Russians, Royalty, and Really Hot Weather- Lake Springfield Birding (Part 1 of 2)

Look, I'm just going to say off the bat that this post is in a series.  I like to put things in a series when they get long, and this will be long-ish.

In the last few days, I've had 280 and up Russian pageviews.  As these happen in groups of 20-odd pageviews every so often, I suspect some sort of automated program is in use.  I suspect this may be due to my esoteric musical choices, including but not limited to: Russian traditional folk music, anything by Shostakovitch, Tchaikovsky, and Mussorgsky, certain Russian and German operas, and the occasional Coldplay.  If you notice, my musical choices tend towards Russian, and I can't help feeling that this is something of a coincidence. Either way, it's something of note.  On to nature.

Despite feeling like it's 110 degrees Fahrenheit outside, I still go birding.  Of course, I did a lot of this before the heat really kicked in.  In the woods at Lincoln Memorial Gardens, I found this American Bellflower (Campanulastrum americanum), a common summer wildflower with sky-blue flowers.

Speaking of blue, this Indigo Bunting (Passerina cyanea) watched me the whole time I photographed the American Bellflower, so I turned and took a few pictures of it as well.

Continuing further along,  I found this Mullein Foxglove (Dasistoma macrophylla), a fairly common plant only found in the Midwest. Often overlooked, the strange, fuzzy flowers remind me of a cleaning brush. Below, in the foreground center, you can see the plants growing in front of a prairie.

Lincoln Memorial Gardens has patches of prairie between forest alongside the lake.  None of these landforms are entirely natural, as both forest and prairie were replanted, and the lake is an artificial reservoir.  Still, it makes for an excellent view, as the trail emerges from the woods:

Another part of Lincoln Memorial Garden's artificiality is the plants that grow there.  Plants more common in Indiana and Kentucky, as well as just plain rare in all three, are grown here alongside more typical woodland wildflowers.   This includes a bit of royalty:

This is the Royal Catchfly (Silene regia) one of Illinois' rarest plants, and easily one of my favorites.  Growing up to five feet tall, with its bright red flowers an inch wide, the plant deserves its title as Royal Catchfly.  It is primarily found in the central Ozarks, with scattered populations all over the Midwest.  Lincoln Memorial Gardens' plantings are the only one within a short drive for me.

The Royal Catchfly gets its name of catchfly from tiny sticky hairs all over the plant, used to deter pests. Thankfully for these rare plants, it seemed to be working.

The local milkweeds, by contrast, were loaded with pests.  As you can see above, Red Milkweed Beetles (Tetraopes tetrophthalmus)  and Oleander Aphids (Aphis nerii) are feasting on the Common Milkweed (Asclepias syriaca).  Both these, by the way, are insects you don't want to find on your own patch of milkweed at home.  Red Milkweed Beetle grubs bore through the stems, killing the plant.  Oleander Aphids suck the life out of the plant, slowly weakening it like little vampires.

I don't know what species of beetle these are, but they were coating this plant.

This plant in question is Partridge Pea (Chamaecrista fasciculata), a common and welcome plant.

Also common and welcome is this Monarch Butterfly... except it's not a Monarch at all.  Thanks to a sharp-eyed fellow blogger, I found out that this is actually the Viceroy (Limenitis archippus), a butterfly which intentionally imitates the poisonous Monarch.  However, the Viceroy is also distasteful, so it imitates a Monarch for unclear reasons.  The Viceroy is also the state butterfly of Kentucky, again for unclear reasons.  The resemblance of the Monarch to the Viceroy is one of the most scientifically studied cases of mimicry, and it's still unknown why they imitate each other.

Darting in the trees above my head were a few House Wrens (Troglodytes aedon), the most widely distributied bird in all the Americas, found from Alaska to Argentina.

This young House Wren has only just learned how to fly.  My guess is that it lives in the nest box.

On one of the nearby blades of grass, this Widow Skimmer (Libellula luctuosa) posed for a photo.

Off in the adjacent pond, this Buttonbush (Cephalanthus occidentalis) grows.  One of the more peculiar plants in Illinois, this plant has perfectly round flower balls, develops button-like seeds. and grows in standing water.  The rest of the species in its genus grow in the tropics.

Both Painted Turtles (Chrysemys picta) and Red-eared Sliders(Trachemys scripta elegans) floated on the logs, waiting for me to go away and leave them in peace.  I obliged, and went on...

TO BE CONTINUED