This is the time of year when many plants have little fruits which travel about by sticking to animals fur or my clothing. After photographing Little Bluestem, I wandered through a patch of Showy Tick-trefoil and ended up with hundreds of “ticks” all over me. Thanks to some kindly walkers in the morning group, many were eventually removed.

I like the look of Cup Plant after it has flowered:

A painted turtle and a raccoon made appearances;

and a Red Squirrel plus many nectar-seeking creatures:

Park scenes:

While exploring some South Sea Islands such as Fiji, I noticed many Great Egrets. We had two at High Park this morning:

Species list: double-crested cormorant, great blue heron, black-crowned night heron, great egret, red-tailed hawk, Cooper’s hawk, mute swan, Canada goose, ring-billed gull, northern flicker, hairy woodpecker, downy woodpecker, blue jay, black-capped chickadee, white-breasted nuthatch, gray catbird, house sparrow, northern cardinal, American goldfinch.  (19 species)

10 a.m. group

1 p.m. group

NATURE POETRY

“Lost in Heaven,” by Robert Frost, 1935

The clouds, the source of rain, one stormy night
Offered an opening to the source of dew,
Which I accepted with impatient sight,
Looking for my old sky-marks in the blue

But stars were scarce in that part of the sky,
And no two were of the same constellation –
No one was bright enough to identify.
So ’twas with not ungrateful consternation,

Seeing myself well lost once more, I sighed,
“Where, where in heaven am I? But don’t tell me,”
I warned the clouds, “by opening me wide!
Let’s let my heavenly lostness overwhelm me.”

Miles Hearn