Late Summer in the Park

  Here is what I recorded on August 30, a day I had a lot of fun discovering and watching unusual objects in Brightwood Park and Prospect Street in the daytime, and in Mindowaskin Park and downtown in the evening.

Around noon in Brightwood Park, a female downy woodpecker was teaching her children how to hunt for food on a tree.  The mother was very talkative and noisy.  The little ones were too small and in constant motion to be captured on camera.

A female wood duck had a turtle admirer following her while she was posing for a photo session.  However, she was unable to impress a young male duck who kept shaking his head.

A few other amphibians were enjoying a sun bath while I was having my forest bath..

Rain drops from last night were preserved in spiderwebs by the large pond.  They were glowing like stars in the night sky.

On the fence of the Demonstration Garden, a handsome spider with long legs built a tent-like web.  The talented hunter was able to capture several prey and wrap them up, like making sausages.

It is the flowering season for the common mullein plant.  Although flower buds were all over the stalk, few of them turned into flowers. 

An orange-colored, moss-like tiny plant kept appearing at the exit of the two-bridge trail near the Fanwood entrance of the park.  This year it migrated down the slope, about a foot from where it used to be.

A couple of earthworms were dancing.  The scene reminded me of "the cat's away the mice will play".  Indeed this is a day major predators like robins seemed to be on vacation somewhere away from the park.