Virginia
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Time For Some Greens
A jack-in-the-pulpit (Arisaema triphyllum) wonderland. But shouldn’t they get darker, more stripey? Or does that come with age?The smell of the flowers of Liriodendron tulipifera incites reveries in my smell-brain. Where do I know that smell from? The ants, too, are intrigued. Wonder what they think when they fall out of the sky?While we’re on…
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The Mother of Her Country
In the garden at the Geo. Washington Birthplace Monument in Virginia, I was delighted to discover this queen Southern Yellowjacket (Vespula squamose).Here she shows how she gets that pollen on the top of her thorax.The workers of this species are more traditionally yellow and black, so this big orange queen must really stand out among…
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Slipperville
We stumbled upon a patch of Pink Lady Slippers (Cypripedium acaule), more than we’ve ever seen in one place by a long, long shot. There must have been close to a hundred visible from the path in a pine woods, especially in the parts recovering from burning. (Fire is so important to so many plants.)…
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And the Damsels
Still in Virginia: Female Fragile Forktail (Ischnura posita) depositing eggs.Furtive Forktail (Ischnura prognata) male, a first for me. Such a challenge to photograph these wee critters!And then to ID them! Immediately above and below, a female Familiar Bluet ((Enallagama civile)). (My best guess: iNaturalist and bug guide.net haven’t come through.) The females of this species…
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Enter The Dragons
A trip a few states south results in a preview of the shape of Odonata to come. Emerging adult dragonflies in a small pond. There were about a dozen. Eastern Pondhawks, I think. Once they wiggle out of the husks of their larval forms, they need to harden off, develop their color, stiffen their wings.…
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Lizard
An Eastern Fence Lizard (Sceloporus undulatus) that liked this log so much we saw it going out and coming back on this path in Virginia.I least I think it’s the same specimen: the lighting, distance, and angle causing the color variation here. These critters perch hunt, meaning they sit and wait for something (“wood-boring beetles,…
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Tern Tern Tern
Time for a Tern challenge? Post-breeding terns lose their summer plumage quickly. So what do we have here? (These pictures were all taken two weeks ago in tidewater Virginia.) A. B. C. Yes, that bill is broken. Th bird was grooming, but I wonder how long it can survive this way? (Note that I won’t…
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Raptor Wednesday
A Bald Eagle coasts across Beaverdam Park in Gloucester County, VA. We only spotted one of these enormous birds this trip; in April we had 22. But the Osprey didn’t disappoint. Counted 17 on the way back, mostly at the Frances Scott Key and Potomac Bridges. Post-breeding season, many still perch on nest sites. As…
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On the Button
The deciduous shrub known as Buttonbush (Cephalanthus occidentalis) for its round flower heads is a fantastic pollinator-magnet. The plant loves its feet (roots) wet, and, as we discovered recently at the edge of Beaverdam Reservoir in Virginia, it also attracts hummingbirds. Who knew? Well, everybody in the pollination biz, but it was a lovely discovery…
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Massing Toads
Can you see it?Everywhere, underfoot, tiny. We were in Beaverdam Park in Gloucester Co., VA, last week. It was fiendishly humid. We kept running into these very small toads that scurried more than jumped. At first I thought the movement was some kind of beetle. But no, they were toads. Upon further research, they turned…
Backyard and Beyond 