Outdoor Adventures with Gary Lee - Vol. 314
The blackflies must have tapered off a bit as I saw many swimmers out and about over the weekend while I was still wearing my bug jacket and being bombarded by blackflies, mosquitoes and now the deer flies. I haven’t seen any dog flies, yet they are the ones that get in your boat or canoe and attack your ankles and feet. Last year I saw very few of them and only had to use my fly swatter in the canoe one day while out watching Loons. With all this wet weather the bulk of the mosquitoes are yet to come. I just put out my bird bath this morning and last year I had to dump it once a week as there were mosquitoes’ wigglers in it. If you have anything around the yard that holds water the mosquitoes will find it and lay eggs. There is even a type of mosquito that lays eggs in the pitcher plants in the bogs, and they hatch out there. The PH of the water in those plants is below four and any other bug that falls into these plants dies and it is used for food for the plant.
Weather to the south of us from Texas to the east coast has put out power to thousands of people. This weather with high winds, tornadoes, thunderstorms, hail, and drenching rains has caused problems in several major cities. This weather is going to last until the beginning of next week, some reaching into western New York.
The smoke from the fires in Canada are still covering much of the area east of them. The haze and morning fog has been quite thick. If you look at anything outside in the morning you can see some of the stuff carried from these fires which fall this far east. The weather reports the other day said it was going to be a wonderful day outside, then there was a warning in the upper corner about breathing the air with all the smoke in it. Going to many areas locally to watch Loons I find some areas more affected than others. The rains last night took some of this out of the air, but the haze remains.
The big Gravel Grinder Blackfly Challenge 40-mile bike race this weekend that goes through the Moose River Area from Indian Lake to Inlet has a thousand bikes registered. If it rains on that dirt road from Browns Farm on the east to the Limekiln Gate on the west, pushing rubber though mud will not be a fun trip. The blackflies in the Plains are out in force so volunteers along the way should be prepared for them, not so much the riders. I hope everyone makes the trip safely.
I moved most of my indoor plants out to the porch rail for the summer and the two orchid cactuses had many blooms coming out as I moved them. It is like any cacti they do bite some and both are so big with many side limbs it gets tricky to make the move. I looked out this morning and it rewarded me with a big bloom looking right in the window. Even being big and red I have never seen the hummers even giving it a look-see.
Coming home one day last week, there was a newborn fawn on wiggly legs with mom in the driveway. They just got off to the side as I went by. I’ve seen mom in my flower beds a few times but not the little one with her yet. I hope my deer away mixture keeps her from eating everything green.
Most of the Loons are on nests already and should be off before the Fourth of July weekend. If you see a Loon on a nest, give them some space as they are having a hard enough time battling the blackflies while sitting on their nest.
Full Strawberry Moon on Wednesday this week but with all this haze it may be hard to see. I only saw a short sprinkle of sunshine all day today.
The Showy Lady Slippers are out in the Remsen Bog and visible from the road. The bog is posted so bring your big lens if you want pictures but that’s another story. See ya.
Photo above: Orchid Cactus
