A four mile out and back sauntering walk along a two lane gravel road ends at the pond in the picture. The trail continues into the woods beyond the pond to form a loop back to the parking lot, but it had not been mowed recently so I opted to retrace my route. The 'propagation area' consists of woods and open fields and numerous ponds. Some of the fields are mowed to discourage brush and to provide areas for grazing deer and field mice and voles- food for the many coyotes in the area that defecate on the road. Other fields, along with milkweed, are left to grow naturally. In order the insects are a Monarch butterfly, an endangered species which unfortunately has decreased in numbers by 90% in the last 20 years. A Red Spotted Purple and a White Admiral, which some scientists consider to be sub species of one another, and a Satyr butterfly-the exact species I do not know-there are several similar looking forms. This particular individual is weather-worn and has a piece of its wing missing. Old age had it flying in less energetic, fluttering motions rather than the direct, speedy flight of a younger one. The dragonfly is one of the Common Skimmers-this particular species having a white abdomen.
The short winged green grasshopper is a female that is laying eggs; look closely at her bent abdomen that she has thrust below ground to deposit them. I frequent this area at different times of the year to see what changes in the landscape and animal life, and noticed that the beavers I have mentioned in other posts were missing. Their dams were destroyed and the lodges were on dry ground. I suspect that the DCNR dissembled them-perhaps after the beavers were trapped? The preservation area and the surrounding game lands border one another, so the animals can move back and forth and hunters just wait. (...click on pics to enlarge)
