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.

Eastern Towhee

A large sparrow with a long tail. The Eastern Towhee (Pipilo erythrophthalmus) fills the edges of the woods here with their beautiful song of “Drink your teeeeaa” all day long. For me, a constant companion.

Here in Virginia these Towhees have haunting red eyes but in Florida and northern Georgia they will have light straw colored eyes.

The Eastern Towhee is a bird that is here year-round, scavenging in the undergrowth for whatever it can find. Insects, spiders, snails, berries, millipedes, all could be on the menu.

If your bird feeders are close to the understory of the woods you might be fortunate to find a Towhee under those feeders scratching about for sunflower seeds or mealworms. If they feel safe.

Locust Underwing

You may see one at a porch light late at night or lapping up juices from some fermenting fruit. Locust Underwing (Euparthenos nubilis).

Ventral view of Locust Underwing

Larvae of Locust Underwing feed on Locust trees favoring Black Locust (Robinia pseudoacacia). There are two broods from April to September.

The native range of this moth is from Maine and Ontario, to northern Florida. West to Nebraska and Arizona. Quite the eye-catching moth if you are fortunate and get a glimpse of that black and orange underwing.

Female American Redstart

She’s a faithful daily visitor. A female American Redstart (Setophaga ruticilla). Many times a day I’ll see her either patrolling the garden in her search for insects or more often splashing around in one of the birdbaths.

I can’t stress strongly enough, the birdbaths I have in my garden areas are used often. Right now, there are no feeders out but the birds congregate. And as for the American Redstart, site after site, as I pull information from the internet repeat, “They like to situate themselves near water.” This is the way to get birds to your yard. Birdbaths!

Ailanthus Webworm Moth

Ailanthus Webworm Moth (Atteva aurea). A moth that fools many. Erroneously thought to be a beetle because of its bright colors and its adults taking in flower nectar during the day. And that shape, how can that be a moth?

The Ailanthus Webworm Moth is native to southern Florida and the American tropics. There it has had a host plant of native Paradise Trees (Simarouba). Way back in 1748 Tree-of-heaven (Ailanthus altissima) was brought from its native China to the United States by a Pennsylvania gardener as a decorative plant, and in 1840 it was commercially available. Fast forward to present day and Tree-of-heaven has spread across most of the United States.

The Ailanthus Webworm Moth has, also over the years decided that Tree-of-heaven is its favorite host plant and has spread its range. This moth doesn’t tolerate freezing weather. Cold winters wipe out northern populations but spring brings Ailanthus Webworm Moths expanding their range northward again, starting from warmer areas.

Carolina Wrens – 2nd Brood

Momma Wren waiting for her dinner delivery.

This is the second brood for this pair of Carolina Wrens (Thryothorus ludovicianus). As is normally the case, they’ve gone to a second location, abandoning their previous successful spot, which was in the antique graniteware coffee pot hanging from the porch ceiling. Now they’re on the back porch in a basket that is also hanging from the ceiling.

While Momma Wren incubates the eggs, Dad delivers food to her.

Breeding pairs of Carolina Wrens are monogamous, likely staying together for years. Depending on how far south the breeding pair is, they will have two to three broods per breeding season. The further south, the more probable it is they will have three broods.

I know the Carolina Wrens as entertaining, noisy little creatures. It’s the male that does the singing while both of them will do the chattering and scolding that I enjoy so much.

Hummingbird Moths

Hummingbird Clearwing Moth (Hemaris thysbe)

There are four species of Hummingbird Moth in North America, members of the sphinx moth family (Sphingidae). Sometimes they get mistaken for baby hummingbirds. But they are moths that collect nectar during the day. One of the species, in the photograph above, is the Hummingbird Clearwing Moth. This moth has a golden back, a chestnut-brown abdomen, and pale legs.

Snowberry Clearwing Moth (Hemaris diffinis)

Another species of Hummingbird Moth, Snowberry Clearwing Moth, is pale yellow and black, with a black line running through its eyes and down its sides, and it has black legs.

Hummingbirds that have fledged, or just ventured from their nest for the first time, are the same size as adult hummingbirds. Those that have just fledged from their nest, the youngest that you’ll see flying around, are the very same size as their parents, measuring in at about three inches long. These moths are about one and a half inches long. Not baby hummingbirds but Hummingbird Moths.

American Germander

Native to all 48 of our contiguous states and a good bit of Canada too. An herbaceous perennial in the mint family American Germander (Teucrium canadense).

Opposite leaves, squarish stem. Typical of the mint family.

You’ll find Bees of the long-tongued sort, Hummingbird Moths, and Hummingbirds them selves, as pollinators. And if you’re looking for a word to impress someone, the flowers are said to be zygomorphic. Meaning there’s only one line along which the flower can be divided into equal halves – creating a mirror image.

American Germander being in the mint family, I would think that the plant’s leaves are edible. But first off, the leaves are bitter. That certainly helps if you have problems with critters browsing in your gardens. And as is so often the case with plants that surround us, it presents a danger. American Germander has high levels of neoclerodane diterpenoid, which causes liver damage. Look but don’t eat!

Yarrow

Yarrow (Achillea millefolium). The temperate areas of the Northern Hemisphere in Asia and Europe and North America claim Yarrow as a native herbaceous perennial flowering plant.

It’s blooming right now in this area, looking a bit like Queen Anne’s Lace because of the large clusters of flowers atop the plant’s stems. But those clusters of flowers on Yarrow are quite an irregular grouping while the clusters of flowers on Queen Anne’s Lace is an impressive near perfect circle of blooms.

Sometimes in the autumn a Yarrow leaf will turn beautiful reds and yellows but all season long it has a lovely feather-like appearance. The plant is called the Spanish word for little feather, Plumajillo, in New Mexico and southern Colorado because of the feathery look of leaves.

The blossoms of the Yarrow are popular with butterflies, wasps, flies, and bees. 

I often see Crab Spiders on Yarrow too, waiting and watching for their next meal to come along.

I don’t usually notice the scent of flowers that only have a subtle fragrance. It takes a knockout aroma like Japanese Honeysuckle (Mmmmm!) for me to notice but I understand Yarrow has a nice, sweet aroma, much like Chrysanthemums. I don’t usually notice their fragrance either!