Author Archives: Brenda Clements Jones

About 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.

Tiny Appalachian Bellflower

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August 1, 2026

Appalachian Bellflower (Campanula divaricate).

A beautiful blue color on flowers that seem made for dollhouses, measuring just 1/3 inch across. Not only does it bloom in this lovely blue but sometimes its flowers are violet in color. The native range is the Southeastern and Central Appalachian Mountains, including Maryland and Kentucky further south to Alabama and Georgia. It usually is found on rocky summits, cliffs, talus, and open, dry, mountainous woodlands.

These flowers can be found from July until October in clusters of dangling blooms. They seem to call to specialized native bees, butterflies, and other small pollinators.

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Redstarts In The Garden

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July 31, 2026

A male American Redstart (Setophaga ruticilla).

And a female American Redstart (Setophaga ruticilla).

They’re only here for the breeding season, and some head south as early as August. Migrating to Mexico, Central America, the Caribbean, and northern South America. While they’re here, I often see them at the birdbath, just outside my dining room window. Making their little chip song, I know when they’re out there.

Their diet is mainly insects during the breeding season, things such as caterpillars, moths and flies. They’re talented little flying insect catchers, catching them in midair or grasping them off leaves. In late summer they add a few berries to their diet, berries like serviceberries and magnolia seeds.

If they decide to begin their migration in August, I sure hope that it’s late August. I enjoy having them here.

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Variegated Fritillary On Maypop

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July 30, 2026

The caterpillar of a Variegated Fritillary (Euptoieta Claudia) eating the leaves of Maypop (Passiflora incarnate) which is a plant native to the southeastern United States.

Variegated Fritillary butterflies are native to the southern United States, Central America, and South America. They have a wide variety of host plants, including violets and pansies, passionflower vines such as this maypop, and stonecrops. I love having violet plants show up in my gardens since I know they will please these butterflies.

And here, an adult Variegated Fritillary enjoying some nectar. As adults that have a wide range of lifespans, from 2 to 10 weeks.

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Wild Black Cherries

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July 29, 2026

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Wild Black Cherry (Prunus serotina), a tree that provides food for a huge assortment of birds and mammals, both large and small. Native to a vast swath of North America, including the eastern and central United States, southeastern Canada, some parts of Mexico and down to Guatemala.

If you’re feeling adventuresome, hold on and think about it. Yes, the flesh of the ripe fruit is edible, but the rest of the tree including the leaves, stems, seeds, and bark are toxic.

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Painted Lady On Apple Mint

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July 28, 2026

A Painted Lady (Vanessa cardui) eating the nectar of Apple Mint (Mentha suaveolens). As an adult, the Painted Lady butterfly lives from 2 to 4 weeks.

Favorite host plants for Painted Lady butterflies are thistles, hollyhocks, sunflowers, and mallows.

This butterfly has the widest distribution of any butterfly globally. It lives in every continent except Antarctica and South America, and is highly migratory. It can’t survive cold winters in temperate zones.

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Feather-legged Fly

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July 27, 2026

A Feather-legged Fly (Trichopoda pennipes), with a wingspan of 1/2 to 7/10 inch and a body length of 1/4 to 1/2 inch.

It’s a member of the Tachinidae fly family and is a fly that is a good one to have around. Females of this species lay their eggs on insects like squash bugs, green stink bugs, and leaf-footed bugs, which can cause much damage to your vegetable garden. The larvae slowly eat the insects they are attached to.

As adults they eat nectar and pollen and have a lifespan of about 2 to 4 weeks.

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Juvenile Eastern Towhee

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July 26, 2026

I happened to capture an image of a juvenile Eastern Towhee (Pipilo erythrophthalmus) a couple weeks ago. It, along with Mom and Dad were enjoying the birdbath which brings in many birds that I wouldn’t see otherwise.

This early stage of plumage is only kept for a few weeks after fledging. They then go through what is called a performative molt which happens in late summer. This is a replacement of most of their body feathers and some wing coverts, leaving them with an adult-like pattern their first winter.

Continuing through that first winter there is a replacement of primary coverts and the changing of their eye color from brown to their remarkable deep red. Around May of their first year they will have fully shifted into their total adult look.

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Many Of The Fledglings Are Here Now

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July 24, 2026

Fledglings of Ruby-throated Hummingbirds (Archilochus colubris) are at the feeders these days, keeping me busy, mixing up sugar and water for their feeders. The formula is, 1/4 cup of white granulated sugar to each 1 cup of water.

No telling whether females or males are out there battling each other. At this stage in their lives they all look like females. All have white throats, and all have tails tipped with white.

They are so entertaining.

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Many Gray-headed Coneflowers

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July 23, 2026

The Gray-headed Coneflower (Ratibida pinnata) showing off its natural tendency to grow tall and bend one way or the other, usually all in the same direction. A lovely brilliant yellow to cheer the world.

The flower heads are made up of as many as 15 ray florets growing to 2 1/4 inches long. At the center are 200 or even more disc florets that are yellow-green to dark purplish-brown. Those disk heads when crushed have a scent much like anise.

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