Tendrils

What A Brightly Colored Bumblebee!

July 13, 2025

A Perplexing Bumblebee (Bombus perplexus). Native to northern North America including across Canada into the northeastern United States as well as Maryland and Virginia.

This creature fascinates me because of its wonderful coloring, that rich, warm yellow. That coloring seems it would be perfect as a stuffed Teddy Bear type toy.

The size of the queens are about .75″ and the workers are around .5″. They eat nectar and pollen from a wide variety of flowers.

This Perplexing Bumblebee is nectaring at an invasive Spotted Knapweed (Binomial soebe) which is native to Central, Eastern and Southeastern Europe.

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Tiger Bee Fly

July 12, 2025

As I write this, I’m thinking of those who really dislike Carpenter Bees (Xylocopa).

This is a Tiger Bee Fly (Xenox tigrinus). No need for concern about biting or stinging. They won’t harm you. And if you are looking for a way to control Carpenter Bees, this is a potential native and natural partner in their management. The Tiger Bee Fly is a natural predator of Carpenter Bees. Females lay their eggs in close proximity to the nests of Carpenter Bees. After the fly larvae hatch they will enter the tunnels of the bees and eat the bee larvae or wait until the larvae matures to the pupal stage and then dine on them.

And in defense of Carpenter Bees, they don’t eat the wood that they tunnel through. Their purpose in excavating those tunnels is to create nests for their offspring. And much more important is their role in pollination, not just in our gardens, natural areas, but also on farms.

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Transverse Flower Fly

July 11, 2025

A Transverse Flower Fly (Eristalis transversa) enjoying the nectar of Gray-headed Coneflowers (Ratibida pinnata). Measuring in at 0.28″ to 0.47″. Though it looks like a bee, it does not sting. Often found hanging out around flowers, which explains its common name.

Flower Flies are energetic fliers, able to beat their wings several hundred times a second, which gives them the ability to hover, dart, zoom and back up in mid-air.

Hmm, the hummingbird of the insect world?

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I Can Hear You!

July 10, 2025

A male Scarlet Tanager (Piranga olinacea) sitting among legumes of a Redbud (Cercis canadensis).

A brilliant red bird. Even a shade brighter than our year-round, red bird, the Cardinal (Cardinalis Cardinalis).

Scarlet Tanagers, both male and female, sing a song that sounds like our Robin (Turdus migratorius), although the Scarlet Tanagers sound like they have a cold, and don’t quite know the tune. Because of that they don’t have the perfect sweet song that the Robin has.

A female Scarlet Tanager enjoying some of my blueberries

I hear Scarlet Tanagers singing all day long, and if I’m in the vicinity of my blueberry bushes, I’ll get to see one!

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Time For Starry Campion!

July 9, 2025

When I find this plant in bloom along the trails up here I’m totally delighted. This is Starry Campion (Silene stellata). Native to the eastern and central United States.

I sometimes see Bladder Campion (Silene vulgaris)(see the picture below), a plant that fascinates me, much like Starry Campion. These two plants are related, belonging to the same genus, Silene, within the pink family (Caryophyllaceae).

But Bladder Campion is not native to North America. It is native to Europe and Asia. So the native Starry Campion wins. Not only is it native but it is actually more beautiful!

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An Often Seen Skipper

July 8, 2025

The largest Skipper in North America, the Silver Spotted Skipper (Eparcyeus clarus), with a wingspan of 1.75 to 2.5 inches. This one is enjoying the nectar of Self-heal (Prunella vulgaris subsp. lanceolata).

Skippers are butterflies placed into their own skipper family, Hesperiidae, which is included in the order Lepidoptera, with moths and other butterflies. They share qualities with both butterflies and moths, and are more closely linked to butterflies. Skippers have clubbed and hooked antennae, and they often have hairy, chunky bodies.

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Dancing In The Sunlight

July 7, 2025

Dancing with glee in the dappled sunlight, a Woodland Sunflower (Helianthus divaricatus). One of many in bloom up here right now. Native to central and eastern North America. An herbaceous perennial in the Aster (Asteraceae) family that can grow 5 to 7 feet tall. As you can see in my photo, it has sessile, opposite leaves.

This Sunflower attracts a wide variety of pollinators with its pollen and nectar, and is a host plant for the Silvery Checkerspot (Chlosyne nycteis), Gorgon Checkerspot (Chlosyne gorgone), and Painted Lady (Vanessa cardui). And the seeds are enjoyed by many birds, small mammals, and even a few insects.

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Tall White Spires

July 6, 2025

Black Cohosh (Actaea racemosa), sending up tall spires, 30 to 98 inches, each holding a single raceme that can be up to 20 inches in length.

Numerous snow white flowers with no petals, tightly and neatly arranged on each of the spires. Tiny flowers with long stamens surrounding a single stigma. Flowers with a fetid yet somehow sweet scent that entices flies, beetles, gnats, bees, butterflies, and wasps, providing them with both pollen and nectar.

An herbaceous perennial, from which sizable compound leaves emerge from an underground rhizome. Those leaves reach a height of 2 feet as the tall flower spire begins to emerge from that same rhizome.

These flower spires emerging from the forest floor make me think of spirits of early inhabitants of these mountains from thousands of years ago.

Beautiful Blue!

July 5, 2025

I saw him this morning preparing to take a dip in the birdbath. A bath to clean those striking blue feathers of this male Indigo Bunting (Passerina cyanea).

Bathing allows birds to freshen and sustain their feathers. Bathing helps birds in their ability to fly, assisting with insulation, and in waterproofing those feathers. And of course it helps to eliminate any soil, and parasites.

This care of their feathers helps but doesn’t keep them from wearing out. Indigo Buntings molt twice a year. Males go from their vibrant blue coloring during mating season to brown for their winter garb in autumn, and back to their mating season blue in the spring. Females wear their brown plumage year round, but also molt in autumn and spring.

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New York Ironweed

July 4, 2025

A native plant that I adore. But that’s a silly thing to say given that I adore most all of them. This is New York Ironweed (Vernonia noveboracensis), having the look of fireworks bursting across the sky. Like the fireworks that you’ll be seeing this evening.

A clump-forming plant that is tall, growing from 4 to 8 feet, with a stem that is quite rigid. Flowers contain only tubular disk flowers, no petals.

Just beginning to bloom up here on my mountain.

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