Timber Rattlesnake (Crotalus horridus), 29 May 2013 [Photo credit: Cathie Bird]
One of my dogs spotted this timber rattlesnake near the porch today and started a barking ruckus that brought me outside to see what was up. I have seen rattlesnakes a number of times in the holler, but this is the first time I've gotten a photo.
Back in 2006 I wrote an essay inspired by my first encounter with a rattlesnake here in Tennessee, and what nature can teach people about getting along with one another.
The holler got some good rainfall over the past week to nourish all the plants that are growing. The rue anemone I'm observing for Nature's Notebook has seeds maturing. How amazing they are! I never really noticed them before I started watching this species' full life cycle...I was mainly interested in photographing flower phases. Here's a photo of some seeds on "RueNem1":
Rue Anemone seed phase, May 14, 2013 [Photo credit: Cathie Bird]
As the anemones make seeds, the wingstems have emerged. I was a little slow to realize they were up because I keep forgetting that "wingstems" have thin wings on their stems. This is "Wingstem1" -- the wings are visible in this photo:
Wingstem (Verbesina alternifolia), May 8, 2013 [Photo credit: Cathie Bird]
The violet wood sorrel leaves are beginning to yellow, but I caught some of the flowers during their peak:
Violet wood sorrel (Oxalis violacea), May 14, 2013 [Photo credit: Cathie Bird]
After many years wondering if this plant is Carolina cranesbill, I finally decided it was:
Carolina Cranesbill (Geranium carolinianum), May 20, 2013 [Photo credit: Cathie Bird]
And one more that's out: the mapleleaf viburnums' flowers are open (but really difficult to get a good image of because they are a very small flower under a pretty thick leaf canopy now):
Mapleleaf viburnum (Viburnum acerifolium), May 20, 2013 [Photo credit: Cathie Bird]
In my next post I'll review some of the animals and insects that I've seen lately.
I finally caught sight of an eastern phoebe checking out the old nest yesterday...today I saw two of them together. Nest remodeling and fortification is underway!
This spring I'm seeing numerous yellow and white trillium leaves emerging, some in places I have not seen them before. Here are a couple of the baby plants:
This is one of the white species, probably Trillium grandiflorum, based on previous sightings in this approximate area of the riparian zone of Hudson Branch. [Photo credit: Cathie Bird]
Trillium luteum, 3 April 2013 [Photo credit: Cathie Bird]
I finally found some Carolina spring beauties in the holler. I figured they must be around but had never found any. This year they are numerous along Hudson Branch. I'm thinking I was never in the right place at the right time to see them. Access to the stream edge is not easy, but curiosity got me closer, earlier this year...spring beauties and white trillium leaves the prize.
Here is one of the spring beauties:
Claytonia caroliniana on 1 April 2013. [Photo credit: Cathie Bird]
I'm seeing at least three different toothwort species now -- mostly emerging leaves but some flowers in the open, sunnier areas. My last post has a photo of the Cutleaf version. I think this one is a broadleaf toothwort:
Dentaria diphylla on 1 April 2013 [Photo by Cathie Bird]
I believe this is the slender toothwort:
Dentaria heterophylla on 1 April 2013 [Photo credit: Cathie Bird]
In the past two days or so I have also seen Rue Anemone and one of the Hepatica species that grows in the holler:
Rue Anemone on 1 April 2013 [Photo credit: Cathie Bird]
I think this is Hepatica but not sure of the species yet...I was reluctant to disturb the leaves around it because it's still getting pretty cold at night and I figured I could get a better look at the basal leaves later.
I finally got out to check on progress in the holler Wednesday after two days of snow and freezing temperatures...it appears that all of my emerging observation species survived and are looking strong. Here are some photos:
A young cutleaf toothwort's first leaves. [Photo credit: Cathie Bird]
On the right, dogtooth1, Erythronium americanum, on 27 March 2013 [Photo credit: Cathie Bird]
Flowering stage, forsythia1 on 27 March 2013 [Photo credit: Cathie Bird]
Behind the house -- the Frog Pond Hollow drainage -- I'm seeing a number of the Halberdleaf Yellow Violets, Yellow Trillium, as well as the ever-present Wintergreen:
Halberdleaf Yellow Violet (Viola hastata) on 30 March 2013 [Photo credit: Cathie Bird]
Yellow Trillium (left) and Spotted Wintergreen (right) on 30 March 2013 [Photo credit: Cathie Bird]
When I caught sight of an orange butterfly visiting my planters yesterday, I assumed it was a Great Spangled Fritillary, a butterfly I see in the holler every year and a species I observe for the National Phenology Network. I grabbed my binoculars to verify the species.
Clearly this was not a Great Spangled Fritillary! It's wings were longer and narrower, its back had more orange and the spots on the underside of the wings were stringingly bright, and its flight pattern seemed different.
Gulf Fritillary (Agraulis vanillae) on 9 November 2012 [Photo credit: Cathie Bird]
Through the binoculars I could also see three white spots surrounded by black rings. All of these observations together pointed toward the identity of my visitor as a Gulf Fritillary.
This butterfly and the Great Spangled Fritillary, with which I was more familiar, are members of the same family (Nymphalidae) and subfamily (Heliconiiae). Further down the taxonomic chain, however, each is classified in a different tribe. The Great Spangled is a member of the Tribe Argynnini (the true Fritillaries), while the Gulf Fritillary is a longwing or Heliconian butterfly of the Tribe Heliconiini.
