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Dancing Garlic
It’s a first for the vegetable garden. Garlic (Allium sativum). Planted several months ago. It’s been a learning experience to see it coming up, green leaves reaching for the sky. And now flower buds atop their stems, bending in unison, Rockettes style. Who would have thought that garlic dances in the garden?! _______________________________________________________________________ If you…
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Skipper
A skipper that is mighty easy to recognize thanks to its large bright white spot on the ventral view of its wings. This skipper is found in a large part of the United States into southern Canada. Adults sip the nectar of many different flowers. Skippers are classified together with true butterflies since they fly…
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Really Red
This morning I spotted two male Scarlet Tanagers (Piranga olivacea) in my Montmorency cherry tree. A tree that is filled with brilliant red cherries. Seeing one of these gorgeous birds is a real treat but to see two together is amazing. And in that tree with cherries that match their color – way beyond amazing.…
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Amazing Mom Spider
Hoping you’re not freaked out by this photo. I had to share this with you, a mother Wolf Spider (Lycosidae). AND those yellow-green dots on her back are her babies. If you look carefully at the image, you can actually see their legs. The Wolf Spider is a different sort of mom, particularly in the…
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Smooth Solomon’s Seal
Smooth Solomon’s Seal (Polygonatum biflorum), in bloom up here in the woods. It is an herbaceous perennial, native to eastern and central North America. Often found in rocky woods, happy in either dry or moist soil. Like the Yucca, it’s another plant in the asparagus (Asparagaceae) family. Smooth Solomon Seal can very slowly form colonies…
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Just A Number
Overnight, one of the digits that represent my age changed. Funny how that happens. Here I am, celebrating with a bow in my hair, on the left (my right). Today, being a special day, I was on alert for something unusual to show up in the world of nature. That seems to happen on holidays,…
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Mom And The Tulip Poplar
This is my Mom, many years ago when we lived in Cheverly, Maryland. Mom created a great love of nature in my heart. A love that will always be with me. I was introduced to many trees in that yard, including the young Tulip Poplar (Liriodendron tulipifera) that is behind her right shoulder (on the…
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Zebra Swallowtail On Wintercress
A Zebra Swallowtail (Eurytides marcellus) on an exotic invasive, Wintercress (Barbarea vulgarism). The host plant of the Zebra Swallowtail is the Pawpaw Tree (Asimina triloba). _______________________________________________________________________ If you would like to receive my daily blog posts by email, sign up here!
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GrandKitty Camp
We’re all having a grand time at GrandKitty Camp. Betelgeuse is being the perfect guest, politely asking for shower water, or bathroom water. That bowl of water next to her food just isn’t nearly as good as those two other choices. And she is ever so polite to ask for more food. Though I don’t…
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Spring Molt
Like many small songbirds, the Goldfinch (Spinus tristis) goes through two molts per year. One in the autumn, a complete molt. A total replacement of all their feathers, body feathers as well as wing and tail feathers. Male and female, they go from yellow to a dull gray with just the slightest suggestion of yellow.…