A Hummingbird Clearwing Moth And Other Cool Stuff In July At Community Park.

It’s been a while since I  shared  photos or a blog post from  my afternoon hikes in the Community Park near my home here in Hazle Township, Luzerne County.  I still hiked there  a few times a week during July  and I had  continued to see a lot of cool stuff on my hikes, some of which I will now share. 

A few weeks ago I observed this  beautiful hummingbird clear wing moth visiting the pickerelweed flowers  that were blooming along the shores of lake Irena. 

At first I thought it was a hummingbird  as it hovered next to the pickerelweed flowers, 

and used it’s long proboscis to feed on the nectar in the flowers. These moths are so pretty so I took a lot of photos. Here is a link to a gallery with some more photographs of this unique insect. Hummingbird clear wing moth July 12 2021. 

The pickerelweed plants are aquatic plants that grow in the water along the shores of the lake started to bloom in early July.

This  pretty purple flower attract all sorts of insects, including  bees,

butterflies, like this swallowtail butterfly 

and even dragonflies use them to rest from their darting and hovering over the lake.  

I usually hike  three miles when I visit the park. I take  a couple laps around the lake, 

and then follow the trail into the adjoining woodlands.

This past month I found a lot of mushrooms growing along the trails, including bolete, 

amanita,

and these jack-o-lantern mushrooms.  There are so many species of mushrooms, with so many shapes, sizes and colors, growing in our woodlands. I love searching seeing them all and especially look for the edible ones. There are a lot more photos of some of these  mushrooms, and other wildflowers, birds and critters I saw on my first hike in this gallery. Community Park hike July  9 hike. 

In addition to the mushrooms there were also a lot of wildflowers blooming  near the lake  and in the adjoining woodlands including St John’s wort, 

some late blooming grass pinks, 

sneezeweed flowers, 

fleabane  daisies and

one of my favorite Summer flowers.  the water lilies,  were now blooming on the lake. 

This interesting plant, which sort of looks like a fungus, is also a flower. It is an Indian pipe or ghost plant. It does not produce chlorophyll .  A lot more flowers in the galleries that accompany this blog. 

And where there are flowers there are insects. I saw  quite a few different insects this past month, besides my favorite, the hummingbird clear wing moth. There were many colorful dragonflies darting above the waters of the lake. I love watching this delicate critters that flew the skies  before the dinosaurs.  I am not an expert but I think this is an eastern amber wing,  

this a Halloween pennant,

and this a pondhawk. 

I love taking close up photos of the large eyes on these insects, 

and also of their delicate wings. 

There were also a lot of butterflies along the shores of the lake and  on the trails including this monarch butterfly, 

and this, a northern crescent  butterfly, I believe. 

There were not many birds on or around the lake in July. I did not see any bald eagles or ospreys. these birds occasionally show up in the Summer to feed on the abundant supply of fish in the lake. The mallard ducks and Canada geese were no where to be seen either. I did see some song and chipping sparrows, 

a northern flicker, 

and some annoying blue jays. 

I also saw some furry critters in July including this whitetail deer, 

this gray squirrel and

this chipmunk. 

It is always an enjoyable walk around Lake Irena, especially with the pickerelweed in bloom.  I enjoy seeing our often overlooked friends in the insect kingdom who are attracted to these flowers. 

In my opinion, there is no better time of year than Summer, and I am fortunate  to spend so many hot and humid Summer afternoons in this wonderful park in in our own backyard. So many more photos of the beauty of nature saw are here in this this and the other galleries I shared with these  links. Too many to comment on here so be sure and take a look. . Community Park July 21 2021.

I go to nature to be soothed and healed, and to have my senses put in order. —John Burroughs

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