Summer got an early start here today, with temperatures reaching into the 80’s for the first time this year. And with rain predicted tomorrow, you can believe that I went out for a long walk at Nisqually, my first walk there in weeks. As it turned out, the bright sun and dark shade made photography even harder than usual, so, although I saw a mink on the trail and a raccoon wading through the wetlands, neither of those photographs turned out well. In fact, my best shots of the day were of a Cedar Waxwing and of Tiger Swallowtail, naturally.

That said, I’m not totally dissatisfied with my second shot of the day, one of a Wood Duck and her ducklings:

After seeing numerous Tiger Swallowtails, I finally saw this Admiral’s Lorquain:

But, perhaps the best sign that it’s really summer was the number of native flowers. And the daisy is certainly one of my favorite:

Though it’s not nearly as spectacular as what’s commonly known as Fireweed here: