Between June 19-23 we had 3.5 inches of rain which was a huge relief. The only downside is that now grass will start growing rapidly and require more mowing! The river level went from being at a very low ebb to a gradually flowing level. On June 21 the river was still gradually recovering and was beautiful but more like a lake than a flowing stream. My favorite tree, a giant American elm right on the bank is still standing tall although many of its bank-side companions were washed away by hurricane Chantal flood last July, The immediate riparian zone along the river is obviously subject to constant erosion and disturbance by changing water levels. This encourages growth of non-native species such as this mimosa which attracts pollinators including this black tiger swallowtail.
Dragonflies remain rather scarce likely due to the desiccation of many wetlands. I did see this impressive black shouldered spinytail along the river and a female common whitetail on the edge of a field. It is typical for dragonflies to forage away from water to diminish competition.
One of my butterfly/pollinator gardening protocols is to plant perennial flower gardens within physical boundaries to protect them from herbivores and to simplify weeding. You can see from a panorama of one portion of my backyard that I have planted various flowering bushes and small trees. I had to cut down about a dozen large trees to get enough sunlight to support flowering plants which are almost entirely shade intolerant. One such garden along my driveway has become very successful and I have managed to keep the rabbits and deer out of it. I recently built a small perennial rock garden to utilize a space created by reducing the size of a deck. The presence of flowers near your personal spaces makes it much easier to observe and photograph pollinators. Occasionally I also get a plant volunteer such as this native anglepod milkweed vine with very peculiar flowers ( https://www.hiltonpond.org/ThisWeek060522.html ). The flowers smell like rotten flesh and attract flies as pollinators!
Butterflies are gradually increasing in numbers but are certainly not yet common. This red spotted purple is a beautiful species that is one of many mimics of the toxic pipevine swallowtail. However it is in a completely different family, the brushfoots or Nymphalids along with the admirals. Indeed it hybridizes with the white admiral in northern N America. It is also closely related to the viceroy which mimics the monarch. So the coloration and genetics of butterflies can be very confusing and complex! A smaller but more numerous butterfly, the pearl crescent is here shown visiting one of my garden grown purple coneflowers. A confusing group of small butterflies, the duskywings (one shown here on my garden Gomphrena) can be difficult to identify to species and are related to skippers. Tiger swallowtails are likely the most easily identified at least in their yellow phenotype. This black tiger swallowtail is a remarkable female only variant of the tiger that is believed to be another mimic of the pipevine swallowtail. The inner and outer wings are rather different and complex in coloration. Pipevine swallowtails are not common in my immediate area but of course predatory birds fly around and may have learned to avoid this distinct warning/aposematic pattern in other locations. A common and rather remarkable hovering moth that mimics a bumblebee is the hummingbird sphinx moth of several species. They hover in front of flowers and sip the nectar. Bumblebees are quite fierce and avoided by predators so many insects mimic them such as this predatory robber fly- note the fly like feet and only one pair of wings.
Birds of course continue to be a major source of viewing pleasure in summer. I put out sunflower seeds for birds that eat them and attract other species with a dripping water bath. This eastern wood peewee (a flycatcher) visits regularly to drink and bathe as does this prothonotary warbler. Squirrels also visit in numbers to drink and attempt to reach the seeds; this squirrel is considering its options in how to breach the defenses of my feeder.
While we are concerned this year about widespread drought, animals and plants have adaptations for surviving periodic reductions in rainfall. However we must assist natural processes by wise use of our very limited water resources. The most immediate thing we can do is to stop all lawn watering and change our yards into a more natural reflection of the limitation of natural processes. My daughter lives in Park City, UT, and they have a very beneficial program for subsidizing the removal of grass and irrigation systems and replacement with native plants. Kudos to them but they also need to severely limit building permits !