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.

Despite The Dull Color A Butterfly

June 8, 2025

Butterflies are usually brightly colored creatures. This one not so much. But it is not a moth. Grayish-tan with eyespots that may be for startling predators. A Little Wood Satyr (Megisto cymela).

The word “little” in its common name is appropriate. Its wingspan is just 1.5″ to 1.75″. The host plant of the Little Wood Satyr is various species of grasses. As adults they rarely go to flowers but rather feed on oozing tree sap, rotten or fermenting fruit, solid animal wastes, and dead animals.

A butterfly that is native to eastern North America.

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A Small Blue-gray Bird

June 7, 2025

A small bird with a long tail. Its total length, just 4″ to 5″, weighing a quarter of an ounce, about the weight of a nickel. Here, perching on the ferns of asparagus. A Blue-gray Gnatcatcher (Polioptila caerulea) sitting still for a split second for a photo. They seem to always be in motion.

They are here during breeding season. Eating insects, insect eggs, and spiders, sometimes catching the insects while in flight. The males are great participants in family life, working to help build their cup-shaped nests, helping to incubate the eggs, and helping to raise and feed the babies.

These little birds seem to enjoy collecting their meals in the vegetable garden. I hope they sense my appreciation.

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You Can’t See Me!

June 6, 2025

We discovered this tiny bunny as we were roaming. It was deep in the grass, though I’m sure, it was thinking the grass was certainly not deep enough. Trying ever so much to become invisible. Trying very hard to tell us, “You can’t see me!” We continued our wandering after I got a picture. Leaving it alone to feel safe again.

Eastern Cottontail (Sylvilagus floridanus).

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Black Raspberries

June 5, 2025

Yum! Black Raspberries (Rubus occidentalis) native to eastern North America. Just beginning to ripen up here. They look quite similar to Allegheny Blackberries (Rubus allegheniensis) which also grow up here in the mountains.

Black Raspberries grow on bushes that have pale green stems and the berries are round, while Blackberries are longer than they are wide, and a bit larger than Black Raspberries. Another difference, Black Raspberries are hollow. Blackberries are solid. Black Raspberries also have a bloom similar to what is seen on Blueberries, though Blackberries do not have a bloom.

Yum, Black Raspberries are also sweeter than Blackberries.

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Another Baby Turtle

June 4, 2025

Today while out on an errand, a Common Snapping Turtle (Chelydra serpentia) was spotted alongside the road but past experience kept any help from occurring. Their necks are what gives them the specific epithet, serpentia, meaning “snake-like”. No matter how they are lifted, that head can come back and bite.

This image is of a baby Snapping Turtle that ambled through the yard a few years ago and decided to make my pond its home for a while. It was tiny compared to the one that was seen today.

I thoroughly enjoyed watching the Snapping Turtle and learning while it was living in the pond.

This turtle, like other turtles, has a shell called a carapace, over the top of their back. As it gets older it continues to get larger, generally being 8″ to 18.5″ long. Its tail is nearly as long as the carapace, and that muscular neck with the snapping mouth, that you must watch out for, is maybe 1/2 to 3/4 the length of the carapace. It’s a solitary creature whose life span is maybe 30 to 40 years.

This fun creature lived out there in the pond for 5 years. I have no idea where it went. Surely looking for another adventure.

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Blooming In The Woods

June 2, 2025

At the end of summer this is what you’ll see along the trails up here. The berries of Solomon’s Plume (Maianthemum racemosum).

Go out right now though and you’ll see panicles (or clusters) of tiny flowers, maybe 5 to 250 of the flowers, making up a length of 4 to 6 inches.

Either singly or all standing proudly in a row. White or creamy colored just waiting to become the crimson berries of late summer and autumn to feed many birds and small mammals. Eating the berries and distributing the seeds here and there.

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Everybody Needs A Scarecrow

June 1, 2025

Everyone needs a scarecrow don’t you think? Mine, made of a raincoat, garden gloves, and an old hat. Here he is showing us the view.

And he’s providing a resting place for a Goldfinch (Spinus tristis) who’s enjoying the tour.

At the end of the tour the Goldfinch gets some thistle seed.

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Black Swallowtail Caterpillar

May 31, 2025

Caterpillar of the Black Swallowtail Butterfly (Papilio polyxenes). A butterfly that can be found in a wide area, southern Canada to northern South America, most commonly east of the Rocky Mountains. These caterpillars enjoy eating plants of the carrot family (Apiaceae). Plants such as parsley, dill, Queen Anne’s Lace, fennel, and carrots,

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A Green Butterfly

May 30, 2025

Most unusual to see a green butterfly. I’m not sure there are any that are native to Virginia except for this one, a Juniper Hairstreak (Callophrys gryneus). It’s actually native to most of the continental United States, parts of southern Canada, and northern Mexico. Here in Virginia its host plant is the Eastern Red Cedar (Juniperus virginana).

A tiny thing with a wing span of just an inch. But it’s GREEN!

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One Of Many Milkweeds

May 29, 2025

Fourleaf Milkweed (Asxlepias quadrifolia) in bloom along the trails up here right now. This species of Milkweed is used as a food source by not only Monarchs but also Swallowtails, Fritillaries and some of the other nectar-feeding butterflies.

There are 73 species of Milkweed native to the United States. Monarchs use about 30 of those species as host plants. As a host plant, the Monarch uses it for the survival of its larvae. That host plant is an essential food source for the Monarch’s developing caterpillar.

The common name of “fourleaf” is used because often (but not always) the leaves are whorls of four leaves, which gives an opportunity for another common name, Whorled Milkweed.

You’ll notice in the top image, that the blooms are leaning toward a very soft pink. They are often white, but I love to find the pinks!

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