Feathery winged things thrive in the deep forests and lush wetlands of the Adirondacks.  Summer is a brief season here — with nights in the 40′s and days barely making it to the 70′s sometimes, Washingtonians might wonder if “summer” is truly an Adirondack season!  But for a few short months, the little flying creatures are abundant.

Many different yellow birds inhabit the wildflowers and bushes alongside roads and lakes in the Adirondacks.

The color of these birds blends into the light green of the dense bushes and reeds — they are really hard to spot and they don’t sit in one place for long!

This little guy is called a Wilson’s Snipe.  I have no idea who Wilson was, or if his friends played a joke on him by naming the bird this way.   That long beak is important because it helps the snipe get to insects and stuff buried deep inside tree crevasses.  You needed to know that fact today.  No weirder than humans getting food in a drive-through.

Damsel flies are small, delicate and lovely compared to the big, ugly dragonflies.

Speaking of flies…. they are one of the less pleasant aspects of life in the summer Adirondacks, but when they perch on the daisies that are abundant along roads, they are part of the picture…

Oh, stop grousing!  Think of this guy next time you grouse… do you really want to look like this??

Loon families are all over the place this week…. I’ll have more on loons in blogs to come.

Clouds are lifting, am hoping to get my kayak onto the water today.  It’s been cold and raining, but I see the sun peeking through!  Off to the lake….

Next… more loons and more lakes!  But no more grousing!