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A Good Day For Birds
Two surprise birds today. Two females. An American Redstart (Setophaga ruticilla). Not interested in sunflower seeds or shelled peanuts but the birdbath I’ve put out for her. And another female. A Scarlet Tanager (Piranga olivacea) on her way to the blueberry bushes that are still filled with yummy berries to tempt her. A good day…
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Wild Basil
Wild Basil (Clinopodium vulgare), is an herbaceous perennial, and member of the Lamiaceae (mint) family. True Basil is also part of the Lamiaceae family. Being in that family, it has a square stem like so many mint plants that I have growing in my gardens. Flowers, 1/2 inch long are formed together in fuzzy clumps.…
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Click Beetles
This is an Eyed Click Beetle (Alaus oculatus), one of about one thousand species of Click Beetles in North America. These Click Beetles have something other beetles don’t have, a flexible connection between the first and second section of their thorax. This allows them to move their heads and first pair of legs independently from…
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Anchor Stink Bug
Anchor Stink Bug (Stiretrus anchorago). Found in Central and mostly eastern North America. This is a good guy of the stink bug world, feeding on beetle larvae and caterpillars, including many agricultural and gardening pests such as the Mexican Bean Beetle and the Japanese Beetle. There’s incredible variation in the coloring of the Anchor Stink…
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Barred Owl
Barred Owl (Strix varia). Yesterday afternoon as I wandered out into the vegetable garden, I heard a great cacophony of bird calls. Much more than what I usually hear. Within seconds a Barred Owl flew out from its ill chosen perch and settled onto a branch across the way. Things settled down immediately. I went…
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Spotted In The Garden
Spotted St. John’s Wort (Hypericum punctatum). The herbaceous perennial is native to eastern North America into southern Canada. The plant grows to 2.5 feet, though often shorter as it volunteers in my gardens. Aptly named, Spotted St. John’s Wort is covered with tiny spots. On petals, sepals, and buds. And tiny spots on leaves too,…
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Carolina Horsenettle In Bloom
Carolina Horsenettle (Solanum carolinense). Native to the southeastern United States. All parts of the plant are poisonous including the berries which look like yellow cherry tomatoes. The stems, as well as leaves are hairy, and those stems, leaf midribs and petioles have many needlelike thorns. Carolina Horsenettle is in bloom right now. Watch out for…
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Horned Passalus Beetle
As I was leaving the yoga studio yesterday morning a Horned Passalus Beetle (Odontotaenius disjunctus) greeted me on the sidewalk. One BIG beetle. They can grow to be 1.6 inches long and this one was certainly at least that long. Weighing in at 1 to 2 grams they’re able to haul 50 times their weight.…
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Everlasting Pea
Everlasting Pea (Lathyrus latifolius) native to Europe. An herbaceous perennial vine that has 3 to 6 foot long winged stems. It’s occasionally found along woodland edges, at the sites of old homesteads or in this case at the site of an abandoned church along a dirt road in the mountains. The seeds of Everlasting Pea…
