After the Pink

First comes the bubblegum pink of the Redbud (Cercis canadensis) flowers. Now as the blooms drop to the ground the leaves are making their way into the world. The leaves are first blushed with red then to the green we know through spring and into summer. The green indicates the presence of chlorophyll which is a pigment used to absorb energy from the sun.

The red color in the new leaves is the pigment anthocyanin. This pigment and the role it plays in leaves has been studied and it is thought that the red plays a part in protecting the leaves from being eaten. Many mammals, primates excluded, do not perceive yellow, orange and red colors but see them as gray. These mammals, not seeing a green leaf, would not recognize it as a choice for a snack or meal. This same pigment is the one that allows some autumn leaves to turn red, as the amount of chlorophyll diminishes in the leaves of those leaves.

Spring unfurling.

Wineberry Sherbet

Wineberry (Rubus phoenicolasius) is an invasive plant, native to Japan, Korea and China. This is what it looks like right now with its red prickly stems and leaves that have white undersides. It grows all over up here in the mountains.

Soon there will be luscious berries. Ruby red. Last year many were collected. They’re best eaten right away since they’re very delicate but some were set aside to be made into a syrup and frozen in order to make a delightful treat.

This morning I whipped up some cream, slowly poured some of that syrup in and churned it up in the ice cream freezer. Tonight after dinner we’ll have Wineberry sherbet. Mmmmmm!

Wild Ginger a Great Groundcover

Wild Ginger (Asarum canadense) is a perennial, herbaceous plant, native to eastern North America. I find it here in the higher elevations.

It spreads by rhizomes and makes a lovely groundcover in shade or part shade. I find it doesn’t care for the driest days of hot summer, but responds with appreciation when I water the many little plants.

This, from a few weeks ago. A bud, soon to be a flower.

Here’s the flower of Wild Ginger. If you didn’t know, you certainly would miss the flower. Gently push aside the soft leaves and there it will be. This is one of many plants that benefit from myrmecochory, or seed dispersal by ants. Pollinators are flies and beetles. It is a host plant to some moths and butterflies including the Pipevine Swallowtail.

More and more, spring is unfolding!

Pinxter Azalea

Roaming the trails up here, you’re going to find Pinxter Azaleas (Rhododendron periclymenoides) blooming with their beautiful pink flowers, here and there. It’s a deciduous shrub that is native from Massachusetts to South Carolina and Tennessee.

Spring is unfolding in such a lovely way!

Blue-gray Gnatcatcher

Arriving in the vegetable garden, it immediately got my attention. A tiny bird that I only see during breeding season. Flitting about as if quite nervous it’s a bird that makes getting a photograph very challenging. If I get any photo at all, even if it is blurry, I’m pleased. I’ve recorded the occasion.

Blue-gray Gnatcatchers primarily consume insects, spiders, and caterpillars, which makes luring any that might be nearby to feeders impossible. But any of these critters that they eat in the vegetable garden are definitely appreciated. They make a squeaky, slurry, chippy sound which alerts me to look for them.

Just the beginning of breeding season and I’m thoroughly enjoying all the arrivals.

See You Next Year Hermit Thrushes

The Hermit Thrush (Catharus guttatus) is one of five North American thrushes in the genus Catharus, and the only one that winters in the United States. We in the Blue Ridge Mountains in central Virginia are fortunate to have them as our residents during that time.

This one is enjoying the berries of Smooth Sumac in January.

And here, doing its impression of a 747 about to take off, a Hermit Thrush, in one of my favorite photographs, that I’ve taken over the years.

Good bye sweet Hermit Thrushes. Looking forward to see you in late autumn, next year.

Virginia Pennywort

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.

Earth Day 2022

In honor of Earth Day 2022, I bring you some of my birds. As you think of these precious birds, and our wonderful planet, I hope you can decide to work to make a difference. Not to save our planet, but things you can do to save our environment. The planet doesn’t need to be saved. It’s going to keep on spinning for billions of years. Our environment needs to be saved. The environment these birds need to survive. The environment we humans need to survive.

These and other delicate creatures and creatures that don’t seem so delicate need our help. Celebrate our planet today on Earth Day and determine to make a difference. There is so much to be done. You’ve heard all the options. Make up your mind and do it.

The birds, top row, left to right: Scarlet Tanager (Piranga olivacea), Northern Flicker (Colaptes auratus), Northern Cardinal (Cardinalis cardinalis).

Middle row, left to right: Costa Hummingbird (Calypte costae), Scarlet Tanager (female)(Piranga olivacea), Sharp Shinned Hawk (Accipiter striatus).

Bottom row, left to right: Eastern Phoebe (Sayornis phoebe), Indigo Bunting (Passerina cyanea), Hermit Thrush (Catharus guttatus).

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Maple-leaf Viburnum

Just now beginning to leaf out, greeting spring. Maple-leaf Viburnum (Viburnum acerifolium), native to eastern North America, an understory, deciduous shrub.

It’s plentiful up here on my mountain, and is easy to identify with its twin, maple-like leaves. I’ve been fortunate to have received several of these shrubs as gifts. Shrubs that I’m watching grow as each year passes. Shrubs that add to my pleasure living in the woods.

The Maple-leaf Viburnum will mature to a height of six feet and a width of 4 feet. In early May pale pink buds emerge making way for soft white flat-topped flower clusters, know as cymes.

Maple-leaf Viburnum has a nectar that with its fragrance attracts bees, flower flies, moths and butterflies to help pollinate the flowers. It’s also a larval host of the Spring Azure.

The cyme, is one to three inches wide consisting of quarter inch wide individual flowers, a soft white often with a slight hint of pink.

These flowers must be cross-pollinated with another Maple-leaf Viburnum plant that is not an exact clone in order for berry-like drupes to appear in the autumn.

The fruits are attractive to many birds, including Ruffed Grouse, Cedar Waxwings, Cardinals, Hermit Thrushes, Eastern Bluebirds, Robin and Wild Turkeys.

If proper pollination takes place, the flowers give way to blue-black drupes in late autumn that may persist into the winter. The autumn leaf color ranges from shades of pink to red, leaning toward purple, and warm yellow. Gorgeous!