A Cool And Windy June Walk Near Home

A Cool And Windy June Walk Near Home

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It felt more like Fall here in Northeastern Pennsylvania today. It started off cool in the morning and got even cooler after a  cold front moved through bringing in unstable  cool and dry  Canadian air.  There were off and on clouds and showers but when the clouds broke the intense June sun shone brilliantly in the deep blue skies. railroad hike -12

The air was cool but invigorating and I had to hike into the local woods and enjoy it.  The rain once again made everything look so green and alive. The plants are all growing at a rapid pace now including the burdock, or as we called it the elephant ears plant. railroad hike -1

Everyday more plants continue to bloom and today I saw the yarrow in bloom for the first time. railroad hike -25

And I saw more of my  June favorites, the daisies, which are becoming more plentiful now. railroad hike -29

The high bush blueberries are becoming more plump from the plentiful rains we have been having and I think we will have a good crop this year. railroad hike -4

The ferns are now at there peak too and I love watching them sway in the breeze. railroad hike -3

I walked past the local ponds and wetlands and didn’t see any insects or dragonflies, probably because of the strong winds. railroad hike -27

The winds caused the large puffy cumulus clouds to rapidly float through the deep blue skies creating some beautiful landscape scenery. railroad hike -26

 

I walked out to the same  railroad track, as I have been doing in June since I was in third grade. I enjoy walking out here now just as much as I did back then. I was hoping to see a passing train but  i wasn’t lucky today.railroad hike -21

I didn’t encounter a lot of wildlife, once again probably because of the cool and windy weather, but I did annoy a few red winged blackbirds and they let me know it by flying overhead , and, at time buzzing my head. red winged blackbird-6

The male birds are very territorial and defend the nest of the female . You can see from these photos how they got their names. Here is a link to a few more photographs of these birds. https://keepyoureyespeeled.net/photographs-page-2/nggallery/photographs-page-two-blog/red-winged-blackbird-june-8-2016red winged blackbird-7

The only other wildlife I encountered were a couple of ticks. The woods in our area are infested with them and I always check myself to see if any of these disease carrying pests attached themselves to me.  I found a few of them today and took a close up of this ugly fellow when I got home. tick -4

It is such a beautiful time of year and I love every minute of it despite the cool and windy weather, after all it is June, in my opinion the best month of the year. Here are some more photographs from my hike today https://keepyoureyespeeled.net/photographs-page-2/nggallery/photographs-page-two-blog/railroad-hike-june-8-2016railroad hike -30

There is no way that we can predict the weather six months ahead beyond giving the seasonal average”
Stephen Hawking,railroad hike -13