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Last Of The Falling Leaves
There are just a few Sugar Maple trees (Acer saccharum) up here in the woods around the cabin. Further up, in the higher elevations there are many many more. They’re the last ones to turn from their summery green to some warm autumn coloring and the last to drop those leaves turning the landscape into…
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Enjoying The Spotted Knapweed
Ventral view of a Common Buckeye Butterfly (Junonia coenia) enjoying the weeds, perched on a spent bloom of Spotted Knapweed (Centauria stoebe). They certainly are not common here in the mountains of central Virginia. Sometimes arriving in late summer, staying through early fall. There are years when I don’t see any at all. When I…
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Blue Spruce And Rain
When I need a photograph for my blog, just throw in RAIN and I know that I can find exactly what I want. Just take a bit of time. Roam with the camera. There it is. And tonight’s post contains a Colorado Blue Spruce (Picea pungens) with the required rain. The Spruce, dreaming of becoming…
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A Brief Moment In Autumn
A Monarch caught in a splash of sunshine. A perfect color combination, purple and orange. A brief bit of comfort in autumn.
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Marking Trees, Marking Poles
Oh, I miss seeing the bears that usually roam through the yard. American Black Bears (Ursus americanus). Their population has dropped drastically the past few years due to mange, a type of serious skin disease caused by parasitic mites. The yard seemed to be a highway for them. They typically chose marking trees or marking…
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Yaupon Holly
Yaupon Holly (Ilex vomitoria) is a lovely small tree that grows next to my Mom’s front door in Florida. Right at home where it is a native plant. Yaupon Holly is a dioecious, evergreen plant native to southeastern North America, including southeast Virginia through Florida, west to southeast Oklahoma and central Texas. Those beautiful berries…
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Wilson’s Snipe
What a kick to discover a Wilson’s Snipe (Gallinago delicata) here! This one showed up for a bit of a rest on November 4th on its migration south. Wilson’s Snipes spend their breeding season in northern North America and winter through the southern US, south through Central America and on to Venezuela. _______________________________________________________________________ If you…
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Turkey Tail Mushroom Revisited
There’s great beauty in the world of mushrooms. And this is a fungus that certainly fills that bill. Turkey Tail Mushroom (Trametes versicolor). Beauty beyond words. They’re an extremely common type of mushroom in our North American forests and are also found throughout the world on every continent except Antarctica. They are wonderful decomposers not…
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Songs And Streaks
Song Sparrows (Melospiza melodia), year round residents with streaked feathers and hearts full of song.
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One Of My Irruptive Migrants
This morning nearly caught me doing cartwheels. Almost. But certainly a moment of great joy. I spotted a Red-breasted Nuthatch (Sitta canadensis). One of my favorite birds. But because they are irruptive migrants, I don’t see them every winter. Absence, indeed, makes the heart grow fonder. Irruptive migration is when a species of bird depends…