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.
White clover (Trifolium repens) that was cut just a few days ago towering over the mushrooms. That’s mighty little. It’s Conocybe lactea with the common name of White Dunce Cap. A mushroom often found in grass, popping up right after a rain.
They’re thin, fragile, lasting only a few hours before disappearing. You’ll often find me here, next to Kumud Vanderveer’s yoga studio, where there is often a vernal pool filled with more small delights just waiting for you. So much out there, if you’ll just look.
Another visitor today. A female American Redstart (Setophaga ruticilla). They don’t come to the feeders that I put out, but they really enjoy the birdbath, which is just a few feet from this spot.
I hear them frequently in the woods surrounding my cabin. Making a call that sounds like a Catbird saying, “Myaaah!” Or more of a melodious song, that I use a mnemonic to remember, “Here I am! Where are you?!”
As with other birds that I wouldn’t see ordinarily, the Red-eyed Vireo (Vireo olivaceus), is looking for insects in the woods. I can’t provide them with their meals but I can provide them with water, in the form of a large birdbath with a dripper. That’s what has drawn this beautiful little bird to my camera’s range.
Barometer Earthstar (Astraeus hygrometricus). An interesting little mushroom. Starting out as a minuscule, round, white blob that looks like the mushroom that I wrote about 2 days ago, a very small Giant Puffball Mushroom.
As it matures it takes on the shape that it is known for, with 4 to 20 irregularly sized petals or rays, reaching a diameter of 1/2 to 3 inches across. As the petals open, a round spore case is revealed at the center.
The petals respond to humidity in the air, opening when the air is moist, and slowly closing when the air is dry. Dispersing spores when there is high humidity.
Variegated Fritillary nectaring on a Tithonia bloom
Tithonia rotundifolia. Native to Florida, Louisiana, Mexico, Central America, and the West Indies. NOT native to Virginia but it is a well behaved annual which I try to plant every year. I thoroughly adore it for the many butterflies, including Monarchs, and the hummingbirds that the dazzling orange flowers attract. A bright orange magnet in the garden.
Giant Puffball (Calvatia gigantea). Easily, of all the many mushrooms that I have seen growing along the trails I hike, this species of mushroom is the coolest one I have ever seen. They look to me like something that has arrived from outer space, sitting there observing the humans of Earth. It also brings to mind the 1958 movie, The Blob.
“Giant” in the name of this mushroom is certainly appropriate. Notice my sunglasses in the bottom right of this photo for scale. Most often growing to a diameter of 4 to 20 inches, sometimes even to 35 inches, and on occasion one will be seen with a diameter of 60 inches.
And in this photo, my phone is there for scale.
Giant Puffballs were long thought to be in the saprobic category of fungi which grows on dead organic matter. They are now considered to be mycorrhizal fungi which forms a connection, most often with trees. Each of these entities gaining benefit from the other exchanging moisture and carbohydrates, for minerals and other nutrients.
One incredible species of mushroom.
This blog gives no information about the edibility or toxicity of any of the mushrooms that are written about.
It pleases me greatly that Carolina Wrens (Thryothorus ludovicianus) chatter around the woods near my home all year long.
And nearly every year a pair will choose some strange object in which to build their nest and raise a family. Of course I provide the strange objects, hanging them from the front and back porch ceilings of my cabin. Baskets, a graniteware coffee pot, a gourd with a hole as a front door are just a few of those strange objects.
The male Carolina Wren may partially build several nests and after the female makes her choice the two of them will complete the nest. This year the front porch has been chosen.
Incubation which takes 12 – 16 days, is by the female only. The male feeds the female during the incubation. After hatching, both parents bring food to the nestlings. The little ones fledge at about 12-14 days after hatching.
Sweetspire (Itea virginica) in the rain. A shrub native to the southeast United States. Bees and butterflies love the blooms.
And in the autumn Sweetspire gets my nomination for best color of the season. A great alternative to the exotic invasive Burning Bush (Euonymus alatus).
The female Chickadee (Paridae) has built her nest. I expect by now the eggs have hatched and both the male and the female are out searching for caterpillars, spiders and insects for their young.
A bit of a timeline: One to two days after the female builds the nest, her eggs are laid. She incubates the eggs for about twelve days before they hatch. All this time the male Chickadee takes care of his mate by bringing her food.
Upon hatching, these new birds are naked and blind but within a week, though still with eyes closed, they are growing feathers. The female now goes out searching for food as well.
At eleven days old they have grown their feathers and have opened their eyes. At two weeks, or just a couple days longer, the fledglings are able to fly short distances. After a couple weeks of guidance and feeding by their parents the juveniles are on their own to face the wide world.
When I see a male Indigo Bunting (Passerina cyanea), I immediately know what I’ve seen. No doubt about it.
The female of the species though is another story. Plain brown, with just the very slightest suggestion of maybe wing bars. No eye ring. From allaboutbirds.org, “Females are basically brown, with faint streaking on the breast, a whitish throat, and sometimes a touch of blue on the wings, tail, or rump.” That, “sometimes a touch of blue” is no joke. Can you see any blue on this bird in the above picture? So that “sometimes” means sometimes it is there, sometimes it is not. This is a female Indigo Bunting. This is what birders would call the classic LBJ or Little Brown Job.
And this, another female Indigo Bunting, does indeed have a bit of a touch of blue on her wing edges. Can you see it?
Here another photo of a female Indigo Bunting, with a hint of blue. Mighty subtle! One other hint: The bill is short, thick, and conical, very dark on the top, pale gray on the bottom. Always glad to see the ladies.
