Top Photo: Male eastern pondhawk.

Summer’s here and the time is right for basking in the sun. The young male eastern pondhawk in these two photos (above and below) is perched on a rock just off the floating walkway in our wetland. It can be identified as a “young” male by the green color on its thorax, which will become blue as the dragonfly matures.

I’ve shown lots of pictures of basking aquatic turtles in the past few weeks. So many are out basking that they can’t be ignored. And, they are utilizing our newly installed basking platforms. The platforms were designed and installed by our exhibits team specifically for that purpose. It’s nice to see a plan come together.

A milkweed leaf beetle was spied on our milkweed plants growing out in front of the Butterfly House, first of the season for me.

A few monarchs have been present for the past couple of days. The milkweed in the garden in front of the Butterfly House has kept them occupied.

And finally, along with the turtles above, Canada geese have been getting much attention due to the traveling brood we have on site. Here they are again.

Ranger Greg