Goose Pond Mountain Boardwalk

A meadowhawk lands on Sebastian's white cap.

Even this late in the season, life presses on, the Nature Strollers spent some time watching red meadowhawk dragonflies mating at the pond.

As kids race ahead and I amble along with the parents, two startlingly white blobs against the gray bark of an alder growing near the third pond attract my attention. Close inspection reveals a number of wooly alder aphids. These insects look like little white fuzzballs. They manufacture waxy white secretions that covers their bodies in order to protect themselves from predators. We notice that several ants and yellow jackets attend the aphids. Turns out, they are looking for the honeydew secretions that aphids produce at the ends of their abdomens. This sweet product of the tree sap they consume is worth so much to the ants that they will often guard aphids from predators in return for the tasty liquid.