June 14, 2025
A Gray Petaltail (Tachopteryx thoreyi), a Dragonfly species, basking in the sun on a utility pole. About 3 inches long. Native to the eastern US. They eat a wide variety of insects such as mosquitoes, gnats, and aphids but they will also eat tadpoles, worms, and fish.
They’re not concerned the presence of people and will sometimes land on one’s arm.
_______________________
If you would like to receive my daily blog posts by email, sign up here!
Way up the mountain, in a power line right of way, lives a quite large Mountain Laurel (Kalmia latifolia). A Mountain Laurel with a beautiful view down the mountain. That view glowing in the sunshine. What a lovely day for a hike. And perfect timing for finding this pale pink bush in full bloom.
Native to the eastern United States. It can grow into a small tree of 15 or 20 feet if conditions are right.
Quite the treat to find on such a lovely day.
________________________________
If you would like to receive my daily blog posts by email, sign up here!
A year round resident, year round in most of the eastern US. A medium sized woodpecker. A female Red-bellied Woodpecker (Melanerpes carolinus).
It showed up this morning teasing me with poses that didn’t last very long but I managed to get a few pictures.
This makes me think, I’ve got to get into the kitchen and whip up some suet for the woodpeckers. They love it.
_______________________________________________________________________
If you would like to receive my daily blog posts by email, sign up here!
A perennial vine, native to the eastern United States. Coral Honeysuckle (Lonicera sempervirens) with flowers that provide nectar to hungry Ruby-throated Hummingbirds. Bees and butterflies are attracted to the blooms as well. The Coral Honeysuckle is the host plant for Spring Azure Butterflies and Snowberry Clearwing Moths.
The berries of this Honeysuckle are eaten by many birds, including Quail, Robins, Goldfinches, Purple Finches, and Hermit Thrushes.
A lovely Honeysuckle, native and well behaved.
_______________________________________________________________________
If you would like to receive my daily blog posts by email, sign up here!
Mountain Stonecrop (Sedum ternatum)
“Once established, this prostrate, spreading ground cover needs little, if any, maintenance.” — Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center.
Now that is my kind of plant.
A native to much of the eastern United States. As you can see, its flowers are star-like with four points. The leaves are arranged in whorls of three. Flowers in late spring and early summer. The leafy plants are 2 to 3 inches tall with blooms towering over them at 6 to 8 inches tall. Pollinators are various bees, wasps and flies.
An odd little clump of a plant that I’ve only seen in one spot in my travels along the trails up here in the mountains. Virginia Pennywort (Obolaria virginica). The only member of its genus. How special. Leaves and flowers grow all squashed together as if grown inside a tight space.
Virginia Pennywort is native to the eastern United States. It’s a plant that is mycotrophic, which is a type of symbiotic relationship. This involves the roots of a woody plant that uses photosynthesis to get its nutrients, and microrrhizal fungi. These three items (Virginia Pennywort, woody plant and fungi) involved in carbon, water and nutrients being shared by these three plants. So, though it does have green leaves, it doesn’t depend entirely on photosynthesis. This is called hemiparasitic, or partially parasitic.
Nature is so amazing.
