Not quite in flower yet, this non-native plant has become more scarce in recent times thanks to the release of a Chrysomelid beetle, the Klamath Weed Beetle, to control this species. This is not to say that St. John's-wort is not still common, it is, but not as much as before. At FWG, the last time I saw a large stand it was being chewed to bits by the beetle, and I've only seen isolated plants since then.

Clinging to the stem of an elderberry shrub overlooking the amphibian pond. THere were several of these odonates around on that particular day.

These spiders, although a common species, seem to be much more noticeable this summer. On this milkweed plant there were several, and when this hapless fly landed, it was pounced upon by one of the spiders so quickly, that even though I was looking, it happened so fast I barely saw the catch. Like other crab spiders, they lie in ambush...

A large, very pretty snail photographed by Diane. This is a non-native species, but even so, not seen that often.

A common moth, but not always easy to photograph as it often sits in dark situations where low light makes it difficult to get a good image. Diane found and photographed this beauty.

A front view of the turtle. This is the first turtle observation we've had at the FWG this year, as far as I know anyway.

A common little bug found not only on milkweeds, but on many other plants too, although their preference is for milkweed. These overwinter as adults and thus, can be often found during the late days of winter in sunny warm spots. I have neglected to photograph these guys at FWG this year, so very glad Barry did.

A beautiful, rather dreamy shot, of the view across the butterfly meadow looking south to the birch grove. This is the old section of the meadow, first planted in the early 1990's.

Beautifully patterned, this lovely little damselfly, is crisply photographed by Barry.

This looks like a freshly emerged damselfly, quite possibly a bluet species. Photographed by Barry.

It has been quite the year for rust this year, with the buckthorn not only at the garden, but everywhere else in the region, particularly afflicted. However, the hawthorns at the garden, as here photographed by Barry, have also been badly afflicted. Apple trees often get rust covered leaves each year, and both hawthorn and apples are in the rose family, as are the cinquefoils (Potentilla) which I've also noticed with rust on their leaves and stems.

Barry photographed this tiny spider, which may be one of the many cobweb spider species. It is likely the one that Barry saw with a dance fly in its web.

Barry photographed this very pretty grey moth on dog-strangling vine in the Ash Woods and Diane supplied the ID for us.

This beetle, which is likely Dichelonyx albicollis (but yet to be confirmed to exact species), also came to the sheets, when we were mothing tonight. It is another new species for our insect list.

A pretty little moth, also known as the topiary grass-veneer, it is in the Crambidae Family. Beautifully photographed by Diane.

A gorgeous big cluster of Dianthus in the Backyard Garden, photographed by Diane. Not a native species, but one that has become well-established over time in natural areas, where it can be found in small, scattered populations.

Diane photographed this native plant at the garden, where it grows in the Butterfly Meadow.

OK, so this was not in the FWG amphibian pond! I went down to the Arboretum, and found this one family in the stream that flows out of the FWG, so I reckoned it was OK to include this lovely family.

Lots of these smallish metallic blue wasps around today. They build mud nests, often under the eaves of buildings. Larvae feed on paralyzed spiders that are thoughtfully provided by the adults and stuffed into the nests with the eggs. These wasps belong to the Sphecidae family, the thread-waisted wasps.

You can see how the shrub got its name when you look at these bladder-shaped pods. These were on a very large bladdernut shrub not far from the pond. I am very ashamed to say that even though I walked by this for years, I never really looked at it, and forgot it was there. Yet I planted this in about 1996! It was donated to us by someone whose name I now, unfortunately, forget. I always assumed that the shrub had died because in later years I thought I'd planted much further from the pond.

This is a very common stinkbug, perhaps the most common in the area. They are often seen on red osier dogwood, as here, and I was struck by the great colour coordination! Look how well the colours of the bug match the colours of the pods.

Barry found and photographed these mating craneflies at the garden.

A very tattered but still recognizable, juvenal's duskywing skipper resting on the invasive dog-strangling vine, photographed by Barry.

A pair of these birds has nested again at the garden, the male a constant presence, calling constantly. I think he is nesting in a bird box, though that is not absolutely certain. Barry took this photo of the bird cocking his head in a characteristic pose.

This exceptionally invasive plant is now in flower, which means it will soon be in seed, and the millions of seeds will spread across the garden...

A view along the south side of the centre looking towards the garden shed and nursery area.

Despite the rain, there were two chipmunks busy gleaning seeds underneath the feeder in the Backyard Garden. They both had muddy noses from sifting through the seeds on the wet ground!

This may be the one-spotted stinkbug, Euschistus variolarius, but it is so similar to another species, according to Bug Guide, that one needs to examine it closely to get the ID to species level. These Euschistus stinkbugs are very common around the garden, and Diane caught a great photo.

