The home place, as we'd say down South, of Furnace Stream Farms. The original stone farmhouse cannot be seen here as it is just beyond the milking shed and bank barn. In this view from the high end of Kohler Hill Road, the farm appears to be directly at the foot of the Blue Mountain.

 
Raking hay - the second cutting of the season was baled on Saturday. We're off to a good start and, if there is enough rain over the summer, this season may produce four cuttings.

 
Cutest of the four kittens in this spring's crop. Four of them have shown up here at one time or another, but never all at the same time.

 
Great Spangled Fritillary (Speyeria cybele) - the name is fancier than the butterfly - the first of the season. Although larger, they look very much like Meadow Fritillay from above. From the underside, it is easily distinguished from Meadow by the silver spots. A bit closer examination is needed to distinguish it from Atlantis and Aphrodite as their ranges also include Pennsylvania.

 
Cabbage White female in flight. The double dark spots mark this as a female the males have a single spot on each forewing. A male of this species can be seen in a photo I posted on May 25.

 

Redwing Blackbird in flight. The defect of this view is that you can't see the large red patch on the upper side of each wing. By the time it turned in flight and showed them off, it was out of focus.

 
Redwing calling out while perched on a bush in the pasture.

You can click on the photos for larger images.

 
Helicopter - a Bell 210, I believe - turned overhead and returned west while I was looking for butterflies in the pasture. We see a lot of helos here as training flights routinely come from the Pennsylvania National Guard reservation at Fort Indiantown Gap near Harrisburg and occasionally from Willow Grove Naval Air Station near Philadelphia, as well as the state police looking for speeders on I-78 and medevac flights heading to the trauma center at Lehigh Valley Hospital Center outside Allentown.

 
Moths of unknown type mating - when I snapped this, I was so intent on the upper one that I didn't even recognize the lower one as another moth, it reflected so much light I took it for a discolored leaf.

 
Damselfly in flight. I almost missed this individual and the Dragonflies that follow. Yesterday morning I was driving by the spot where I took the Silver-spotted Skipper photos posted here on May 25 when I caught a flasho of white spots flying and thought it might be another one. I was pleasantly surprised when I stopped and found these delicate creatures lined up along the bank waiting for me. At least, I think this is a damselfly; about all I know of the difference is that their wings are one pair long and thin while the other pair are shorter and broader.

 
Dragonfly with two orange spots along the leading edge of the wing as well as a white one nearer the end.

 
Dragonfly in this photo has a bright white tip at the tail end. Is this a species difference or sexual dimorphism? I don't know much about these critters yet, but if I keep finding individuals posing so nicely for me, I will have to do some research on them.

 
Dragonfly here appears to be watching me quizzically.

 
Dragonfly of another sort, or is it just the intense sunlight on this individual that makes its head and body shiny green rather than blue?

 

Agriculture comes in a variety of forms. Fields of growing plants (grains, vegetables or forage), pastures with livestock, orchards - these are the things that usually come to mind. There are other, more exotic forms of agriculture, of course, like rice paddies and cranberry bogs. Here in Berks County, Pennsylvania (and adjoining Chester County) we have the center of the mushroom industry in the eastern United States (California is also a major producer). a building like the one you see here, the Blue Mountain Mushroom Co., is called a mushroom house. Outside you will find composting to produce mushroom soil (horse manure is a major ingredient). The soil is sterilized and mushroom spores grow in rooms inside. After harvesting, the mushroom soil is removed and a fresh batch used for the next crop. Mushroom soil is highly prized by local gardeners.

 
Dragonfly of unknown type which I found next to the cell phone tower a few days ago. I wasn't able to get any photos of this individual in flight.

Remember, you can click on any photo for a larger version which will make it easier to see fine details.

 
Meadow Fritillary (probably) which I observed today. This is my first confirmed sighting of this species this season, although I have had glimpses of something that I thought was this species on a few occasions during the last week. From this view of the upper sides of the wings, it is very difficult to tell this from some other fritillaries; but wing shape, size and range help to narrow the field. See the photo below (the same individual) for a view of the under side of one wing.

 
Identification of fritillaries depends in large part on a good view of the underside of the wings which can be seen in this photo. While not an exact match to the description and illustrations in Peterson's A Field Guide to Eastern Butterflies, this appears to be a Meadow Fritillary (Boloria bellona).

 
Spring Azure female I found around noon today. These are about the smallest butterflies in this area. They may be one of the rarest, or it might just be that they are so hard to see. Their wingspread is only about an inch and a quarter and, when resting with wings folded, all you see is the underside of the wings - dull grey/white with some darker spots. The broad dark edge on the upper side of the forewing marks this one as a female; males have little or no dark border.

 
Eastern Tiger Swallowtail male observed yesterday (Saturday). As I expected, the blooming of the Canadian thistles got some butterflies, especially the larger ones, to sit still long enough to get their pictures taken. Also got some nice shots of Spicebush Swallowtail in the same place and there were lots of Cabbage Whites around. A quarter mile away, with no thistles, I found Cabbage Whites and one fritillary but did not get a good enough photo to see which type, but I am guessing Meadow Fritillary and not Great Spangled). The big disappointment of the day was sighting an azure (probably Spring Azure, I saw them here last year) on my way out the door, but by the time I set down the stuff in my hands and got the camera into position it was heading up, up and away.

 

Whitetail buck I observed for 20 minutes last Saturday evening as he moved from the tall grass next to I-78 to some broadleaf weeds in the soybean field and then into the knee-high hayfield as he headed toward the safety of the woods. I was able to move the vehicle several times and even get out twice to get better shots without spooking him. I took over 200 photos of this one and about ten percent were this good - all were handheld with a 70-300mm zoom lens on a six megapixel Konica-Minolta Maxxum 5D DSLR.

 
Giving me the eye between mouthfuls of weeds in this soybean field, you can see the antlers growing under their cover of velvet. Whitetail bucks (and the occasional doe with antlers) grow a new set of antlers each season, shedding them after the rut. The size of the rack indicates the general health and available nutrition rather than the age of the animal. It is much too early in the season to tell how large a rack this one will grow.

 
Proof that this individual is a buck and not one of the rare does with antlers. Click on the image for an enlarged version that makes it easier to verify his anatomical features.

 
Cardinal female perched in one of the evergreens in which she nests along with several doves and some other birds. In addition to the birdseed I provide, the yard is surrounded by fields of hay, corn and soybeans which provide lots of insects and worms.

 
Went to an estate auction last Friday at a home in the neighborhood that had belonged to an uncle of my landlord. This is one of items offered for sale.

I know what it is; do you? (Hint: It is not for plowing or cultivating.) Remember, you can click on the image to see it a bit larger if that will help.