Author: Brenda Clements Jones

Brenda is a certified Virginia Master Naturalist, a Habitat Defender for Shenandoah National Park, and a devoted fan of Mother Nature. She lives in a cabin in the Blue Ridge Mountains near Shenandoah National Park, and hikes up to the higher elevations of her mountain often to see what nature is up to. Her constant hiking companion is a camera that captures nature as it unfolds through the seasons. It’s her goal to share the natural world around her through her photographs.

A Guest

I’ve been seeing many juvenile Skinks (Broad head Skink [Plestiodon laticeps]) or (Five-lined Skink [Plestiodon fasciatus]) here. They are so tiny and cute. A delight to see.

Yesterday I discovered that one had managed somehow to get into my cabin. They are little, but not that little that it would magically squeeze in through a small space. At that moment of discovery I was glad that there is not a cat that lives here. The reason why? My Mom’s cat would have eaten it. Or, the cat would have become best friends with it, which is what happened years ago at our house in Arlington. I discovered a snake in our basement that our cat, Casey, thought was there to play with him. I managed to catch the snake and take it to the woods to release it. When I returned Casey was howling unconsolably. It was if Casey had lost his dearest friend. How dare I take that snake away.

But all ended well here at the cabin. I captured the juvenile Skink and it is again out in its wild world. Hooray.

Birds Eat Beetles

Yesterday I posted about Spotted Cucumber Beetles (Diabrotica undecimpunctata) (which has just been revised). They are not something that you want in your vegetable garden. They particularly like cucurbits, or melons, gourds, squash and cucumbers.

Today I happened upon this photograph from last summer of an Indigo Bunting (Passerina cyanea). I’m not sure that the image will allow you to see it, but on my computer I can clearly see that it has captured, and is about to eat a Spotted Cucumber Beetle.

A friend of many years (I’d say an “old” friend, but he is not old!) asked me about controlling these beetles. Well, here ya go Blaine, one environmentally friendly method of control is to encourage birds to visit your garden and help with these pests. Even if they aren’t interested in nuts and seeds that you might offer, a birdbath is a great attraction.

Spotted Cucumber Beetle (Revised)

Spotted Cucumber Beetle (Diabrotica undecimpunctata). A handsome beetle, but one not to be welcomed to your garden if you are dedicated to growing melons, gourds, squash or cucumbers. They are specialists on these crops, which as a group are called, cucurbit crops. Spotted Cucumber Beetles will also feed on other plants in addition to cucurbits.

If you happen to have problems with these beetles, the Internet is filled with many environmentally friendly ways to discourage these pests. Check it out.

Beetles are in the order Coleoptera. They have protective, usually hardened, wing covers that enclose the wings that are used for flight. That is what you see here, the yellow wing coverings with 12 black spots, which are called elytra.

A Big Dragonfly

A Common Whitetail (Plathemis lydia). This is a male. The female has a brown body and three dark patches per wing. Their diet consists of small insects like mosquitos and gnats. A good thing to have around. They in turn are eaten by various fish, frogs, and birds, and other aquatic insects.

Common Whitetail larvae are aquatic and spend many months or years feeding on other small aquatic insects. At this stage they have a mortality rate of 99.9%. As adults they have a lifespan of just a few weeks.

Carrion Beetle

American Carrion Beetle (Necrophila americana). Beetles that do good things for our environment. They’re able to smell decaying flesh from a long distance and automatically take off for a next meal. They eat rotting flesh of dead animals which gives them the name of decomposer. They’ll also eat insect larvae feeding on decaying animals which they themselves are working to consume. They on occasion will eat fungi and rotting fruit.

These Carrion Beetles live in United States and southern Canada, east of the Rocky Mountains. Most adults are about 1.2 inches. Pretty large.

Independent Leaflets

As days get shorter some leaves take that as a signal and stop making chlorophyl. That chlorophyll is what gives the leaves their green color, and what is left in those leaves will break down. The green fades and disappears. Yellow, orange, and red colors left in the leaves and now uncovered, become visible.

This is a leaf of Virginia Creeper (Parthenocissus quinquefolia) with its five leaflets, which seem to be showing their independence, doing their own thing, and creating a fun look of red and green.

Even now, autumn is creeping up on us.

Soon Autumn

Autumn is sneaking up on us. Slowly creeping. It starts in late June when the leaves of Flowering Dogwood begin to let a bit of red seep into the green. Not enough that anyone notices. Anyone except the ones that are tuned into such things. I notice it every year. And now, some of those Dogwood trees have berries that are red. Announcing serious intentions. Autumn is on its way.