Last week I wrote at the apex of a drought that has been gripping southwestern Michigan. This week the situation is greatly improved. Over the last week Kalamazoo saw close to 2 inches of rain – cutting by a third our shortage for the season.

Along with the rain came hot temperatures and high humidity. On Friday I again headed out to the Allegan Forest – the dragonflies who had been laying low were again out in abundance, as were spicebush, red spotted purples, and tiger swallowtails.

I spent most of the day out at the old farmstead off 48th street. The marsh at the south end is not wet with standing water – but it is back to being mucky and no doubt wet-water wet in the center. The red dragons are out in great abundance. I saw a couple of blue dashers (got no shots of them) and a small, as yet unidentified subject that looked a lot like a half sized immature Halloween pennant. But the pennants are fading as summer marches on. The red dragons – premature when they first appeared – are better suited to the season with each passing day.

More photos from the day: