Photography
Futzing around in my photos, these were taken a few years back.
Panorpa helena, scorpion fly.
Unknown bee on Spiderwort
A nice morning dog walk with all of the usual characters. I'm getting better at identifying bird song. Today: White-eyed vireo, yellow breasted chat, northern parula and cardinals.
Also, flowers: Queen Anne's Lace
Chicory and a green bee, perhaps Agapostemon virescens.
Button bush, Cephalanthus occidentalis is always popular with the butterflies and bees. They have a very nice spicy fragrance too.
Pipevine Swallowtail
Milesia virginiensis, known generally as the yellowjacket hover fly. They look intimidating but are friendly.
Eastern tiger swallowtail
From my archive, a buffet of Purple Coneflowers being enjoyed by pipevine swallowtail, Battus philenor and monarch butterfly. Native wildflower gardens always bring the prettiest critters. 🥰
I needed some images for a project and while searching photos from 2020 I came across these. Taken when I was able to get out on longer gravel rides on the back roads. Taken on an early morning ride when there was still a bit of fog in the low lying areas.
Trail photos!
Hydrastis canadensis, Goldenseal
Gymnosporangium juniperi-virginianae, the fungi that causes apple cedar rust. Such a strange and beautiful fungi!
A few recent photos taken around the cabin and on the trail.
Camonotus castaneus, chestnut carpenter ant
Arilus cristatus, Wheel Bug Nymph. This one was tiny and moving quickly hard to capture up close.
Ramaria caulifloriformis, coral fungi
From today's trail ride.
Ramaria caulifloriformis, coral fungi
Cortinarius distans or Laccaria, not sure!
After breakfast this morning I had about 90 minutes before the rain was scheduled to come in so I got out for a walk with the dogs.
There was a lot of bird song so I took the binoculars and went slow. They were deep in the woods, so I didn't see many but they were all around me: blue-winged warbler, Wilson's warbler, white-eyed vireo, red-eyed vireo, summer tanager, ovenbird, Carolina chickadee.
Birds that I did get to see were: indigo bunting, chipping sparrow and a gray catbird
Got back just in time to take a quick ride down to the creek. A peaceful twenty minutes before the storm listening to the birds and the light rain dripping through the forest.
A few hours later an unexpected visit from a friend who I've not seen in awhile (Hi Bill!). We spent some time catching up on the porch and listening to the bird song. He has an uncanny ability to identify birds by their song and it's always a delight to visit with him. While we chatted another welcome visitor stopped by, a bright red summer tanager landed on a branch not too far away.
A few photos taken around the cabin yesterday. It's so easy to miss the beautiful but tiny critters.
Camonotus castaneus, chestnut carpenter ant
Augochlora pura, a solitary sweat bee found in the Eastern US.
My photos only show a small area along the trail but this hill is covered in Mayapples. It's quite something.
Lots of Mayapples on the trail as well as Andersonglossum, wild comfry which has simple, five petaled flowers. Very pretty evening bird song including: summer tanager, northern parula, and red-eyed vireo.
With all the rain we've had recently the creek is flowing really well. My favorite place to stop and be still. These are the best moments in my simple, slow life. Learning to be content in a smaller radius and with as little external fossil fuel input as possible.
Really nice trail ride today. Lots of wild flowers. Hypoxia hirsuta, common goldstar, one of those that's currently blooming.