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Northern Walkingstick
It wasn’t too long ago that I became aware there was an insect called a “walkingstick.” A creature that I would have marveled at as a child. During my growing up years I spent loads of time in the woods, but never did I see such a thing. I’m delighted now that I know about…
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Eastern Fence Lizard
A cute little creature that I see climbing on the cinder block foundation of my cabin on occasion. An Eastern Fence Lizard (Sceloporus undulatus). With golden eyes that stare back at me wondering what I am. Fence Lizards grow to be between four, and seven and a quarter inches long. Usually females are gradations of…
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Eastern Tiger Swallowtail
My first sighting this season was yesterday. The state insect of Virginia, the Eastern Tiger Swallowtail Butterfly (Papilio glaucus). Native to eastern North America. The butterfly I saw yesterday had just emerged from its chrysalis. Brand new. In the autumn an Eastern Tiger Swallowtail caterpillar will form itself into a chrysalis. NOT a cocoon but…
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Eyed Click Beetle
A goal of my hike this morning was to find a cover shot for my Facebook timeline. I was collecting images of tree bark, lichen, and beautiful mosses, all possible candidates. At a mature sassafras tree, as I worked around some poison ivy vines, I came upon a surprise: two BIG eyes looking back at…
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My Winter Birds
Perhaps these are my pets, the birds that come to my feeders. Wild birds that give me comfort just by being there. The bird you see in the picture, above, is a winter bird in my area (the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia), a White-throated Sparrow, Zonotrichia albicollis. He has a sweet song that is easy to remember,…
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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…