What's blooming? At the wildflower plot by the middle gate at Oxley, the gray-headed coneflower, purple coneflower, and monarda are beginning to attract a few butterflies. In the parking lot planters, look for orange butterfly milkweed and tall purple basketflower.

At Redbud Valley, tall, blue American bellflower is in bloom on the hillside between the boardwalk and the spring. Be sure to sniff the hairy sunflowers near the Redbud Valley parking area: they often smell like chocolate!

At both locations, the warm season grasses like Big bluestem and Indian grass are sending up flowering stalks.

Fall foliage report: You may see a few shrubs sporting fall colors already. The staff has spent considerable effort to open up some of Redbud Valley's prairie areas. In addition to cutting small trees and saplings and piling them into brushpiles, some careful use of herbicide is causing certain plants to lose their chlorophyll. The noxious weed Sericea lespedeza just turned brown, but the invasive clumps of sumac turned scarlet! (Please notice how precise the herbicide pattern is; you'll see healthy native grasses pushing up through the dying invaders.)

Butterflies: We expected fewer Monarchs this summer, because of the freak storm that killed so many of them at their Mexican wintering location. We have seen only a handful so far. We did not expect that all other butterfly numbers would be so low! This year's census on July 2nd turned up 35 species and 692 individuals, down from last year's 49 species and 966 individuals. Even though the day was rainy and cloudy, certain groups have been missing all summer: where are the painted ladies, the american ladies, the red admirals, the dainty sulphurs, and the fritillaries that were so common this time last year?

Other insects and arthropods: We have had a bumper crop of dragonflies and damselflies! This is a great year to start learning more about them. Don't miss a great opportunity to visit with dragonfly expert Roy Beckemeyer on Saturday, July 20th!

Earlier this summer, at the end of May and the first part of June, we had a hatch of small, black-with-orange-eyes, periodical cicadas, probably one of the 13-year species. This was not one of the big hatch-years, but it made for a noisy start to the summer. You can still find the smaller-than-usual shed larval skins, stuck to trees and fences. Meanwhile, the usual summer noisemakers are busy: Morning Cicadas and Big Cicadas will soon be joined by Dog-Day Cicadas. Northern Katydids can be heard calling from trees during the evenings.

At the end of June, we found very small orb-web spiders weaving at the end of B.J.'s Pond. We think they may be tiny, new Black-and-Yellow Argiopes (a.k.a. Golden Garden Spiders.) We have never found such small ones before!

For some reason, crawdads seem to be out of their burrows roaming around. We have encountered them in the parking lot and out on the trails!

Herps: The wetlands areas are loud with the buzzing calls of sheep toads (a.k.a. narrow-mouthed frogs) and the booming of bullfrogs. The bird-like bleats of gray treefrogs do not seem as loud this year, but maybe they are just getting started. The forest floor is swarming with small toads that have just transformed from tadpoles into tiny adults.

Birds: Five baby swans hatched at Swan Lake the evening of June 22nd-23rd. This seems to be a good year to look for Painted Buntings. Especially while walking the Prairie Loop Trail at Redbud Valley, listen to each bunting you hear, and look at each one in binoculars. Most will be Indigo Buntings, but splashes of color and a more melodious call are the indicators that you've found Painted Buntings. Also at places like Redbud Valley, examine each Summer Tanager; there seem to be more of the less common Scarlet Tanagers this year.

Mammals: Baby mammals are everywhere! Visitors hung over the back ramp of the Interpretive Building on May 30th to get glimpses of a newly born fawn curled up in the vegetation. Since then, we have spotted (and heard!) fawns and their mothers every week at different locations around the trails. Young woodchucks can be found on two sides of B.J.'s Pond. Several staff members have found young raccoons near the Interpretive Building or along the trails.

On June 22nd, staff naturalist Amy Morris was treated to a good look at a bobcat lying on the ground.

Sky: July's New Moon will happen at 5:26 am Central Standard Time (CST) on the 10th. Are you able to find a hair-thin new crescent moon in the west at sunset on Thursday the 11th? Try for a slightly thicker crescent on Friday evening.

July's Full Moon will occur on the 24th at 4:04 am CST.

You might enjoy hunting bright man-made objects like the International Space Station, the Space Shuttle, or some of the brighter satellites. A very good internet site for more information on finding and identifying them is "http://www.heavens-above.com".