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.
I’m a sentimental sort. Thinking back to my Mom’s gardens when I was little. The flowers that I’m able to remember are quite special to me. Nearly all of them don’t fit into what I select for my gardens now. Natives have become a main focus in choosing what gets planted at my cabin. That was not given much thought years ago.
Rose campion (Lychnis coronaria) is one of the flowers that comes to mind. Those gardens in our yard, giving Mom such pleasure. Cheverly Manor.
I’m sure the fact that Rose Campion was from northern Africa, southern Europe and the Middle East never occurred to Mom. She was going with her heart, designing her gardens in a way that spoke to her sense of garden design. Now I’m adding sentimentality to what is important to me, along with natives.
The Leaf-footed Bug (Acanthocephala terminalis) is found in the eastern United States west to Colorado and Texas. Adults are about an inch in length. Their antennae are in four segments, the last segment is orange, (this is what I normally see) or yellow or white.
Their common name, shared with other species (making things a bit confusing, but that is often the case with common names), makes reference to the Leaf-footed Bug’s last pair of legs that resemble a leaf. Adults overwinter. Eggs are laid in the spring then there are five nymph stages. Quite the interesting bug to see.
Every year, in late May and early June I see Golden-backed Snipe Flies (Chrysopilus thoracicus) mating. These snipe flies are quite attractive with their golden thorax. Very little is known about them, even what they eat. Or whether the adults eat anything at all.
The males have large eyes which meet, while the females have smaller eyes with a space between them. Also the males have a slim abdomen, females are more robust. The Golden-backed Snipe Fly measures in at about one-half inch. Unlike some other flies, these are not pests.
Wild blackberry bushes (Rubus allegheniensis) have just finished blooming up here in the mountains. The list of insects, game birds, songbirds and mammals that these bushes benefit goes on and on. Needless to say the ecological benefit of these bushes to wildlife is quite high.
Many insects benefit from the pollen and nectar available in the flowers, others eat the leaves, sip the sap, or chomp on the canes. Game birds and songbirds eat the fruit. Mammals enjoy the fruit as well as eating leaves and canes. And the bushes themselves provide sheltering protection and nesting sites for some birds.
What I’m waiting for though is my fill of the berries. They are just at the very beginning stage. Many weeks to go as they get big enough, juicy enough and with that perfect wild in the woods blackberry flavor.
Many blackberry bushes up here. No need to search. They seem to be everywhere. The bushes spread thanks to animals distributing the seeds, rhizomes spreading underground, and as the canes reach out and touch the ground they take root. If you want some growing in your yard, you’ve got to keep a close eye on them. Otherwise they’ll run rampant.
Several weeks from now there will be loads of blackberries and maybe if I’m lucky there will be pears on the pear tree too.
Repairing the porch. Lots of noise and commotion. It brought out something I’ve not seen before. A Broad-headed Skink (Plestiodon laticeps). A male during breeding season, with orange-red head that is puffed up which gives it the name “broad-headed.” I’ve seen lots of these skinks before, smaller ones, younger ones. Cute little ones just a couple inches long.
As a youngster, they have a distinctive bright blue tail. That blue fades as the skink matures. They also lose those stripes, at least the male does. The female’s stripes become more subtle.
But to see this big guy, this mature male, thirteen inches long, scampering around with such a bright color and no stripes. Quite a wonderful surprise.
Eye catching in its size and coloring, eye catching in its web design. Yellow Garden Spider (Argiope aurantia). A pretty large spider. The body of the female, the larger of the sexes, is about an inch in length, up to three times the size of males. Add those long legs and that is indeed a sizable spider.
Not a worry for us humans though. They are quite docile. Just be gentle and respectful. But they do have venom that they use to paralyze their prey which get caught in their webs. Yellow Garden Spiders dine on aphids, bees, wasps, grasshoppers, flies, moths.
There is no sure answer as to why they have that distinctive zigzag on their webs, but some scientists believe that it is to allow birds to see the web and avoid flying through it.
Over the years I’ve had many Carolina Wren (Thryothorus ludovicianus) nests built here at my cabin. At least one out by the vegetable garden in a bird house.
Another in a five-pointed star bird house on the porch.
