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Contemplating the Plunge
Contemplating the plunge. A tiny Carolina Wren (Thryothorus ludovicianus) at the edge of the birdbath about to take a dip.
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2022 Hummingbird Arrival
It’s happened! It seems like magic that it is exactly one year after the date when the first Ruby-throated Hummingbird (Archilochus colubris) arrived in 2021. Amazing! This first arrival is a male (though these images are of females at the height of Hummingbird season 2016). That’s usually the case. Males are the first to leave…
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Soft Magenta
Just beginning, along trails in the mountains, along the edge of the dirt road that climbs my mountain. Like a soft fabric made just for a little girl’s twirly-swirly dress of emerald green with soft magenta dots. Dancing in the wind, just like that little girl does. Blooms of Wild Geranium (Geranium maculatum) are just…
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Star Chickweed
A sweet little well behaved native plant that has the burden of a common name which makes me think of an invasive non-native. This is Star Chickweed (Stellaria pubera) which is native to the eastern United States. Though it looks like the flower has ten petals, each of the five petals is deeply cleft creating…
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The Journey
Imagine you are a winged, feathered creature, just 3 inches long, weighing in at 0.1 to 0.2 ounces. Imagine too that you spend the summer months in Canada and other parts of eastern North America, and you spend the winter months from southern Mexico southward across Central America to Panama. That’s what Ruby-throated Hummingbirds (Archilochus colubris)…
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Raspberry Awakening
So many native perennials sprouting their leaves as if little alarm clocks have gone off telling the plants to wake up. One of them, Purple-flowering Raspberry (Rubus odoratus), sending out its maple-like, very crinkled, serrated leaves. It is native to the eastern United States By late May bristly buds appear. The stems and branches of…
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A Transformation
In trying to come up with words to describe the intermediate stage of an American Goldfinch (Spinus tristis) transforming from winter to summer garb, I immediately think of “patchwork quilt” but that is not quite right. After all quilts are beautiful pieces of art. This intermediate stage is an unfinished work, still in progress. The…
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Falcate Orangetip
This afternoon the butterfly gods, or maybe it was the butterfly fairies, were taking care of me. I was out refiling the bird feeders when I spotted a small white butterfly nectaring at a Confederate Violet (Viola sororia priceana). Normally this butterfly, a Falcate Orangetip (Anthocharis midea), flutters by occasionally but rarely do I see…
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Spring Azure
Spring Azure (Celastrina ladon). With a wingspan of just 1 inch, it’s a tiny white butterfly that flutters through the woods as an adult beginning in mid-March but in that stage only lives a few days. The larval host plant of the Spring Azure is Flowering Dogwood, Blueberry, Viburnum and there may be others. The…
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First Tiger Swallowtail
I saw it fluttering about today, this afternoon. Checking out the blossoms. Wondering if they were open, but no, not quite. A few more days and the nectar will be there for the taking. It’s the first Tiger Swallowtail (Papilio glaucus) of the year. Image from 2016