It was a mixed bag today: mostly motherwort (eek, it's taking over the whole northern part of the site), a few thistles, and a bit of tansy. I topped some burdock and some mullein. I made the mistake of taking a few minutes to survey the corner by the phragmites, and discovered a wasteland of tansy, DSV, and motherwort. And burdock, and mullein, and ... I guess I'll just write off that whole part of the site for this year and focus on clearing what I can from, say, the bur oak down to the south end.

The northern part does have a good berry crop going on, though. I'm glad we don't have bears in the area.

This cardinal worked hard to pry something off the path:

Then he decided he's really a water bird at heart:

A bull thistle in bloom:

And a Canada thistle for comparison:

An adorable little fungus growing on a dead branch of the bur oak:

There was a great blue heron in the pond today, along with several ducks. And oh, look:

More loosestrife. The funny thing is, I do think this one is purple loosestrife. Compare its flowers ...

... to the ones I pulled out last week. I think this one is swamp loosestrife: