Midsummer

 

It has been a summer of northern harriers!  We see at least one  daily hunting along the bluff.  It seems that whenever I am out for a hike,  there is one as well.  Are there more northern harriers than usual?

Sabatia 

Nantucket  has changed into its midsummer wardrobe.  The Sweet Pepper,  Clethra Alnifolia,  is blooming and casts such a sweet scent in the wet places.  (On July 27,  there was some Rhododendron Viscosa,  Swamp Azalea,  still in bloom in the north-facing low places.) Hypericum Stragulum,  St. Andrew's cross, is out.  It is on the Massachusetts endangered list and is currently found only on Nantucket in Massachusetts. The Virginia Meadow-beauty is now out around the ponds.  I spied Sabatia Campanulata again at Almanac Pond.  Or is it Sabatia Stellata?  I am waiting for botanist Kelly Omand to tell me.

At Squam Farm and at Norwood Farm,  I can see the goldenrods, but not blooming yet.  Well, maybe a few downy goldenrods are peeking.  The sumac is turning red, the grasses are browning, the tupelo is reddening and the huckleberry, too.

Virginia Meadow Beauty

Huckleberry 

Common tern

Sesachacha is regularly home to a pair of short-billed dowitchers,  semipalmated sandpipers,  least sandpipers,  killdeer, lesser and greater yellowlegs and of course the egrets, mallards,  cormorants and canada geese. Osprey love to fish there.

July was dry, with only .74 inches of rain.  There was only one day with rain over .1 inch. June had only .43 inches of rain. May had 3.49 inches and April 3.93.  Last  year,  July had 3.19 inches of rain,  June had 2.95,  May .92 and April  1.40.  So the four month total  is 8.59 inches in 2025 and  8.46 in 2024, but distributed more to the spring this year.  It has not been enough to revive the ponds .  Precipitation was 33.79 inches in total 2022, 21.59 inches in  2023, 17.24 in 2024 (but missing January and February readings)  and 14.52 so far this year.  Many ponds are just wet mud.

Norwood Pond

Almanac Pond

The  Boston Globe rain an article from the Associated Press about how there are more lightning bugs this year,  perhaps because of a wet spring.  I certainly had my peak lightning bug experience in late June.

Semipalmated Sandpiper 

Lesser Yellowlegs