HollerPhenology

An auspicious week for wild-thing-photography in the holler

In addition to bird sightings in the holler this week, I happened across some other amazing life forms: a red eft, a resting eastern tailed-blue butterfly, and a rather large colony of violet wood sorrel:

 

Red eft (Notophthalmus viridescens) on 2 May 2013. [Photo credit: Cathie Bird]

The red eft is the juvenile land-dwelling stage of the eastern newt. I nearly stepped on this one during my holler walk. The green object to the left of its left hind leg is a needle from an eastern hemlock.

 

Eastern tailed-blue (Cupido comyntas) on 2 May 2013. [Photo credit: Cathie Bird]

 

Violet Wood Sorrel (Oxalis violacea) on 2 May 2013. [Photo credit: Cathie Bird]

I thought I might be seeing early leaves for this species on several occasions but could never find them again to check it out. This is a very large colony...hard to miss even from a distance. I hope to get some photos of open flowers when the sun comes out again.

I'm guessing all of this rain will bring a new rush of flowers.

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Out in the holler: just about everything!

Spring emergence has been in warp drive here in the holler for the past 10 days or so. On April 11, a common expression in the neighborhood was, "It's like everything popped out overnight!"

Redbud1 and Beech 1 on 18 April 2013 [Photo credit: Cathie Bird]

Today Redbud1's flowers are peaking, Beech1 has both leaves and flowers, and Beech2 has leaves on several branches. The apple and cherry trees both have flowers that so far have survived the cold nights. Oak trees in the holler have baby leaves out in the open as well.

In the past week I've seen many eastern tiger swallowtail butterflies, and at least one zebra swallowtail. I think it was around April 15th when I saw a number of Horace duskywings. One of the white species has been around as well -- usually the West Virginia whites show up first here. At least one species of azure is out but I've had trouble getting close enough to narrow down the species. A mourning cloak continues occasional visits.

Rue anemone (Thalictrum thalictroides) on 12 April 2013 [Photo credit: Cathie Bird]

The rue anemone have peaked and foamflowers have taken over the most-prominent-bloomer designation in the holler. I've seen a lot of phlox plants with buds -- lots of them blooming at lower elevations but none here yet. This was also a good toothwort year for me. I discovered that the fineleaf toothwort grows in the holler...four species of toothwort for me to follow now.

Fineleaf toothwort (Dentaria multifida) on 14 April 2013 [Photo credit: Cathie Bird]

In a post on April 3 I noted that trillium was prolific this year. I thought I had Trillium luteum and Trillium grandiflorum. About 10 days later I happened to discover my first red trillium species, Trillium sulcatum and Trillium cuneatum, though not within my designated observation plot.

Trilleum cuneatum on 13 April 2013 [Photo credit: Cathie Bird]

Trilleum sulcatum on 18 April 2013 [Photo credit: Cathie Bird]

Today I see that the fleabane have flowers. A little further down the lane I've seen lots of wood vetch and Robin plantain. Common blue violets are out in large numbers now as well.

Two days ago I noticed indigo buntings in the neighborhood. On Friday -- while it was still raining -- a female ruby-throated hummingbird came to the window and looked in for a few seconds.

The eastern phoebes have finished the nest. One of them -- I assume it was the female -- sat on the nest all day for the first time last Sunday (14th), and today she is there again. I'm wondering if she has laid some eggs...she leaves the nest very infrequently. I moved the car to the back of the house on Monday and now use the back door exclusively. I'll do this until any young phoebes fledge. This phoebe couple had five chicks last year and, as near as I could tell, all of them were successful in leaving the nest safely.

I'll end this post with a photo of the eastern box turtle that I almost tripped over when I went to check on progress of Forsythia1 on Thursday (18th):

Terrapene carolina on 18 April 2013 [Photo credit: Cathie Bird]

 

 

 

Life in the holler: phoebes return and trillium is prolific

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.

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Fall asters are filling the holler!

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]

Out in the holler today...

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]

 

 

Trout Lily Leaves Breakthrough into the Holler

Saw leaves of one of the holler's early risers today:

Leaf (center) of a yellow trout lily (Erythronium americanum) emerges, March 5, 2012 [Photo credit: Cathie Bird]

This plant is also called yellow adder's tongue and dogtooth violet. This leaf is near the marker for an individual I observe for Nature's Notebook.

I expect that the forsythia will have open flowers sometime this week. Here's an image from today's holler walk:

Forsythia flower bud, March 5, 2012 [Photo credit: Cathie Bird]

This is the individual I observe for Nature's Notebook. Several branches of this plant have drooped low enough to take root. The Wikipedia page for this species notes that people weight branches down with rocks to facilitate this natural process, then dig up the roots for replanting. I probably won't go that far, but I'll probably separate the rooted branches from the main plant at some point, because they are making it hard to get around the bush to check out plant parts more closely!

