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GrandKitty Camp
We’re all having a grand time at GrandKitty Camp. Betelgeuse is being the perfect guest, politely asking for shower water, or bathroom water. That bowl of water next to her food just isn’t nearly as good as those two other choices. And she is ever so polite to ask for more food. Though I don’t…
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Spring Molt
Like many small songbirds, the Goldfinch (Spinus tristis) goes through two molts per year. One in the autumn, a complete molt. A total replacement of all their feathers, body feathers as well as wing and tail feathers. Male and female, they go from yellow to a dull gray with just the slightest suggestion of yellow.…
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Surprise Photo Op
Yesterday I was pleased when I got photos of a Purple Finch (Haemorhous purpureus) at one of the feeders, as it was passing through on the way to its summer breeding grounds. I figured as the day ended I wouldn’t see any more of these Finches. But I was wrong. I don’t know if this…
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Heading North
Today’s treat was to see two Purple Finches (Haemorhous purpureus), as they stopped at one of the feeders. A very brief stop for refreshment, on their journey north, to their summer breeding grounds. I was pleased I was able to capture one of them in pixels. Purple Finches look very much like House Finches (Haemorhous…
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Tiny White Butterfly In Spring
A tiny white butterfly that flutters low to the ground with quick, erratic movements. Though that orange tip seems it would be obvious, when the butterfly is in flight it can be hard to spot. The Falcate Orangetip (Anthocharis midea) has a wingspan of 1.5 inches. The male and female butterflies are sexually dimorphic, meaning…
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Long Gone
Signs. Old signs. Signs that are about to disappear forever. They intrigue me. This is a pair of such, old signs. Long gone. They sat, for who knows how long at the intersection of Seminole Trail, Airport Road and Proffit Road in Hollymead/Charlottesville, on the land where Walgreens now sits. Long gone. __________________________________________________________________________ If you…
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Early Spring
It’s early spring and I’m on my way to yoga as the sun shines through the still black and gray woods of the Blue Ridge Mountain foothills. The grass has greened up just a bit. Most of the trees that I’m seeing are not putting out much energy to create their new leaves yet. Even…
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A Birthday
Going through my photos this evening, thinking of my Dad on his birthday. He would have been 98. His favorite flower, the sunflower. He grew some pretty spectacular sunflowers. One year he grew one so tall that to get a photograph of the flower and the grower, my Mom got him to climb a ladder…
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Wild Ginger Is Slowly Emerging
An herbaceous perennial, Wild Ginger (Asarum canadense), is slowly emerging from its snug winter slumber. The gardens here at my cabin are at an elevation of 1800 feet. This is where these plants are just peeking up through the soil. I often hike up to elevations of 2600 feet and higher, where, during the summer…
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Brilliant Yellow
A yellow flower that blooms with such intensity, a shade of yellow that I take pleasure in calling, screaming yellow. A happy color, one that would be my choice if I were to purchase a Corvette Stingray. Not going to happen though. I wouldn’t be able to get it up my mountain road. The Stingray’s…