One to watch out for. Carolina Horsenettle (Solanum carolinense), all parts of the plant are poisonous including cherry tomato-looking berries which turn yellow when ripe. Native to southeastern United States but has spread widely.
Populating the area around the cabin, a few Eastern Cottontail Rabbits (Sylvilagus floridanus) provide fun entertainment as they grow from the size of one’s hand to an adult. They love to eat the clover which grows in great abundance and because care is taken not to tempt them, they eat little else. Little else that is obvious.
So many Common Box Turtle (Terrapene carolina) shell designs! Each and every one of them different. They fascinate me. But then it’s not just the shell design, it’s the whole turtle that fascinates me.
As I’m out roaming I’ll stop if I see a turtle in the middle of the road, to help it get across safely. Surely many of you do that too. I’ve always got my camera with me and I’ll take a picture of the critter. Most of the time I get a picture from above as you can see in the first composite image.
I also get a picture that includes one of the turtles eyes. Males are supposed to have red eyes and females brown eyes but I find that a bit confusing since there is so much variation in the range of red to brown.
Another picture, this, of the turtle’s plastron, which is the bottom of the shell. That will help determine the sex of the turtle as well. A flat plastron belongs to a female. A plastron that is slightly concave indicates a male. Along with the photos I’ll make a note of the location. That way I can keep track of a second sighting if it happens.
Quite likely to happen since Common Box Turtles live to be 25 to 35 years old, and some have actually lived to 100 years of age. Their home range usually is less than 2 acres. So quite likely to show up at the same spot again which makes me feel like I’m seeing an old friend.
I’m constantly learning things as I dig through my books and page through various sites on the internet. One of today’s new things is the word to describe the color quality of the abdomen of a male Common Whitetail (Plathemis lydia). That word: pruinose, which means frosted in appearance. Makes me think of blueberries which have this same color quality.
But back to this fascinating dragonfly. It can be found across much of North America, including all 48 of the contiguous United States. They eat flies, midges, gnats, termites, mosquitoes, ants, small butterflies and moths, bees and other insects. And they in turn will become a meal for birds, spiders, praying mantises, robber flies and bats.
Remarkable agility, astounding to watch. Four wings that can each move independently, allows the insect to fly up, down, sideways, forward, and backward without changing its orientation. I am so fortunate to be able to see such things.
Hooded Warblers (Setophaga citrina) have been delighting me here in the mountains for many years. They spend the breeding season in eastern North America, and the winter in Central America and the West Indies.
If you feed the birds during the summer, these birds generally won’t come to your feeders. They spend all their feeding moments gleaning insects and spiders from the leaves of the dense understory. And occasionally showing off by catching a flying insect in midair.
My strategy to get frequent glimpses of these beautiful birds is to provide them with a birdbath, including one that has a dripper. The bird at the birdbath in the picture above is a female Hooded Warbler looking a bit disheveled after taking a dip.
And here a male Hooded Warbler considers taking a dive from the dripper into the water.
And here he is dripping wet. Believe me, birdbaths are quite the draw for birds. My birds really need a birdbath, for my sake.
A pond will attract some fun creatures. Even a small man-made pond. Immediately after the pond at my cabin was put in, frogs began arriving. One species of frog that visits is a Pickerel Frog (Lithobates palustris).
A word of caution. The pickerel frog is the only poisonous frog native to the United States. You may enjoy picking up frogs but leave this species alone.
Sitting on the edge of the pond, a Pickerel Frog is perfectly still, as if to say, “You can’t see me!” Just waiting for its dinner to come by. Waiting to scarf down a meal. It could be an ant, a spider. Or if a beetle or some bug or other invertebrate were to come by it could be quickly be eaten by the hungry frog.
Caught by surprise the Pickerel Frog will jump into the pond to escape a predator that might come along. Predators include birds, snakes. And of all things, bull frogs and green frogs.
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One of many species of Fritillary that depend on native violets as their host plant, Great Spangled Fritillary (Speyeria cybele). They’re seen in the central and northern United States and southern Canada sporting a wingspan of about three inches.
Many adult butterflies have a very short life. In contrast, adult Great Spangled Fritillaries live from June to September. In early September they will mate. Females will lay their eggs near or on native violet plants.
Right after hatching the larvae will tunnel into the soil seeking a place to spend the winter in a state of diapause or “hibernation.” Come spring they’re close to where those native violets will be growing, ready to provide nourishment for the caterpillars. Keep in mind violets, that pop up in your garden, grow in your lawn, the Fritillaries depend on them.
She’s celebrating her 104th birthday. Absolutely marvelous. She’s part of an amazing family. A family that brings love to everything they do. And she loves Violets. So Violets it will be.
There are somewhere between four hundred and five hundred different species of Violets in the genus Viola, and those Violets are scattered all over this planet.
I’m really pleased to find many many different species of them here on my mountain, up in Shenandoah National Park and other places that I roam.
I’m thrilled to find an unknown leaf, an unknown flower and Violets always surprise me with their variety.
There is even at least one small shrub in the genus Viola which grows in Portugal. Most other species are either perennial or annual plants.
I don’t think I’ll be getting to Portugal anytime soon but that’s fine. There’s so many Violets here to keep me busy with finding, photographing and identifying them.
Keep in mind as you’re tending your gardens to leave some of the Violets. They’re beautiful and they are depended upon by many of the Fritillary butterflies as a primary host plant.
Sending loads of Violet thoughts and many hugs to you, birthday girl!
Red-spotted Purple (Limenitis arthemis). With a wingspan of three to three and a half inches. Looking quite handsome with its iridescent blue with tiny orange spots on the dorsal (top) side of its wings. At this point I have to mention that this butterfly is on Butterfly Bush. BUT this plant is NOT in any of my gardens. As an invasive it will take over places where native plants could be growing and benefitting our natural world.
It’s the great impersonator. The Red-spotted Purple butterfly mimics the Pipevine Swallowtail butterfly. And not stopping at that, the larvae quite convincingly mimics bird droppings.
Preferred host plants of the Red-spotted Purple are a wide variety of trees and shrubs including birches, aspens, wild cherries and many species of the willow family. The adults feed on an occasional flower, as well as damp soil and puddles, carrion, dung and rotting fruit. One of those butterflies.
I know, I know. I understand. It grows where I don’t want it. The NERVE. It makes me itch just to look at it and heaven forbid if its oil gets on someone else’s sleeve and that sleeve brushes against me. But Poison Ivy is a native, and native birds love the berries. Afternoon after afternoon I watch as Pileated Woodpeckers and Yellow-shafted Flickers feast on the white berries of Poison Ivy. Not such a wicked plant if you allow it to grow in the woods in its own territory. Lesson learned by yours truly. Leave it be if it is not in your gardens. The birds love it.
