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Northern Lights
Thanks to series of solar flares and coronal mass ejections from the sun I was able to go out and capture an image of the Northern lights (aurora borealis) tonight. A rare treat for central Virginia! That bright star you see nearly at the center of the picture is Vega. _______________________________________________________________________ If you would like…
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Like A Fingerprint
A handsome male Common Box Turtle (Terrapene carolina) rambling across the road. This is my first this season to give a helping hand across the road and into a safe environment again. What intricate patterns they have on their shells. Those patterns are just like our fingerprints. You can identify a Box Turtle by the…
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Going To Seed
Wild Geranium (Geranium maculatum) a perennial herb, native to Eastern North America. It’s decorating the landscape everywhere up here now. Rich pink dots of color can be found in endless places. Charming spring. Flowers though, in the lower elevations are coming to the end of their lives, slowly becoming seed pods with a fun surprise included…
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Calling All Hummingbirds
Coral Honeysuckle (Lonicera sempervirens) blooming abundantly right now, to welcome the Ruby-throated Hummingbirds back from their wintering grounds in Central America. Long tubular orangish-red flowers, seem to be designed just for the clowns of summer. Coral Honeysuckle is native to the eastern United States. Its opposite leaves, growing directly below the blooms are fused at…
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Delicate Yellow In May
Hiking along the trails up here in the mountains during May you might find this splendid herbaceous perennial. With rich yellow blooms, this is Golden Alexanders (Zizia aurea). The native range of Golden Alexanders is the eastern and central US where it can grow to 2.5 feet tall. The host plant of the Black Swallowtail…
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Canada Violet
Canada Violet (Viola canadensis). Yellow centers, purple stripes accenting the lower petals with the two side petals having smaller purple stripes. The backs of the petals have a wash of purple. Leaves are heart shaped with a long slender base with bluntly toothed edges. Violets are the host plant of Fritillary butterflies. _______________________________________________________________________ If you…
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Unusual Pink Trillium
Lovely Trilliums growing in the woods up here in the mountains. Depending where you are, you might come upon a huge patch of them. A community of White Trillium (Trillium grandiflorum). These white blooms will slowly turn pink after being pollinated. This has confused me because occasionally I see pink buds opening. In the image…
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More Summer Residents
The Ruby-throated Hummingbirds have arrived, and now I’m pleased that another of the many birds that spend the summer here has arrived. The American Redstart (Setophaga ruticilla), like many of the birds that spend the summer here are stunning. The top image is a male Redstart and in the image directly above is a female…
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Red Or Orange?
A stunning butterfly. Just look at those colors. Black and white, rich purplish-blue, and that red (orange?). This, the dorsal side (or top side) of the butterfly. This is a Red Admiral (Vanessa atalanta) which has an impressive range including North and South America, Europe and Asia. And of course because of its vastly different…