Thursday Thirteen 338: Evening Walk No. 1

Last Friday night, June 20, I was able to get out for an evening walk for the first time in days. We've had endless rounds of rain and thunderstorms these past two weeks, some of them severe, and my area also saw tornadoes. Nothing scarier than storm sirens at midnight! Anyway, Friday afternoon actually being mostly sunny, I decided to get out for a walk. It was warm with just a hint of breeze, and many had the same idea — young and old, alone or in groups — either walking, jogging or biking along local trails. As you'll see at the end, the evening was punctuated with a gorgeous sunset. Click on any photo for a larger view.

A trio of ducks were swimming atop what is usually a grassy area
at a local park, and which the rains have turned into a temporary pond.

There is a plethora of Yellow Sweet-Clover — last year the yellow and white
were evenly distributed, but this year it is almost all yellow. A member of the
pea/bean family, it is invassive and often found along roadsides and trails.

Daisy Fleabane is also growing rampant. Again, you see a lot of
this along roadsides and other "disturbed" or waste areas.

Hedge-Nettle. At first glance I thought this was Catnip, then realized
it is a bit early for Catnip. An easy mistake to make, as both
are in the mint family.

I spied a lone chipmunk and was actually able to photograph him before
he noticed me, a difficult task, as skittish as they are.

Red Clover -- and yes, I know it looks purple, but it's red.

Bird's-Foot Trefoil is common along sidewalks and roadsides.

There is a plethora of Tall Beard-Tongue this year, both along the
bike path and throughout Greene Prairie at the Arboretum. For
those who saw it and thought "Foxglove," you are not far off. They
are in the same family, and this is often called "False Foxglove."

Common Daisy, or Ox-Eye Daisy — can you believe these are considered
an invasive weed?? Blooms June-August.

There are a few pretty pale-yellow Cinquefoil blooming along the
path, and on the Grady Knoll and Greene Prairie at the Arboretum.

I saw several baby bunnies — cute, but also the bane of local gardeners.

As mentioned, we had severe storms earlier in the week, as well as tornadoes.
A few trees or large limbs fell over the bike path, as evidenced by patches
of fresh woodchips where they have been cleared away. The top of this
tree was sheered off and toppled perpendicular to it, and parallel
to the bike path. It looked like several other trees around it were also
knocked sideways during the storms.

A spectacular sunset over the highway and Arboretum behind it.

LINKING TO: Thursday Thirteen

Colleen: If you are checking in here, Wordpress is suddenly not letting me comment on your blog. I tried several times Thursday and again Friday morning, and it's eating my posts instead of posting them. I did not see a "contact" on your blog, so hope you see this!