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.

Feeder Buddies

The feeder has only been out a couple days. I expected the birds would take a while to discover it. Maybe a week or two. But the Chickadees (Paridae), and Tufted Titmice (Baeolophus bicolor) came right away, as if they had been waiting for just a short time for their seeds to show up.

I love hanging out with my cousins, my best friends, and these two species of birds, Chickadees and Tufted Titmice, are also close cousins, members of the family, Paridae.

And they don’t need to have a family reunion to get together. They see each other at the feeder every day.

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First Day

I put some meal worms, nyjer seed, and sunflower kernels out yesterday. The first time, after many, many months. Right away a Chickadee showed up, perhaps because I always call to the birds to let them know I’m putting food out for them.

The Chickadees have continued. I saw three this afternoon out there. And this female Northern Flicker (Yellow-shafted subspecies)(Colaptes auratus auratus), in a Flowering Dogwood tree. The Flicker may take a little while longer to approach the feeder. They aren’t quite as fearless as Chickadees are.

We’ll see. Stay tuned!

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Blue

Some of Mother Nature’s artwork. Frost on the storm door on January 3, 2014, when the overnight low was 17°, the high that day was 37°, and 1/2 inch of snow fell.

Tomorrow’s high is predicted to reach the mid-eighties. Certainly this is not January, but is this actually November?

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Color Coordination

Red berries. Red bird. Good timing for the Northern Cardinal (Cardinalis cardinalis), finding those berries of the Flowering Dogwood tree.

I haven’t started feeding the birds yet. Soon though.

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Tree ID Thanks To Bark

Shagbark Hickory (Carya ovata) is a tree that has a bark that is unmistakable. A tree that can be identified even during a season that is often a challenge to figure out which tree is which species – during the winter. And though I’m not a fan of common names, this one is certainly appropriate, at least for trees with a few years of growth to their credit. Younger trees aren’t shaggy.

Shagbark Hickory is found in the eastern US and southeastern Canada. If things go well for the tree, a Shagbark Hickory can grow to be 150 feet tall, and can live to be 350 years old.

Lots of these hickories up here on my mountain. Their leaves are gone now, but it’s easy to tell what species of tree they are, because of that bark. That’s good. I can use all the help I can get.

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Signs Can Say So Much

Signs, of course, say things to me. Yep, that’s what they’re there for. But signs say so much more than their intention. I have a whole section of photographs devoted to just signs. This is one of those that I’ve captured over the years – from 21 years ago, during a trip to New Mexico.

I adore eating in Mexican restaurants but I take it from this sign, that this place closed many years before this image was taken.

Surely, after taking this picture, I had a delicious meal. Somewhere else.

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Fractals In The Garden

An incredibly beautiful vegetable. And delicious too. It tastes like broccoli which might be my favorite vegetable, just a bit more mild tasting. This is Romanesco (Brassica oleracea ‘Romanesco’). In the autumn, Pedro, of Saint Isidore Homestead & Permaculture, carries this at the Greene Farmers Market.

This fascinating plant was developed by using traditional cross-breeding during the 15th century in Italy.

A fun example of fractals containing the Fibonacci sequence. To my eyes, totally enchanting.

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Blueberry Red

Each season holds special qualities with Blueberry bushes. In the autumn, the leaves are right up there in their intensity. Right up there with all the other leaves here in the woods, celebrating another spectacular season.

From lovely blooms in spring to yummy berries in summer. A color celebration in autumn. Red branches, buds waiting in winter.

Each season makes me gleeful to have Blueberry bushes to share with the birds that love those berries as much as I do.

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No Leaves Left

Our autumn is now past its peak. The wind has come through in a rage, taking not just the leaves but some branches and trees as well.

Here, sitting in a Flowering Dogwood (Cornus florida) is an Eastern Phoebe (Sayornis phoebe).

Dogwoods are so beautiful all year long. With their leaves gone and the berries still there, that adds up to extra beauty.

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Yoga Moth

Yesterday at yoga I noticed something high up on the wall, near the ceiling. It looked like a bit of a smudge. I wondered how it got there, but didn’t give it another thought. Today that smudge turned into a moth. A yoga moth, or in the real world, a Dot-Lined White Moth (Artace cribrarius).

Thanks to my teacher’s gentle action, the moth was quickly released to the outside world where it will feel more at home. And speaking of home, they’re native from northern Argentina to the Caribbean into the United States. In the US they’re found in a broad swath of the South and the Mid-Atlantic states. Their host plants are Oaks (Quercus), Cherry (Prunus) and Rose (Rosa).

I wish I had a photograph of the caterpillar to show you as well. The adult moth looks like a fuzzy, stuffed toy of a moth. The caterpillar looks the same way, in a Lhasa Apso sort of way.

Yoga, and another new moth for me.

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