Out to the Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens this weekend. It's a couple of hours south of us and in what will be a very very busy tourist area come high summer. So off we went while the weather is getting warm and sunny without the hordes. We were there for our first time back in April and the snow had only just finally cleared. And there wasn't a whole lot to be seen. But now the gardens were looking wonderful . Particularly nice was the shade and woodland planting. And the ferns especially looked stunning.
Look at that gorgeous contrast.
Also in the woodland were both Lady Slipper orchids
Yellow
And pink
Also found were two new to me dragonflies around the pond in the children's garden.
Above, with the white face and the dot on the tail is... A Dot-tailed Whiteface (Leucorrhinia intacta)
And here is the Chalk-fronted Corporal (Ladona Julia). Both new to me and both northern species.
Our Botanical Garden visit was Saturday but on Friday it was the Maine State Aquarium. It's a VERY SMALL aquarium for the state with such a major fishery. But there was a small fishing pier that gave great spots for photographing King Eider ducks.
At least before the fog rolled in for an hour or so.
On our return home I finally managed to catch up with one of the many many Tiger Swallowtail butterflies that are flying everywhere here. The Eastern Tiger Swallowtail was the state butterfly back in Virginia but we never had near the numbers we have up here. There are often 4 or 5 in the yard at once.
It turns out that these aren't the Eastern Tiger but the Canadian Tiger (Papilio canadensis). It's a little bit smaller and has a very small pattern difference in hind wing. It also loves Aspens and Birches as a caterpillar food plant which makes it perfect for our woodlands.
