Discover and explore the natural beauty of Upstate New York
Hovey Pond offers a convenient nature retreat from the busier streets at the center of Queensbury. It is an easy quarter-mile loop along which you’ll find wildflowers, ducks, and turtles. Walking the catwalk to the south of the pond takes you into some wetlands where frogs and skimmers can also be found.
Rhus typhina, the staghorn sumac,[2] is a species of flowering plant in the familyAnacardiaceae, native to eastern North America. It is primarily found in southeastern Canada, the northeastern and midwestern United States, and the Appalachian Mountains,[3] but it is widely cultivated as an ornamental throughout the temperate world.
Source: Rhus typhina — Wikipedia
Lobelia cardinalis, the cardinal flower(syn.L. fulgens), is a species of flowering plant in the bellflower family Campanulaceae native to the Americas, from southeastern Canada south through the eastern and southwestern United States, Mexico and Central America to northern Colombia.[2]
Source: Lobelia cardinalis — Wikipedia
In the featured photo above, a family of geese drift across Lake Luzerne and radiate a subtle rippling of water behind them with mountains of green and a sky full of clouds that create the backdrop for this picturesque view.
The eastern newt (Notophthalmus viridescens) is a common newt of eastern North America. It frequents small lakes, ponds, and streams or nearby wet forests. The eastern newt produces tetrodotoxin, which makes the species unpalatable to predatory fish and crayfish.[2] It has a lifespan of 12 to 15 years in the wild, and it may grow to 5 in (13 cm) in length. These animals are common aquariumpets, being either collected from the wild or sold commercially. The striking bright orange juvenile stage, which is land-dwelling, is known as a red eft. Some sources blend the general name of the species and that of the red-spotted newt subspecies into the eastern red-spotted newt (although there is no “western” one).[3][4]
Source: Eastern Newt — Wikipedia
In the photo above, a hornworm hosts many cocoons of Cotesia congregata.
Cotesia congregata is a parasitoid wasp of the genus Cotesia. The genus is particularly noted for its use of polydnaviruses. Parasitoids are distinct from true parasites in that a parasitoid will ultimately kill its host or otherwise sterilize it.
Source: Cotesia congregata — Wikipedia
The common whitetail or long-tailed skimmer (Plathemis lydia) is a common dragonfly across much of North America, with a striking and unusual appearance. The male’s chunky white body (about 5 cm or 2 inches long), combined with the brownish-black bands on its otherwise translucent wings, give it a checkered look. Females have a brown body and a different pattern of wing spots, closely resembling that of female Libellula pulchella, the twelve-spotted skimmer. Whitetail females can be distinguished by their smaller size, shorter bodies, and white zigzag abdominal stripes; the abdominal stripes of L. puchella are straight and yellow.[1]
Source: Common whitetail — Wikipedia
Approximately 2 miles of trail encircle Lake Bonita offering regular views of the scenic lake and its surroundings, with several streams crossing its path. To the north is a bridge that crosses over Beaver Brook and on the east is a cottage, dock, and rock overlook.
Upstate NY Nature Photography