Silvery-white spots on the underside of the hindwing and forewing of the Gulf Fritillary, 9 November 2012 [Photo credit: Cathie Bird]
According to the guide I use (Glassberg 1999), the resident ranges of the Great Spangled and Gulf fritillaries don't overlap, but the Gulf is known to spread northward as the summer season progresses. Still, I was reluctant to identify this one without careful consideration, since it's November! Is it on its way back south again?
Glassberg's map shows a range for the Gulf Fritillary extending across the southern border of Tennessee, but not up to the northern reaches of the state where I live. On the other hand, Tennessee is a lot skinnier south to north than it is east to west, so maybe it's not all that far for a butterfly to migrate.
Whatever the case, I am totally delighted to have seen one, and glad there were still a few flowers blooming in my planters for it to feed on.
For comparison, here's a Great Spangled Fritillary (Speyeria cybele) that I photographed on 25 June 2012 [Photo credit: Cathie Bird]
I am still seeing at least two of the Sulphur species -- a pair of the smaller, yellower ones have been visiting the planters as I write this blog. I also saw eastern tailed blues (another species I observe for NPN) in late October. Another new species for me in the holler this September was a Checkered White. Unfortunately I could not get close enough to get good images.
Check out this time lapse video of a Gulf Fritillary chrysallis and the emergence of the adult on YouTube:
Many species of asters are populating the holler these days. I'm no more certain of their identities than I was last year, but I enjoy having them around me nonetheless!
White Wood Aster (Aster divaricatus), maybe? Last year I had decided these were Lowrie's asters, but now I'm going to have to do a more detailed observation of the leaves to decide for sure. [Photo credit: Cathie Bird, 8 September 2012]
Maybe a calico aster (Aster lateriflorus)...25 September 2012 [Photo credit: Cathie Bird]
I think these are heath asters (Aster pelosus), 25 September 2012 [Photo credit: Cathie
Bird]
For now, I'm identifying this as a Late Purple Aster (Aster patens), 25 September 2012 [Photo credit: Cathie Bird]
These may also be calico asters, but a bluish-purple version, 25 September 2012 [Photo credit: Cathie Bird]
I have not done a good job with posting this summer, but here's what was out today. Over the next few days, I'll post some of the other awesome species that I've seen here and around the neighborhood since my last post.
Horse Nettle (Solanum carolinense) on 9 September 2012. [Photo credit: Cathie Bird]
Iron Weed (Vernonia gigantea) on 9 September 2012. [Photo credit: Cathie Bird]
Virgin's Bower going to seed (Clematis virginiana) on 9 September 2012. [Photo credit: Cathie Bird]
White Wood Aster (Aster divaricatus) on 9 September 2012. [Photo credit: Cathie Bird]
White Crownbeard (Verbesina virginica) on 9 September 2012. [Photo credit: Cathie Bird]
Jewelweed (Impatiens capensis) on 9 September 2012. [Photo credit: Cathie Bird]
And a butterfly bonus while photographing the asters: my first gemmed satyr...
Gemmed satyr (Cyllopsis gemma) on 9 September 2012. [Photo credit: Cathie Bird]
Now that my Echinacia patch is blooming full tilt, all kinds of bees and butterflies are here to feed on them. After many years of wondering if I would ever see a Diana fritillary here in the holler, I saw three of them today and got photos of a male and female. They seem to be a little more sensitive to my presence than the great spangled fritillaries that I see more often -- and observe for Nature's Notebook. It was also around noon when I spotted them, and approaching 90 degrees. I think all of this contributed to several washed out images, but here are the best ones:
Male Diana fritillary (Speyeria diana) on 25 June 2012 [Photo credit: Cathie Bird]
I was not able to get a "wings open" image of the male today, but I will keep trying. They have a strikingly beautiful black and orange wing pattern. At least two males have been feeding right outside my window all afternoon.
Female Diana fritillary (Speyeria diana) on 25 June 2012 [Photo credit: Cathie Bird]
I thought I was seeing Diana fritillary females whe I first moved to the holler, but later identified what I was seeing as red-spotted purples. When I saw this one from far away, I thought it might be a dark phase female tiger swallowtail. When I got closer, it clearly was not, although later in the afternoon I did see a dark female swallowtail.
Dianas are quite large compared to the red-spotted purples. Today I saw a diana male and a great spangled fritillary on the same flower and saw that the diana was noticeably larger. Here's a photo of one of the great spangled fritilaries:
Great spangled fritillary (Speyeria cybele) on 25 June 2012 [Photo credit: Cathie Bird]
Other butterflies in the flowers today included skippers -- a silver spotted skipper and another that I have not yet identified -- and a hairstreak that I was not able to see long enough to zero in on the species...but I'm guessing it was a gray hairstreak...hope it comes around again. It was on the outside of a window pane but I could not see it very well through the slats of the blinds...tried to raise the blinds carefully but I scared it away.
Lots of birds and other interesting creatures in the holler lately. Here's an awesome (but very small) hopper that I've seen on my potted lantana a couple of times:
Sibovia occatoria on 24 June 2012 [Photo credit: Cathie Bird]
I have a yellow-breasted chat and white-eyed vireo living close to the house this year...great songs to start the day with. Today I saw a pair of ruby-throated hummingbirds around my geraniums -- the male was doing some courtship aerials...awesome!
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