennsylvania, and past the towns and cities that have thrived along its banks. Finally, at Havre de Grace, Maryland, the Susquehanna flows into mammoth Chesapeake Bay–which is in fact just the final extension of the River, being the Susquehanna’s drowned estuary. Since 2022, this blog has celebrated the mighty Chesapeake as the goal of the Potomac River, but I’ve kept in mind this other goal of traveling the source of the Chesapeake, the Susquehanna, whose stream-fed fresh waters mix with the salt of the Atlantic in the 200-mile-long bay. 

The Susquehanna watershed, from Cooperstown (top right corner) to the Chesapeake (bottom right corner) (Open Street Map, 2024, and Wikipedia)

susquehanna river - susquehanna river harrisburg stock pictures, royalty-free photos & images

The Susquehanna at Harrisburg, state capital of Pennsylvania (Getty Images); the river here is a mile wide and fast flowing

Part of my plan had been to drive along the Susquehanna for as far as I could. On June 8, part of this plan was finally realized as Jean and I drove right beside the river on U.S. Route 15 for 100 miles from Harrisburg, PA to Williamsport, PA. There were almost no buildings between us and the Susquehanna, because the floodplain, which has been frequently flooded over the years, has made building a hazardous venture. So we were able to see the broad and often rock-strewn riverbed and fast-flowing waters through gaps in the abundant woods for most of that distance. A dream come true for me.

But only Part One of our June journey to the source.

***********************************************

Just across the Susquehanna in downtown Williamsport, PA, a 360-degree panorama shows a four-corners bronze tribute to the city, the home of Little League Baseball (June 9).

Williamsport to Cooperstown: Baseball? Yes, But More

Lamade Field, Williamsport, with Pennsylvania mountain ridges beyond (June 9). Every August, the city and stadium are packed with visitors for the international Little League World Series. 

Baseball has been a love of mine for almost my entire life, and continues to be a binding force for our far-flung family. The children and now their children have played the game and rooted for their favorite teams. The two Susquehanna towns of Williamsport, PA, and Cooperstown, NY, have been iconic–and ironic–centers for the sport, as neither is close to the urban centers where professional major league teams play. But these two Susquehanna country towns are home to the most revered shrines of those who have played the game over the close to 300 years of its existence in different forms.

In 1939, a local Williamsport baseball enthusiast, Carl Stotz, gathered community support to outfit local boys, ages 8 to 12, with uniforms and equipment, and create teams into a local league, so that these kids could have an organized experience like that of the major league heroes they listened to on the radio but rarely got to see in person. The idea spread to other towns, then other states–then other countries–and Little League Baseball became an international phenomenon, with its headquarters in tiny Williamsport.

Trading Team Pins:  When teams from around the world come to Williamsport for the World Series, players exchange their official team pins with one another. This display in the Little League Museum shows an assortment of pins from many years (June 9).

Each August, Williamsport hosts the international Little League World Series, and the usually quiet small city is packed with visiting teams and fans from all over the world. On the day we visited, Lamade Stadium (shown above), where the championship finals are played each year, was hosting a transnational girls all-star team visiting the area.

On to Cooperstown: Source of the Susquehanna and Home of the Baseball Hall of Fame

An aerial photo (no date) showing Doubleday Field, the Village of Cooperstown, and Lake Otsego, source of the Susquehanna

This was Jean’s first visit to Cooperstown, which I’d been privileged to visit three times over the years, and we made the most of the opportunity. We had two main goals:

  • to visit the Baseball Hall of Fame, with its three floors of exhibits, which follow the history of the game and show in low- and hi-tech detail the teams, the greatest players, the controversies, the advancements, and all the ways that the sport and culture interweave through the history–and look toward the future

View of the Village main street toward the red-brick Hall of Fame two blocks away, and the hills beyond, June 10, morning

  • to walk the Village, sample its shops and eateries, and especially reach the spot where Lake Otsego feeds its water into the quiet stream that miles later becomes the mighty Susquehanna–with my camera at the ready to grasp tiny sightings of the place and its inhabitants.

Just below the lake, a Mallard female herds her 7 ducklings in the Susquehanna stream, as cars pass on the bridge, June 10, afternoon

A small selection of photos, with captions, of our Cooperstown day:

In the Hall of Fame, a plate from 1860 shows a baseball game. Vintage teams around the U.S. still don uniforms from that time and play by ancient rules.

Hall of Fame: Mixed-media poster of Jackie Robinson, who in 1947  became the first African-American player admitted to the major leagues–and so changed the game of baseball and contributed to the necessary advance of American culture. Every year, all teams celebrate April 15, the day he made his Major League debut; on that day, all players wear his Brooklyn Dodgers number, 42.

Hall of Fame: Display honoring the Midwest women’s baseball league during World War II (memorialized in the film “A League of Their Own”)

The most hallowed place in the Hall of Fame displays the plaques of all those players who have been voted into the Hall. Here is the plaque of Christy Mathewson, one of the greatest pitchers of all time and honored posthumously as one of the first five inducted into the Hall in 1936.


Life-size basswood sculptures of legendary batters Babe Ruth and Ted Williams in the hall of plaques


At the joining of Lake Otsego and the Susquehanna, a plaque commemorates the Haudenosaunee peoples, who settled these lands and waterways thousands of years ago. An army of Haudenosaunee fought for the colonists during the Revolution against England–but then were massacred in 1779 by the troops for whom they were fighting. Yet another shameful event in U.S. history.

*********************************************

Ithaca and Serendipity: The Call of Birds

Fall Creek sings beside the Cornell Wildflower Garden, Ithaca, NY, June 11

Just to the north of the Susquehanna watershed and 100 miles west of Cooperstown is Ithaca, NY, home of Cornell University and of the internationally-revered Cornell Lab of Ornithology, which I’ve written about in this blog concerning the annual Great Backyard Bird Count, in which I’ve participated for years, and the Lab’s creation of the Merlin and E-Bird electronic Bird Identifiers–invaluable tools for birders. Needless to say, the Lab was on our must-do list for this PA-NY trip, as I’ve not been there in person before.

African, Australian, and Asian parts of the Birds of the World wall art at the Cornell Lab Visitors Center, June 11

In planning the trip, we’d not known what to expect before we got there, as the website kept saying that the Visitors Center was still being renovated and would be reopened “sometime in the spring.” Here it was June, and no announcement of reopening. “Oh well,” I thought, “there’s still plenty to explore, with the Arboretum, the Botanical Gardens, and the miles of trails.” 

But when we reached the Botanical Gardens, I mentioned the Lab to one of the docents, and she fairly shouted, “Guess what! It’s open! Today it’s reopened. Can you believe it?” Talk about serendipity. “Your timing is perfect! ” she said. 

A Red-bellied Woodpecker and a Downy Woodpecker at the Visitors Center feeders, Cornell Lab of Ornithology, June 11

So the remainder of our morning was spent at the Botanical Gardens, especially in the magnificent Herb Garden, where volunteers and staff were hard at work. Then, after lunch in Ithaca, we explored the Wildflower Garden and the Arboretum, before heading over to the Lab and the newly-renovated Visitors Center later in the afternoon. A great day, even better than we’d expected!

Panorama of the Cornell Herb Garden, June 11

Red-winged Blackbird in the Cornell Arboretum, June 11

Woodchuck eats and scans the woods along the roadway at the Cornell Arboretum, June 11

Marsh with Water Lilies in the Cornell Arboretum, June 11

Interactive displays engage visitors at the newly-reopened Cornell Lab Visitors Center, June 11

**********************************************************

Amish Country: A Living Past, A Model for the Future?

On the highways through Intercourse, PA, horse-drawn buggies and wagons share the roadway with trucks and cars, including ours, from which I took this photo (June 12)

On the final two days of our journey, June 12-13, we stayed in Intercourse, PA, in the southern part of the Susquehanna watershed. We wanted to stay longer, because the famous Amish culture of this unique region offers such a stark–and pleasant–contrast to the fast, loud, and pollution-intense culture that dominates most of the U.S. 

Amish culture dates from 17th century Germany and Switzerland, with adherents to this form of Christian religion first coming to colonial North America in the early 18th century and settling in the  Pennsylvania colony because of its reputation for religious toleration. The Amish in the U.S. were almost an exclusively agrarian society, and they continue to be best known for their farms, their closeness to the land, their care of plants and animals, and their rejection of technologies such as electricity, fossil-fueled cars and trucks, and mass communication. 

Pony, cart, and driver at a main commercial intersection in the town, June 12

However, as their population has steadily grown (more than 250,000 over 25 states and Canadian provinces) and as available farmland has grown scarcer and much more expensive, today only about 10% of Amish are mainly farmers. Most adults, male and female, find work either in Amish craft businesses or non-Amish service industries–often requiring their communities to make limited technological accommodations, such as work with computers. 

But even communities with more such economic accommodations retain their core anti-technological values and practices, as well as their intense loyalty to a community-focused service ethic and plain lifestyles. The signature symbols of the horse and buggy, the communal barn-raising, and the traditional, simple, home-made clothing persist across communities.

In front of the Bird-in-Hand Bakery in the town of the same name, I look across the quiet road to fields with crops ripening, June 13

In our brief two days in the region we were impressed again and again by the beauty, exquisite care, and quietness of the farms we passed and the businesses we visited, at which Amish employees were working. In sharp, jarring contrast was the frequent roar of trucks, from pickups to 18-wheelers, pounding along the highway (PA route 340) that traversed the center of town and links York and Lancaster in the west to Philadelphia and points east. Nothing makes the contrast between cultural visions sharper than when a horse and buggy clip-clops along the highway at 10 MPH and a huge truck, engine snuffling and brakes grinding, slows down then tries to pass (as in the photo at the top of this section). 

On PA route 340 in Intercourse, a horse and buggy clips along before a field of cows, and cars approach, June 12.

One is a vision of the present we know all too well in most of the U.S. The other is a vision out of a past that seems stunningly out of place in our present. But must the present vision of ceaseless competition, exhaust fumes, and brain-shaking sound be that of our future? Or can we make more room in our future for a quieter, more nature-respectful, more community-loving vision?  A vision that has already been resilient over centuries? 

Vision of the future or only of the past? A Cabbage Leaf Butterfly and a farm scene in Intercourse, June 13

*********************************************

The June 2024 Photo/Video Gallery: Potpourri from our Little Lake Community

Jean’s French Gruyere Souffle for Father’s Day, June 16

Fruit breakfast and basil plant, already hot morning, June 23

Ripening fast in the high 90’s heat: Allegheny blackberries, north end path, June 22

 

Tufted Titmouse–usually hiding–perches in the Willow Oak, east bank, June 2

Baby Cottontail feeds on grass and clover, beside the Northwest path, hot evening, June 22

Blue Heron on dam structure, north end of lake, with playground in the background, June 15

Spotted sandpiper–first sighting this far inland!–walks and pecks on the log in the southeast cove, June 2

Like the sandpiper above, another visitor from the coast, an adult Osprey, June 22, on the dead white oak, east bank of the lake

Bumblebee in the air between two Swamp Milkweed, south end shore, June 15

Three baby Green Herons play/fight near the nest, southeast shore, June 15; first sighting in these numbers

Tree Swallow–first sighting here-in the dead Willow Oak, east bank, June 16

Male Cardinal calls and scans on a branch on the southeast bank after sunrise, June 15

View toward downtown with our Goose flock in the lake just after sunrise, June 15

 

Natural bouquet: Crown Vetch and Daisy Fleabane, new blooms, near the northwest corner of the lake, June 16

Aphrodite Fritillary butterfly as frogs trill and jet sounds overhead, below dam, June 3

Barn Swallow on dam structure, north end, June 3

 

Blue Heron lands in pine, north end woods, June 2

Bumblebee feeds in Purple Thistle, first bloom of the year, north end, as birds call, June 3

Green heron walks, scans, and preens on log, southwest shore, morning, June 3: perhaps the parent of the 3 babies videoed on June 15?

So many wonderful moments this month, here and in Pennsylvania and New York! Now the heat of summer is upon us, as we head into July. Here’s to more beautiful scenes…