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Green Stink Bug
Green Stink Bug (Acrosternum hilaris) surely, if you live in an area with Brown Marmorated Stick Bugs coming into your abode, day and night, SURELY you know that this is NOT the BMSB. The Green Stink Bug is not often seen around here, but I’ve known that it is native to this continent, so I…
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Red
Northern Cardinal (Cardinalis cardinalis) eating the red berries of Flowering Dogwood (Cornus florida). Nuts, seeds, and berries. Favorites of Cardinals.
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Phoebe in a Flowering Dogwood Tree
Look closely. In a near perfect camouflage, an Eastern Phoebe (Sayornis phoebe), is sitting in a Flowering Dogwood Tree (Cornus florida). Though it would seem the perfect spot for a little bird to stock up on some berries, this Phoebe feeds on insects and arthropods. They’ll also dive into water to catch minnows and other…
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Pawpaw Tree
The Pawpaw tree (Asimina triloba), is not the winner of the category “most spectacular color in the woods” during autumn. But it does have a wonderful fruit if you can beat the bears to that fruit. Bears love those Pawpaws. There are many Pawpaw trees here in the mountains, including ones that I’ve planted here…
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Best Autumn Ever (?)
No telling if that is accurate. Who’s to say after all? But I think it is. And this tree? A Sassafras (Sassafras albidum) against a cloudless azure sky. Yellow in so many shades, screaming yellow to butterscotch. One of many wondrous spectacles through the forest as autumn reaches its peak.
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Witch Hazel In Bloom
A spot just up my dirt road. Take a hike to the top of Hightop, an elevation of 3587 feet, and you will see lovely Witch Hazel (Hamamelis virginiana) blooms aplenty. Each flower with 4 petals resembling yellow coconut flakes. They wait until late October to start their blooming. Much to my delight, adding to…
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At The Yoga Studio
Year round. Three mornings a week. A gift for body and mind. And now in late October an autumn view. What I see as I arrive these days for my yoga classes with my precious teacher, Kumud Vanderveer. Perfection.
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Blueberries At Their Best
Blueberries at their best? Does that mean blueberries in a pie? Or in a bowl topped with vanilla ice cream? Mmmm. Maybe that is the berries themselves at their best. That, for sure, is when the berries are at their best. But what I’m actually speaking of in this blog post is the blueberry bush.…
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Winter Wren
A Winter Wren (Troglodytes hiemalis) after a bath. A winter resident. Tiny. Much smaller than a Carolina Wren, weighing in at .3 to .4 ounce. Their favorite foods are insects and arthropods, and eat berries such as Juniper berries during the winter. They’re full of energy as they search through dense underbrush looking for a…