I’ve been surprised to find Honey Bees up here on my mountain as I roam. Whether it is just around my cabin or as I traverse the trails. Honey Bees can travel five miles for food. Generally though a bee will travel about a mile from its hive. Surely there are no managed colonies within that range. Neighbors up here are rare and don’t keep bees. Wild Honey Bees.
A perfect day. A Sunflower and a Monarch.
All along the roadsides. Rich warm yellow greets the cars and trucks that pass. Long-bracted Tickseed Sunflower (Biden polylepis). It’s native to eastern and central United States and south-central Canada.
The leaves of Long-Bracted Tickseed Sunflower are quite distinctive, with sharply toothed margin, opposite and pinnately compound.
These flowers bloom from late summer to early fall. Attracting all sorts of insects — bees, wasps, flies, butterflies, skippers, beetles and more. Along with these Tickseed Sunflowers on the roadsides there are other shining yellow blooms. Other species that I’ll write about one day soon.
I’m looking forward to my Asters blooming. They are a big draw for an incredibly beautiful butterfly. The Common Buckeye (Junonia coenia). It’s when those Asters are blooming that I get to see the Common Buckeye.
As an adult and butterfly they have a life of just six to twenty days. During those few days they sip the nectar of not just Asters, but also Tickseed Sunflower, Gumweed, Knapweed, and Chickory.
The Common Buckeye shows up in a different coloring as well. Yes, this is the same species, but is a rosa morph. The coloring of Common Buckeye butterflies are changed by the day length and temperature in which the eggs and then the caterpillars develop. Whatever the coloring, I’m looking forward to spotting some of these beauties.
Taking a break from nature for just a moment to look back. Route 29 in Charlottesville, just east of the airport. By 2004 when these pictures were taken the only thing left were signs.
The motel was on the east side of Route 29. Now at that intersection there is a Walgreens and to the north just across Profitt Road, a brand new Wawa. Times change. I love to capture what will soon be gone just before it disappears.
Spicebush (Lindera benzoin). In spring this bush of the eastern woods of North America create a wash of soft yellow with small but plentiful blooms. By autumn the blossoms have turned to brilliant red berries. Much to the delight of many birds, including two of my favorites, the Hermit Thrust, and the Red-eyed Vireo.
American Beautyberry (Callicarpa americana) is native to the southern United States including Maryland to Florida, west to Texas and Arkansas, also Mexico, Bermuda, the Bahamas and Cuba. The berries are ripe right now in Florida. They attract many species of birds including Cardinals, Mockingbirds, Finches, Woodpeckers and many more. Don’t be fooled though. Pay attention to the scientific name, Callicarpa americana. That is the native plant.
Sachem (Atalopedes campestris). A small grass skipper butterfly with a wingspan of just 1.25 to 1.5 inches. Skippers (Hesperiidae) are a family of butterflies that have the characteristics of both butterflies and moths.
Host plants of Sachem caterpillars are many grasses such as Bermuda Grass, Hairy Crabgrass, Red Fescue, St. Augustine Grass, Indian Goosegrass and Seashore Saltgrass. The Sachem is just one of so many skippers that I’m just beginning to get familiar with.
Within the past two weeks the population of Ruby-throated Hummingbirds (Archilochus colubris) here at my feeders, has dropped considerably. I had been putting out two quarts of syrup each day. Now I put out one cup each day. Big drop.
They’re packing their bags. Heading south. Migrating for the winter to Central America and Mexico. And it has been discovered that the Ruby-throated Hummingbird’s winter location is expanding further north to include the Gulf Coast states up the Atlantic Coast to South Carolina.
Ruby-throated Hummingbirds generally live to be between 3 and 5 years old. They learn to recognize the people that feed them, sometimes letting them know if the feeder is empty or needs fresh syrup.
As the Ruby-throated Hummingbirds migrate from north to south and back again they fly alone. They’re solitary birds. Often they’ll return to the same feeders, the same location where they were hatched. I sure will look forward to having them return to their summer home here in the mountains next spring.
Labor Day Weekend is just days away. Considered by many to be the end of summer. But there has been something lacking in my summer here in the mountains. Bears.
They arrive all set to eat all the apples out of the apple tree or the all the cherries out of the cherry tree. Breaking branches as they climb. I quickly get a few photos then chase them away. Waving my arms wildly and screaming at them. We have a thing going. They go away till the next time.
Early this spring a bear did show up. A dear, pathetic bear, badly suffering with sarcoptic mange. He looked miserable. Skin and bones, very little fur. I called wildlife officials and reported the sighting and was asked to call again if the bear returned. It did not return.
Since then there have been no bears. Extremely unusual. They always come into the yard and climb the apple tree, and the cherry tree.
I have mixed feelings about their arrival. They shouldn’t be here in the yard. Near humans. I always make them realize that they are not welcome. They have all the rest of the mountain to roam. But they always return. I get my photos and chase them away. Again and again. But not this year.
I assume the lack of bears is due to this mange. It causes hair loss, emaciation, loss of vision, and death. I see very little about the mange and black bears in the news. Just a slight mention here or there. Nothing to indicate my lack of bears. Just my assumption. I miss my bears. I hope I’m wrong about the mange.