And in what seems to be a favorite spot, in an antique graniteware coffeepot hanging from the porch ceiling. That coffee pot was found here, down by the very old, pre-1905 cabin. My seven year old granddaughter says the coffeepot looks like a white and black cow, with its spots. I think that’s an apt description. The coffeepot is not only their favorite nesting spot but also a favorite spot for snuggling in at night, no matter whether it’s the coldest cold of winter or the warmest of summer nights.
Nesting activities are taking place right now. In very early May a pair of wrens were going hither and yon, gathering and placing just the perfect bits, using a basket that is also hanging from the porch ceiling as a landing spot. A spot to jump from, into the coffeepot.
Endless trips back and forth bringing all sorts of stuff, from pine needles to leaves to a bit of aluminum foil from the grill.
Now, add a bit of a complication. Our porch is getting a repair job. Work on the repair had not started when the nest construction began. But once the new lumber arrived along with hammers and saws, well you can just imagine the sounds. The pounding, the sawing, more pounding. So much commotion. But still the little wrens continued.
And then the time I had dreaded arrived. Moving day. The coffeepot was hanging from the ceiling at a spot where it would be absolutely in the way. Time to move it where it and the residents would be safe. AND when the coffeepot was brought down from the ceiling, a joyous revelation. Four tiny eggs. Seven-tenths of an inch long. Six-tenths of an inch wide. That tiny. Moved to a spot that will be away from the action, within fifteen feet of where the coffeepot had been.
I watched with great apprehension and finally one of the parents showed up where the coffeepot had been but within less than a minute the coffeepot was spotted and accepted. That tense time was twelve days ago. Mom has been sitting on her eggs nearly all the time now. Carolina Wren Moms do leave the nest occasionally. And now when will the eggs hatch? In twelve to sixteen or twelve to seventeen days, depending on which source you want to depend on. That means soon! I can hardly wait!
A jewel toned beauty in a spider. Tiny too. Orchard Orb-weaver Spider (Leucauge). Most males are smaller than females. The males are about an eighth of an inch long. The female about a quarter inch long. Tiny.
I’ve happened upon these spiders on several visits to central Florida. I believe these are females because their bodies are about a quarter inch in length.
They are hard workers, consuming things that often are pests to us humans, such as flies, moths, beetles, wasps and mosquitoes. Some of the pests they eat are a help to farmers, pests that would otherwise damage commercial crops. Good to see them.
I’m always taking photos of things that I have no idea of their identification. That was the case back in late June 2013 when I took this photo. A small plant with little flowers with, oh my, what a gorgeous color. As always, I came back to my cabin and opened up my books to solve the mystery. Turns out the mystery plant is Venus’ Looking Glass (Triodanis perfoliata).
From Canada to Argentina, this annual herb is native to North and South America.
The plants generally grow to be four to twelve inches tall without branching. The flowers are about one-half inch across.
Both the leaves and the stem contain a milky sap reminiscent of the stem of a dandelion. Along with the flowers that open and get pollinated in the normal fashion, the flowers on the bottom of the stem never open and self–pollinate. Seeds capsules develop from the ovaries of all the flowers, containing tiny wind dispersed seeds the color of mahogany and the shape of a lens.
Since that summer when I first found this plant I have occasionally seen Venus’ Looking Glass growing one or two at a time at the edges of my woods. A welcome addition to my woodland home.
A clump of grass in early spring becomes green streaks, highlighted with six pointed dots of cheery blue. Common Blue-eyed Grass (Sisyrinchium angustifolium) is native to the eastern two thirds of the United States and Canada.
Though “grass” is in the common name, it is not a grass at all but is in the iris family of plants. This Blue-eyed Grass is an herbaceous perennial that is a spot of joy in spring. And quite an amazing thing if you’re watching the development of what seems to be that clump of grass wondering what it is.
If you look at those blades with knowing eyes, you can see the look of iris stems containing buds.
It is surprising for me to learn that the each flower actually consists of only three petals along with three nearly twin sepals, creating the look of six petals. The flowers are doll house sized, about one half inch across with each petal or sepal having a pointed tip and a slight indentation on either side of the tip.
The seed capsule, seen just below a flower in the above image, will split into three sections at maturity. The small black seeds to be a carried just a short distance with the wind.
As I was collecting these photographs, I took a trip to Florida and came upon a different species of Blue-eyed Grass. White Blue-Eyed Grass (Sisyrinchium albidum). Delighted to make this find.
Back in Virginia I’m enjoying my natives that bring me such pleasure.
