Labor Day weekend with is storybook perfect weather is over. It was warm yet breezy, and most importantly, not humid. Let's hope this trend continues. Wingstem, ironweed, jewelweed, and boneset are blooming in the Wildlife Corridor, which is what I've decided to call the area down behind the house. It sounds much better than Area Adjacent to the Leachfield.
With the exception of a few slowpokes, joe pye weed is done blooming and beginning to drop its tiny seeds. Flat top goldenrod is now blooming, with Canada goldenrod not far behind. Other interesting plants showing up in this area are water hemlock, seedbox, tearthumb, and beggarticks. These plants aren't as showy as the aforementioned wingstem and ironweed, with their spectacular colors, but they are natives and as such offer food and shelter opportunities to native fauna.
Arrowleaf tearthumb isn't one of my favorite plants, especially when I'm trying to take photos of its more colorful wetland companions. It would more properly be called calf-rip. However, according to the Illinois wildflower website it is food for purplish coppers, bronze coppers, and gray hairstreaks, and in dense mats provides shelter for various small creatures. https://illinoiswildflowers.info/index.htm
An amazing thing about the wildlife corridor, which stretches along the south side of the horse pasture, is the speed at which it has transformed itself from a mowed area to a haven for native plants and animals. I stopped mowing, and this naturally moist strip of land did the rest. This isn't really so surprising considering the conditions here. Nearby uncultivated areas provide a variety of seeds, and the area also floods every few years, further renewing the seed bank. Another reason natural waterways and native plant oases are so important: seed production and dispersal to heal land quickly after disturbance.
There are some invasives fighting for space, like multiflora rose and small carpetgrass, but the majority of the plants I have identified are natives. I have every hope that with time and a little human help, the natives will crowd out the invaders. Not all exotics are undesirable though, and the spot below the ponds is now home to a few banana starts, which appear to be co-existing beautifully. I have no worries that the bananas will ever become a nuisance. If the climate becomes so warm and wet that they spread without assistance then more power to them.
Dragonflies, skippers, monarchs, and innumerable wasps, bees, and flies now frequent the wildlife corridor. Hummingbirds, bluebirds, and barn swallows are often spotted. There are no doubt dozens of bird species here, but my bird identification skills need honing.
As described in previous posts, some enterprising tree frogs discovered the stock tank and laid eggs months ago. The progeny haven't been in a hurry to mature and leave, but new evidence suggests that some are doing just that.
The individual pictured above was spotted on a banana plant many yards from the tank. It's highly unlikely to have come from elsewhere considering the exceptionally dry conditions of the last few months. I hope its many brothers and sisters will follow suit and seek out homes beyond the safety of the stock tank. Days are still warm, but they are noticeably shorter and nights are growing cool. Fall is nigh.
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