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.
Looking as if it’s dressed to go out to a festive event with those striking colors, this is a caterpillar of the Brown-hooded Owlet (Cucullia convexipennis).
At this stag in its life it eats Asters and Goldenrods, and I’ve captured this one eating away on a Goldenrod.
As an adult it will become a very drab brown moth which eats nectar, fruits, sap, and whatever other sweet fluids it can find.
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An unusual flower color. Of all the flower colors, blue constitutes less than 10 percent. These blue flowers are Tall Bellflower (Campanulastrum americanum), native to eastern North America.
A plant that grows with a central stem, that is usually unbranched, to a height of 3 to 6 feet. Part of the common name, bellflower, takes me by surprise. The flower is quite flat as opposed to a bell shape. Nothing new, I am often baffled by colors that are included in common names. I guess there are others that see things differently than I see them!
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Oh my. Wineberries (Rubus phoenicolasius) are everywhere up here. They’re an invasive plant, native to Korea, Japan and China.
The Wineberry is technically not a berry but a hollow cluster of drupelets called an aggregate fruit. Whatever the name, they are delicious, whether on your morning cereal or made into some sherbet to have for dessert after dinner.
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A Confusing Bumblebee (Bombus perplexus) wanders on an Echinacea (Echinacea purpurea) collecting pollen. In my wild imagination though, I am thinking it is examining the Fabinacci spiral arrangement of those cone florets. Surely it is that smart.
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I first started getting photographs of the little Carolina Wrens (Thryothorus ludovicianus) on June 30, ten days ago. It was the first day I noticed mom and dad Carolina Wren going back and forth, back and forth. You can go back to look at those pictures at: brendaclem.com/feeding-the-babies/.
Today things were a little bit different. The three nestlings often would put their heads out the entrance hole. Sometimes just one, other times just two, and on occasion all three, though there was barely room. And there were times when one would stick its head way out, looking quite grown up except for the down feathers showing up here and there, reminding me of a little old man.
Perhaps they fledged this morning, before I started looking for them. No heads poking out, no mom or dad coming with breakfast. No action at all. I’m pleased they have taken off. Relieved that they have survived the intense heat. The sun beating down on that tiny bird house every afternoon concerned me.
Carolina Wrens fledge about 12 to 14 days after hatching. They become self-sufficient approximately four weeks beyond the big event of fledging.
I’ll be watching for them. Maybe I’ll see them getting lessons at the birdbath on how to care for their feathers by cleaning them.
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Beautiful blue, a common color along roadsides right now. It is blooming time for Chicory (Cichorium intybus).
Chicory is a perennial herbaceous plant, native to western Asia, North Africa, and Europe.
It found its way to North America probably in the 1700s as European settlers were arriving on our shores.
The plants grow to 1.5 to 3 feet tall. The flowers are 1 to 1.5 inches across with 10 to 20 blue ray florets, each floret has 5 tiny teeth at its tip. At the center of the flowers are blue stamens with blue anthers. The flowers open in the morning and as the sun becomes the brightest the flowers close, that is unless it is cloudy, then those flowers will remain open longer.
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This afternoon, roaming around, preparing for tonight’s blog post which would have been Ironweed (Vernonia). I happened to glance at one of the leaves of the Ironweed that I was going to photograph and there was a strange looking creature that looked as if it was dressed up for a masquerade ball.
Unfortunately this gaudy being is a 4th stage nymph of a Spotted Lanternfly (Lycorma delicatula). It was captured and stomped upon. I’ve now notified my Cooperative Extension Agent. I’m hoping there have been no others seen here in Greene County, Virginia. According to the maps that I see, none have been reported.
As of a little more than a month ago Spotted Lanternflies have been found in 17 states: Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Virginia, and West Virginia.
If you find one where you live notify your Cooperative Extension Office right away.
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Yarrow (Achillea millefolium) is blooming now, in many places. Often growing to a height of about 3.5 feet. Each plant is unbranched until near the top where the flowers appear.
The blooms are in densely packed clusters that are either flat-topped or dome-shaped. Individual flowers have 3 to 8 ray florets and 10 to 40 disk florets.
Many different pollinators are attracted to the pollen and nectar of Yarrow flowers.
The leaves are feathery and alternate.
Soon to follow Yarrow’s flowering, a similar looking Queen Anne’s Lace (Daucus carota).
