This edition will focus more on the animal inhabitants at Wahkeena. It is baby time for many of our residents. The baby Wood ducks pictured below were captured by visitor Alan Coovert of Hocking County. The young ducklings can be easily seen from the parking area which overlooks the shallow wetland were mother and young may feel more secure from potential predators that inhabit the larger bodies of water.
This morning a saw the Gray Petaltail dragonfly pictured below. I was walking over to the garage when something large that was perched on the outside of the door flew away. I followed the object to the large walnut tree just outside the nature center. And there it was blending in very well with the bark of the tree, as you can see (or maybe you can't!).
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I grabbed an insect net in the hope of getting a better look. I also had to get a step stool as it was above my reach on the side of the tree. Below you see it perched on the handle of the stool. This dragonfly is every bid of three inches long and quite a magnificent creature.
On the flip side....are the beavers ! #%?
The picture above is the collapsed hole in the asphalt driveway caused by beavers tunneling under the exit drive. Below is a shot of the collapsed area. The tunnel stretched all the way across the drive with several side tunnels branching off the main tunnel. The damage will cost thousands of dollars to repair. We were lucky that the beavers did not chew through the buried phone line, seen as the black line running across the tunnel. If they had cut that...you would not be reading this!
On a more happier note, the Butterfly Weed or Orange Milkweed (Asclepias tuberosa )is beginning to bloom in the sunny areas. As the name implies, this plant is very attractive to butterflies and other insects.
The end of a busy day and a busy week and another busy week to come. This week, groups from the Ohio Association of Garden Clubs, Ohio Wesleyan University and the Annual Educator's Week Conference will keep us hopping.
