Cedar waxwings visiting the berm

Field Horsetail

Creeping charlie, burdock and field horsetail.

There is a fairly large colony of field horsetail growing on the north east side of the berm adjacent to the backyards of Kimdale. The mower hasn't been able to reach this steep shady slope for the past four or five years and other plants have taken the opportunity to expand and diversify the plant community of this grassy slope. Field horsetail is dead common but I have never learned the name for it until now. That is what this blog is for: to encourage me to extend my knowledge of the common plants and animals around me.

Last Monday a day long rain broke what was turning into a bit of a dry spell with the temperature rising to the high 20s for about a week. The new growth of sumac by the road was wilting from the lack of rain. The next evening it was very warm and humid when I visited the berm after dusk. The bats and fireflies came out, as did the mosquitoes. We had another good rain on Saturday and the temperatures are now considerably cooler.