Tendrils

Indigo Bunting At The Dripper

July 3, 2026

An Indigo Bunting (Passerina cyan) at the dripper, trying to stay cool, showing off his beautiful colors as he hangs on.

These Buntings are here in Virginia just for the breeding season. During that time they eat insects and spiders, along with berries, and small seeds. Concentrating mainly on protein rich insects and spiders.

As winter approaches they head south toward their wintering grounds which include southern Florida and central Mexico, and further south through the West Indies and Central America, and all the way to northern South America.

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Perplexing Bumblebee

July 2, 2026

In the last couple days I’ve been seeing many Whorled Rosinweed (Silphium trifoliatum) in bloom along the dirt road up and down my mountain, creating a bright yellow pathway.

I recently stopped many times along the way and got pictures including several that had Perplexing Bumblebees (Bombus perplexus) at work gathering nectar containing carbohydrates, and protein-rich pollen. Bumblebees that are an eye-catching rich yellow.

These bumblebees are native to northern North America, including across Canada, and the eastern United States.

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Worm-eating Warbler

June 30, 2026

Though called Worm-eating Warbler (Helmitheros vermivorum) their diet doesn’t include what we would refer to as “worms”, but does include spiders, grasshoppers, beetles, caterpillars, and slugs.

Breeding season finds them in deciduous forests in the eastern United States. Their nest is built on the ground, looking like an open cup, among dead leaves. There are several other species of new-world warblers that also build their nests on the ground, including Black-and-white Warblers (Mniotilta varia), Ovenbirds (Serious aurocapilla), Northern Waterthrushes (Parkesia noveboracensis), Louisiana Waterthrushes (Parkesia motacilla), Palm Warblers (Setophaga palmarum), and Kentucky Warblers (Geothlypis formosa).

Surprising to see that there are so many similar little birds that build nests on the ground.

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Blue Vervain

June 29, 2026

Blue vervain (Verbena hastata). Native to the contiguous United States and stretches up into southern and eastern Canada.

Host plant of the Common Buckeye butterfly (Junonia coenia)

Enjoys moist locations. Though this was photographed at Bluemont Park in Arlington, Virginia, I have it in my garden here at the cabin where is enjoys being located right next to the birdbath.

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Fly Poison In The Park

June 28, 2026

Further up the mountain, into Shenandoah National Park, an interesting plant, one I had never seen or heard of before. The picture above is of Fly Poison (Amianthium muscitoxicum) just before its flowers open.

And here, above, many of the flowers are now open. It’s a plant that is native to the eastern US, all the way from New York to Florida and west to Missouri and Oklahoma.

The name of this plant is a bit odd, but comes from the fact that all parts of the plant are poisonous to numerous animals, including humans. The bulb is particularly toxic. Early colonists used the bulbs, grinding them and adding a sweetener of sugar, molasses or honey, to attract flies. After flies took a sip, they became unstable and had difficulty moving.

Creepy, but pretty.

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Often Heard

June 27, 2026

A bird I rarely see but often hear, with its mnemonic of, “Wheat-a wheat-a wheat-EE-oh”.

A Hooded Warbler (Setophaga citron), here during the breeding season, and also in other parts of the eastern US and the most southern part of Canada. Wintering in Central America and the West Indies.

They eat insects found in dense vegetation in the woods, or they will fly out and catch insects mid-air. Though they don’t come to my feeders, on occasion I’ll see one at my birdbath.

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An American Lady

June 26, 2026

American Lady (Vanessa virginiensis) enjoying the nectar of a Purple Coneflower (Echinacea purpurea).

As adults these butterflies have a short lifespan of approximately 2 to 4 weeks. There are some though, the ones that hatch late in autumn and live in regions with mild, warm winters, that can overwinter as adults. This gives them several months to migrate or reproduce in the spring.

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Soon To Be Queen Anne’s Lace

June 25, 2026

Delicate looking pink feet clutching the fuzzy stem of what will become a beautiful flower.

A year round resident, a male Goldfinch (Spinus tristis), has about reached its peak breeding season plumage. Captured here clinging to what will become the bloom of Queen Anne’s Lace (Daucus Carota).

This flower is an herbaceous biennial that has large umbrella-like clusters of tiny individual flowers, called compound umbels, which are usually 2 to 5 inches across with the look of white lace. This plant is not native, having arrived in the early 1600s, after being brought to our continent by European colonists as a medicinal herb and food source.

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Redbud Seedpods

June 24, 2026

The Redbud trees (Cercis canadensis) up here on my mountain in April, reach out with their branches, painting the still black and white landscape with a striking pink hue everywhere one looks.

Now it’s June and those pink blooms have become seedpods, waiting to fall to the ground to become more Redbud trees.

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