Littoral, or,  

Shore Habitat 

Dwarf Papyrus 

Hello Aunt Sharon 

Surface Film Habitat

At this time of the year the surface film habitat is extremely active. The dragonflies and damselflies (same order as dragonfly, Odonata, but slightly different in that the wings are folded together over the back when at rest) almost cover some of the plants, and the common water striders (Gerris remigis) and some other insects that also walk on the surface of the water (I haven't identified them yet) almost seem like they are storing food for the winter.

Many Dragonflies 

Water Strider (the light colored speck near the center of the photo) 

Dragonfly 

Time to mow again 

Finally about to do something 

These 

are 

my 

favorite 

flower 

this year. 

Thanks Ron! 

Buddy is visiting for Labor Day 

Odd angle but colorful 

The Canna is showing signs of ? 

Still the best view 

Baby Catfish 

Beautiful Invader

The following invader started appearing within the past 5 years and although the photo doesn't do it justice, it is an incredibly beautiful plant. The color is almost shockingly vivid in the early morning when I usually walk by this pasture and they reach impressive sizes before the Fall is over. I'm sure they weren't here when I was a child, and I'm even sure they weren't here 10 years ago because I was photographing every interesting plant within 100 miles during that time. I'll try to get a better photo before the season ends.

What is it? It is similar to some of the flax plants that are usually in ornamental wildflower mixtures but I haven't had time to research it beyond that thought.

New and interesting 

I've been to Kindergarten for 1 week

Clean-up

Last weekend I started cleaning the debris from the inside of the pond berm, and finished it this weekend. Although I didn't get any photos of the animals (insects and frogs), there are large numbers of both. I also moved all of the herbs from around my house since the water they require is causing the outer walls of the house to crack. They will be much easier to water near the pond and will also look better. I moved the rest of the ornamental plants to the South part of my yard where they can also be watered from the pond.

Water and rocks 

I moved all of the herbs