Into the Misty Jungle...

Right now the greenery in the Hills is at its utmost peak, and on a muggy day like Wednesday, creeksides do feel like a jungle, it's awesome...but don't forget the mosquito repellent...Wed. I headed out to see what the Hills had to offer along Spring Creek off Sheridan Lake Rd., and then along Elk Creek in Vanocker Canyon...despite the dismal weather. It was mostly overcast, dark, with eventual misty to light rain...but did that stop me? Ha....note that the comparison photos are 'sunny' cause they were taken on a different day...

Above is the ebony jewel-winged damselfly I shared recently...

Below is another damselfly but note the wings are not solid black and are narrower...it may be a banded demoiselle except (from what I see on Google) the wing tips aren't black, the 'band' is below the tips...

Update: Thanks Frank, it sure does appear to be a river jewelwing!

Above is another earlier post, of the woolly vervain (verbena), a common sight right now around the Hills...

Below is the blue vervain, not nearly so common...

A song sparrow ventured out into the mist to send forth a damp tune...

Golden Alexanders along Spring Creek...it's from the carrot family...

Poison ivy is blooming...I've yet (knock on wood) to get a reaction, so either I've yet to come in contact with the resin or I'm not allergic...hope springs eternal that it's the latter...

Someone had a pine cone picnic, didn't clean up their mess!

Was it you?! I guess not...what an earful he gave me for even implying...

Pretty in pink...above, the marsh smartweed (a buckwheat)...below, the spotted joe-pyeweed (an aster)...

Western snowberry is a wild honeysuckle...

I kept thinking this is black-eyed Susan even tho a tiny voice in the back of my pea brain kept saying it was 'off'...BE Sue's center disc is smaller, dome-shaped and all dark-brown (not black actually; see previous post)...field guide says this is a prairie coneflower but my Black Hills "Botany Bible" as I call it, has something totally different for the prairie coneflower...I'm so confused...

The wild red raspberries are ripening...

The sensitive fern is named so due to its fronds' sensitivity to frost, which causes them to shrivel and turn brown...

The cutleaf coneflower has come on strong this year...

Marsh skullcap is another mint...how many mints have I posted so far? More to go...

Wed. I checked out a trailhead on Spring Creek for the first time...rough road getting to it but thankfully it wasn't far off the paved road...the creek banks are just bursting with lush greenery now, which means it only has one way to go unfortunately...but not quite yet.

Tues. I'll post a Part 2, which includes an awesome shot/story...I finally took the time to figure out how to put a water mark on my photos in fact to help protect them from being stolen, I'm so happy with this one shot in particular.