After Some Rain, Muskrats, Mosquitoes And More Macro At The PPL Wetlands

We got some much needed rain here in Northeastern Pennsylvania on Sunday morning. A line of heavy thunderstorms came through early and continued for a few hours. As the rain was ending I headed to the PPL Wetlands. It was still raining lightly when I arrived at the wetlands and began my hike.

The woods were still saturated from the heavy downpours. It felt like I was walking in a tropical rain forest, with  swarms of mosquitoes included.  They soon found me and  found me very appetizing. 

I walked along the canals, fighting off the swarms of mosquitoes, and getting many bites.  As I walked I heard the songs of many birds in the trees tops. I also saw a few,  including this great blue heron. 

I approached one of the larger ponds and found a muskrat sitting on a log. It wasn’t the only muskrat I would see on my hike. I saw two more, all of them  sitting on logs in  the green, duckweed covered waters. 

As I watched the last muskrat, I realized it was scooping up, and eating the duckweed. I never saw this before. You learn something new on almost every walk  in the wetlands. 

I also saw another elusive resident of the wetlands,  a mother wood duck and a couple of her ducklings. 

The rain had stopped as I walked toward the river lands section of the nature preserve. I once again brought along my macro lens and photographed some of the many plants growing along the trails. 

Some of the plants. like the skunk cabbage, no longer had their Spring luster and were already deteriorating.

As other plants were just starting to bloom. 

As I was getting close to photograph the leaves I saw this spider on spinning it web in the light rain that was still falling. 

I continued my walk to Lake Took-A-While, and as I approached, the rain stopped and the skies began to clear. 

The strong July sun went to work and soon warmed the air. It became hot and the mosquitoes began to dissipate, replaced by hundreds of dragonflies and damselflies darting along the lake and canals. 

I love these ancient and exotic insects, which were darted through the skies  before the dinosaurs roamed our planet. 

As I walked along the lake I found this young birds hopping on the ground. It must have just flown from the nest. I watched from a distance and mom was not around. I approached the poor thing and it immediately opened its mouth looking for food. 

I have not been able to identify it and, if you can, please let me know. I left the young bird along the path, hoping it’s mother will return.

I also saw this wading bird, I think it’s a solitary sandpiper,  along the shores of the lake. I followed it and it flew along the shores of the lake.

And this one, I believe a female flicker was seen in a tree near the lake. 

I also encountered the three families of Canada geese living on the lake. Here is a photograph of one of the families. I have photographs of all there of the families in my birds album. Here is the link. PPL Wetlands birds July 15 2018.

The sun was strong and temperatures rose into the mid 80’s.  So,  after about a 2 /12 mile hike I decided to head back. The duckweed ponds looked so different in the brilliant afternoon sunshine.

Along the way I took some more photographs with my macro lens, including this beetle 

and these strange  caterpillars.

Once again, I enjoyed  the beauty of Nature at the PPL Wetlands. There is always something to see here if you keep your eyes peeled. Here is a link to some more photographs from my hike. PPL Wetlands July 15 2018.

In the presence of nature, a wild delight runs through the man, in spite of real sorrows.” –Ralph Waldo Emerson