The male eastern forktail is noticeable by its small size, black abdomen and bright blue tip.

This handsome male wood duck was sitting on the log in the Amphibian Pond, for several hours today. No sign of a female around, no idea whether he is part of a pair, or just a single male! But by now the wood ducks should have young if they're going to have them.

This pretty metallic blue beetle is in the Buprestidae, the metallic wood-boring beetles. It is in the same genus (Agrilus) as the notorious emerald ash borer, but is much smaller at about 7 mm. It is not a specialist the way the ash borer is, although it is said to really like honeysuckles. I wonder if it has ever been considered for biocontrol of tartarian honeysuckle! This too, like the emerald ash borer, is a non-native introduction. I hadn't seen these beetles at FWG before, but undoubtedly just missed them in the past. I think that, having seen dozens of them in other places, I was more attuned this year.

This odonate flew up almost from under my feet and landed down in the grass a few feet further on. Every year at about this time I seem to scare up one or two of these dragonflies as I walk along trails by the old field. These are one of the few odonates to be found flying at dusk and later. In fact, in 2009, when Diane and I were mothing at the FWG, one stayed on the sheet the entire time we were there (until midnight).

I was just looking at the old split rail fence, south end of ash woods, thinking how perfect it was for insects to land on, when this common whitetail did! Followed soon after by a spider wasp, which didn't sit still long enough for a photo.

Relatively common around the FWG and very distinctive in appearance. They can be found all summer long, and the young overwinter.

This shelter is constructed in the leaves of a mallow (Malva) plant. A jumping spider jumped out of this and vanished, so I didn't get a chance to see pattern or colour, other than to note it was dark!

Forktails and sedge sprites are tiny, the latter especially so, the former about the size of the bluets we see. This lovely orange beauty is the immature female of the species.

This toad was in the Butterfly Meadow. Toads have finished breeding now and have returned to their upland habitats, away from water. In due course (mid to late summer) we will hopefully see some tiny toadlets leaving the pond.

An enthusiastic and hardworking group of volunteers from Price Waterhouse Coopers. Every year for the last 5 or more years, we have had volunteers from this organization come to the garden to help out. We are always very appreciative.

A truly lovely shot of this pretty silvery blue, by Diane. She reports that " It was very interesting to see a Silvery Blue sitting for the whole time we were working in the butterfly meadow. So it problably sat there for five hours resting."

Gorgeous shot of this pretty little grasshopper, by Diane. It is a veritable symphony of green.

A terrific photo of one of our resident 'bunnies', by Diane, taken Wednesday afternoon.

Lots of ringlets flittering around the garden yesterday, but only this one stayed still long enough, and in a conspicuous place, for a photo. Most of them drop down to the bottom of vegetation when they do stop.

We all see these frothy bits of stuff on plants in our gardens and almost everywhere we go where there is plant matter. These are the shelters of spittlebug nymphs. Since remaining moist is important for their development, the secretion fulfills this purpose, and also hides them from predators. There can be anywhere from one to several nymphs in these 'cases'. The spittle is constantly renewed until the nymphs transform into adults.

Who would think that this is in the middle of a big city? This is more or less the centre of the Fletcher Wildlife Garden, and not too far away is Carleton University, a busy road, the Rideau Canal, etc. Yet in this little bit of paradise, a remarkable number of wildlife species call it home.

Photographed in our Butterfly Meadow. Garden lupines (not the wild lupines, native to southern Ontario), were planted nearly 20 years ago in the meadow, and have done very well. Each year, a variety of colours appears, ranging from deep blue, to violet, to pink, to this blue and white one. Bumble bees are usually very active around these plants visiting each the flowers frequently.

Some members of the Ottawa Horticultural Society came for a late afternoon tour of the garden on 4 June. There were two groups; this is the first one, led by Sandy. Renate led the second group. Here they are gathered on the patio behind the interpretation centre, in the Backyard Garden.

The second group from the hort society, got a tour of the Backyard Garden, led by Isabelle who is the manager of this part of the FWG. Then Renate took them on a tour of the rest of the garden. Both groups enjoyed seeing the garden, and for many it was a first visit.

The pretty rosy flowers of the hound's-tongue are blooming now. This is yet another plant considered invasive, particularly in parts of Alberta. We haven't noticed it to be abundant here (yet). It is a plant on which we generally find the caterpillars of the native moth, Haploa, a strikingly patterned dark brown and white moth.

I caught this kestrel just as it was about to take off. The female must be on eggs, for we've not seen her much, but the male is hanging around near the nest box.

Gorgeous shot by Doris of this very pretty beetle.

Doris caught this shot of a beautiful little hover fly, one of the two Toxomerus species that we find around the garden.