Black Moshannon

Fragrant water lily.

Black Moshannon State Park is a busy park devoted to recreation. But the park has some really unique features that have made me want to visit for a while.

We got a chance  to see Black Moshannon when we ventured out to nearby Canoe Creek State Park. There is a large bog which is home to some amazing plants. There are orchids that grow there, but we did not get to see them in bloom. We did get to see carnivorous pitcher plants. There are lots of wild blueberries growing along the Bog Trail, which is mainly a boardwalk, and throughout the Blueberry Trail. We encountered many folks eagerly filling buckets with ripe blueberries.  

These tiger swallowtails must have found some particularly tasty mud from which to get minerals. They were all crowded around, which was quite a surprise as we entered the Bog Trail.

Tiger swallowtails.

Rhododendron.

Fragrant water lily.

Yellow pond lily.

Familiar bluet damselfly.

Seed pods of the carnivorous pitcher plants.

Blue dasher dragonfly.

Pitcher plant.

Indian-pipe, a plant without chlorophyl. It feeds off of fungi, which in turn feeds off the roots of beech trees.

Wild columbine.

Wild blueberries.

Rhododendron with skipper butterfly.

Blue dasher dragonfly.

Blue dasher dragonfly.

Swamp rose.

Pitcher plant seed pod. They extend their flower stems well beyond the reach of the pitchers,
since it would be self-defeating to eat their would-be pollinators.

Fragrant water lily.

Sphagnum moss.

Pitcher plant.

Scarce chaser dragonfly.

Pitcher plant.

Pitcher plant.

Meadow-sweet.

I believe this is a kind of fritillary butterfly.

Pitcher plants.

Fragrant water lily.