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Io Moth Caterpillar
No hike today, but still I was able to play with some critters! I found this guy on one of my many Redbuds. This is the caterpillar of an Io Moth (Automeris io). See those spines? They contain a poison that makes their sting as painful as running into Stinging Nettle, but it last longer.…
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Sun on Virginia Sweetspire
Dealing with summer weather, it is best to get out early to hike. I couldn’t do that this morning, so I was hoping for the afternoon, but of course the afternoon rain storm kept me from my playing. After all the rain, I spotted the sun shining through the leaves of Virginia Sweet Spire (Itea…
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Eyed Brown
I’ve been seeing a few of these, just a few. They tend to hang out in the same place day after day, so I know where to find them but they are not happy to sit still long to have a portrait done. I appreciate that this Eyed Brown (Satyrodes eurydice) stayed in one place…
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The Comeback of American Chestnuts?
Stories From Long Ago You might be fortunate enough to have family accounts from the older generation of gathering chestnuts, or of your granddad building a fence from chestnut trees on his farm. I don’t have those stories in my family traditions, but still I fell in love with the American chestnut tree when I…