A male Scarlet Tanager (Piranga olivacea) caught my eye today. How could I miss this sight, complete with knock your socks off crimson. A red that would make a male Cardinal look dull. That bill, large, thick, blunt-tipped is helpful in eating fruit and nuts. The first male Scarlet Tanager sighting of the summer. Looking forward to spotting more.
White Avens (Geum canadense). An semi-evergreen plant that is native to the eastern two-thirds of the U.S. and most of eastern Canada. The perennial plants, which grow to 1 to 2.5 feet tall, have white flowers that are about .5 inch across, blooming from May through October.
The flowers have 5 snow white, nearly round petals. Accenting the petals are 5 pointy, soft green sepals. The sepals are of the same length or slightly shorter than the petals. They’re initially flat, pointing straight out, but curve downward with age.
The blossoms develop into seedheads with hooked seeds that will stick to animals fur or our clothing. Stick tight seeds that are a great way to disperse.
White Avens is a plant in the rose family, Rosaceae, and the flowers look much like flowers of some of the other members of that family. Blossoms of Strawberries, Blackberries, Raspberries, and even some of the native Roses have a similar look.
Eight-spotted Forester Moth (Alypia octomaculata). They’re found in Maine and southern Quebec to Florida; west to South Dakota and Texas. Unlike most moths, they are diurnal rather than nocturnal. Flying during the day with a wing-span of 1.5 inches. Flying, in search of the nectar of flowers, making their fluttery appearance in May and throughout the summer.
Their caterpillar host plants are grapes, both wild and cultivated, and Virginia Creeper.
These creatures are the size of an average Mosquito. Think of measuring them in millimeters. Incredibly tiny, but look at those eyes!
I don’t find much information about these insects in my many books, or on the Internet, but I see that they are in the Robber Fly family. And in the genus, Holcocephala. Here you see a Gnat Ogre (Holcocephala).
There are at least forty species of Gnat Ogres described in this genus, Holcocephala. Three of those species can be found in eastern North America. Given the limited amount of information available about these very small insects, I’m not going to try to narrow down which of them I’ve captured in pixels. I think the amazing sounding name, Gnat Ogre, is sufficient.
They perch on the tips of vegetation, patiently waiting for their dinner to fly within range. Dinner? Gnats.
Every now and then I get a request from a friend to help solve a mystery. The mystery is, “What is this plant?” or perhaps, “What is this insect?” I thoroughly enjoy the mystery and sometimes I actually come up with the correct answer, but not always.
Sometimes the question comes with several great photographs making things much simpler. Other times, such as this case, the question comes with a description. Stalks with purple flowers. No leaves. Trail side. So I begin to wonder.
This plant is Naked-flowered Tick Trefoil (Desmodium nudiflorum). An herbaceous perennial native to the eastern US and southern Ontario. It likes shade or part shade in rich woods. Blooming now into August. Naked-flowered Tick Trefoil has two different types of stems, one with leaves on it and a separate stem that has only flowers. The flowering stem is tall, towering up to 40 inches tall. The leafy stem is short, only to 12 inches. And the flower color? Purply-pink.
Could this be your mystery flower, Kathy?
Whorled Rosinweed (Silphium trifoliatum) are in bloom right now, and through the fall, along trails up here in the mountains of the Blue Ridge. An herbaceous perennial native to eastern North America.
Whorled Rosinweed grows to 3-5′, or on occasion up to 10′ tall. It’s unbranched, except where the flowers appear. Occasionally there are side stems where smaller groupings of flowers appear.
This Rosinweed is a member of the Asteraceae (Aster) family. The flowers are composite, like other Asters, but are larger. They’re up to 2″ in diameter. Viable seeds are produced by the bright yellow ray flowers. And though these flowers resemble Sunflowers, the disc flowers are sterile.
They’re very tolerant of many conditions, but prefer dry, open, sunny areas.
The leaves are whorled. Usually 3 leaves per whorl but sometimes up to five. Often the upper leaves are opposite and in rare incidences alternate.
It’s always fun to find new things along the trails up here.
As the squirrel is looking over at the bird feeders in frustration, those wheels are turning. There is a squirrel baffle that works extremely well protecting those feeders from the marauders. It is one of those black metal, bent into a blunt cone-shape. It works really well. But it certainly gives the squirrels’ brains a workout.
A small portion of the crew of Ruby-throated Hummingbirds (Archilochus colubris) that are a constant source of entertainment during the summer months. Zooming ’round and ’round chasing each other. Playing “King of the Hill” as one decides that it will become the sole consumer of hummingbird syrup – chasing any tiny bird that dares come near the feeders.
They keep me busy, filling 2 – 32 ounce feeders and a large one that contains 72 ounces, every couple days.
Pure pleasure to have them around.
Yesterday I was out pulling Japanese Stiltgrass (Microstegium vimineum) from one of my gardens. Something that has to be done regularly or it will take over the world, totally eliminating the native plants. Groan.
I was rewarded for my work/good deed with a visit from a tiny American Toad (Anaxyrus americanus). Surely not any longer than 2 inches. Just the cutest thing. I suppose that I disturbed the little one, since they’re nocturnal. Oops. They grow to reach a whopping 4.25 inches.
The American Toad has a lovely call that makes me think of summer night sounds. You can listen to it by going here and clicking on the audio link: https://www.virginiaherpetologicalsociety.com/amphibians/frogsandtoads/eastern-american-toad/eastern_american_toad.php
They eat most anything on the menu such as worms, ants, spiders, mealworms, crickets, slugs and more. Good creatures to have around.
Most live just 1 to 2 years in the wild, though there are some that are fortunate to live for as long as 10 years.
Hoping that I’ll get to visit with this critter again!
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Yesterday an Indigo Bunting came by to check out the birdbath. A beautiful glowing shade of blue splashing about in the water.
Indigo Buntings spend their winters from extreme southern Florida to northern South America. In the breeding season they’re common in the eastern United States and occasionally can be found in the Southwest. While they’re here their diet is small spiders, insects, berries and occasional seeds.
And on occasion they’ll come by for freshening up here at the birdbath. Which certainly brightens my day.
