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Dung Beetle
This funny critter has an intriguing way of life. He is a Dung Beetle. I believe his species is Canthon imitator. He hunts for piles of manure using his sensitive sense of smell. I doubt if this sign (below) would be of any use to the Dung Beetle. They probably can’t even read. I suppose the sign…
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Gray Fox
Until I moved to my cabin in the Blue Ridge Mountains, if I had any thoughts of a fox, it was a Red Fox, Vulpes vulpes, with a rusty red coat, black legs and white tipped tail. I quickly learned that there is another fox that lives up here at 1800 feet. Slightly smaller than a…
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American Mistletoe
The leaves in the forest, for the most part, all have fallen, yet every now and then there is a tree that has an odd, large clump of leaves. At first glance it appears to be a squirrel’s nest. Upon further investigation, small, leathery, emerald green leaves are revealed. This is the stuff of many…
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Diamonds Of Ice!
As I snuggled in my bed last night, I was prepared for nothing special in the weather this morning. Yesterday‘s forecast had been for snow, sleet and freezing rain. Mother Nature skipped the snow part, and went straight to sleet, and it kept going, all day long. The temperature remained steady at 27…
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At The Watering Hole
It was surprising to me, the popularity of the old watering hole, just outside my kitchen window, when the temperatures dropped. I’ve had a cool little dripper device hooked up there, for years, which has brought a nice population of birds to entertain me, wet their whistles and satisfy their thirst. We had a impressive cold…
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Snow!
I’m easily entertained. Give me a little snowfall and I’ll be elated for hours. I’ll become the little girl from so long ago. The little girl who grew up on the best sledding hill in Prince George’s Co., Maryland. Other things take me back to my childhood. Bicycling does it too. But snow provides the…
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A Beauty Of A Berry
Color Me Disappointed Nearly all the time, when I create a blog, it is the result of research. I’m learning new things, right along with you. Tonight I learned that the bushes I am pleased with – being beautiful and native, are actually not native. Well, that certainly is a surprise! The Impostor Revealed The telling…
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Bears In The Forest
Sighting When I arrived back home after my hike this afternoon, I saw a moving blur of coal-black. The unmistakeable blur of a quickly moving bear, trying to avoid detection. I was approaching my front steps. He was quickly entering the woods. My two cameras that I carry with me, were at the ready, but…