Dreaming

The weather is like spring rather than the winter that I love. I might as well be dreaming about the season to come. April, with a Confederate Violet (Viola sororia priceana) and a Falcate Orangetip (Anthocharis midea). Soon to be reality.

Hermit Thrush With A Background Of Snow

The Hermit Thrushes (Catharus guttatus) that are here for the winter sure do enjoy the birdbath.

This image was taken as this thrush is enjoying the heaviest snowfall so far this winter. If you look closely, you’ll see the dusting, which I have to admit is an exaggeration to call it that. Perhaps barely a dusting is more appropriate. This snow arrived on January 14. A week ago.

Delicate Fern Moss

Not a fern, but a moss. Delicate Fern Moss (Thuidium delicatulum), found up here in the woods, in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia.

Mosses are non-vascular plants, plants that absorb water and nutrients through their leaves. Those leaves harvest carbon dioxide and sunlight to create food using photosynthesis.

This moss, Delicate Fern Moss, can be found from Alaska to Brazil. Quite the range, maybe not actually all that delicate.

_______________________

If you would like to receive my daily blog posts by email, sign up here!

Frogs In Winter

Yes, frogs in winter. The beginning of February. I’m watching the calendar and the pond. They’ll be here soon. They seek shelter under the leaves that fall in autumn, and survive being frozen by what seems like magic. They increase their blood glucose levels, which acts as an antifreeze. But with daytime temperatures rising to the 50s they leave their shelters and go to nearby ponds.

That first frog to show up in my little pond, Wood Frog (Lithobates sylvaticus). Many of them in a mating frenzy. Making lots of noise, day and night, sounding like little ducks having a grand time.

Caught Caching

A dear friend of mine, a bit ago, asked me about birds caching. I just happened to catch this Red-bellied Woodpecker (Melanerpes carolinus), doing just that, caching some food for better times.

Caching is hiding food away to retrieve and eat later in the season. The Red-bellied Woodpecker will hide away acorns, nuts including whole peanuts, seeds, fruits, corn kernels, insects, suet, and peanut butter. In this picture, above, it is hiding peanuts into the holes in this tree stump.

These Red-bellied Woodpeckers are in my woods year round, and while I have my feeders out there is at least one that I see several times a day.

When I lived in Arlington, they were regular visitors to my feeders too. Wonderful to see them and to hear their call.

_______________________________________________________________________

If you would like to receive my daily blog posts by email, sign up here!

Winter Resident

Hermit Thrush (Catharus guttatus). They don’t come to my feeders, but I often see them at the birdbath. While they’re here during the winter, they eat berries. While they’re away during the breeding season, they eat insects and invertebrates. Wondering if they’re finding any to eat now. Though it technically is winter, it sure has been a warm winter.

Gray Catbird At The Birdbath

A Gray Catbird (Dumetella carolinensis) surprised me this morning. A bird I seldom see, it was at the birdbath quenching its thirst.

This Catbird eats insects and invertebrates when they’re available, also eats fruits and berries.

I’m particularly bewildered because when I do see a Gray Catbird, it is normally during the summer. This is the first time I’ve ever seen one during the winter. Well, in any event, I’m glad I saw it and was able to get pictures.

Coker’s Amanita

Coker’s Amanita (Amanita cokeri). A mycorrhizal mushroom, meaning they will share a symbiotic relationship, or mutually beneficial relationship, with hardwoods and conifers. Growing in the soil under the trees that they benefit and receive benefit from. They’ll grow singly or together in groups.

Coker’s Amanitas can be found in eastern US and in the Southeast in particular. Its white cap, which is covered with many pointed bumps, can grow to be six inches across.

I love to find mushrooms in the woods, to capture them in pixels.

This blog gives no information about the edibility or toxicity of any of the mushrooms that are written about.

____________________________________________________

If you would like to receive my daily blog posts, sign up here!