 

Some fall asters in the holler

I have lots of photos I didn't get around to posting earlier this fall. Some of my favorite late species are the asters, though I'm still learning to identify many of them beyond the genus.

This year I made what I think is a positive identification for Lowrie's aster, which has leaves with a sharp point and distinctive winged stalk. I got photos of those features but they were not the best shots of the flowers, so here's one of the flowers:

Lowrie's aster (Symphyotrichum lowrieanum), 17 September 2011 [Photo credit: Cathie Bird]

These asters were abundant this year, but many of the individuals were in shadier parts of the holler, so I had to go out at different times of day to try to catch some in the sun.

I think this is a calico aster, a species with centers that change from yellow to purple as each flower ages:

Calico aster (Symphyotrichum lateriflora), 20 October 2011 [Photo credit: Cathie Bird]

I found two purple asters. One species was growing up higher in the holler; the other had much larger flowers, was darker purple, and grew further down the lane.

Smaller and lighter of the two aster species, 7 October 2011 [Photo credit: Cathie Bird]

These are the larger and purpler flowers on 5 October 2011 [Photo credit: Cathie Bird]

The larger species grew in large numbers along Terry Creek Lane this year, making my drive out to the main road a very colorful one.

In the 1990's native North American asters were renamed after morphologic research suggested they were better placed in genera related to, but separate from, the Old World asters, which kept the Aster genus designation. This is making it harder on me to figure out who is who among the holler asters!

 

 

Signs of fall in the holler...

No leaves turning yet, but the late summer flowers are here. It's been really dry, and some of the flowers are starting to shrivel before they've finished their cycle. Species in the shadier parts of the holler and the ones near the creek are doing better.

Today as I was counting flowers on jewelweed2, I found this awesome orb weaver:

Arrowshaped Micrathena (Micrathena sagittata), 30 August 2011 [Photo credit: Cathie Bird]

American Beech1 has many nuts in the making but they are so high up that I'm having a hard time seeing if any of the burs are splitting open yet. Another beech in the neighborhood dropped a bunch of nuts on the lane recently. I picked up several and brought them inside to watch and photograph:

American beech burs and nuts, 29 August 2011 [Photo credit: Cathie Bird]

Now that my Echinaceas are going to seed I'm seeing a pair of American goldfinches every day. I got a few photos through the window -- too blurry to upload, especially after I caught a much better image of the male taking a break in the tobacco weed:

American goldfinch (Carduelis tristis), 28 August 2011 [Photo credit: Cathie Bird]

Here are a few of the flowers that are blooming:

Great Lobelia (Lobelia siphilitica), 30 August 2011 [Photo credit: Cathie Bird]

Green-headed coneflower (Rudbeckia liciniata), 28 August 2011 [Phot credit: Cathie Bird]

 

Virgin's Bower (Clematis virginiana), 22 August 2011 [Photo credit: Cathie Bird]

Goldenrod is on its way; wingstems are out, too, but it seems they are having a hard time this year...not as many blooming, it seems.

Today I found some chicory in bloom -- I posted a photo at View from Frog Pond Holler.

 

 

In the holler: skullcap, elder and orange day lily

Hairy skullcap (Scutellaria elliptica), 4 June 2011 [photo credit: cathie bird]

I think I've seen these in the holler before, but today I got some images. Skullcap species (members of the mint family) are numerous. My frontline flower guide is Southern Appalachian Wildflowers, but it only listed the maddog skullcap. The description did not quite match the species I found, so for this skullcap I had to consult online guides. The USDA plant database helped me narrow it down to a (best-guess) hairy skullcap.Then I found a definite look-alike image for Sutellaria ellipticus at the Discover Life site.

The day lilies started opening mid-week. Since I posted a photo of them on this blog recently, I'll post today's best shot at my View from Frog Pond Holler blog, and move on to an update on the common elder that grows at the edge of yard. I noticed early flower structures late last week, and got this photo today:

Common elder (Sambucus canadensis), 4 June 2011. [photo credit: cathie bird]

While I was photographing the elder flowers, I found this awesome leaf hopper just an inch or so away:

A tree hopper (Ceresa palmeri), 4 June 2011 [photo credit: cathie bird]

Whenever I go on bug photo searches, I always check out this elder, as I've found many interesting insects on its leaves, flowers and twigs.

The Echinacea's are beginning to flower, so I decided to get a photo of the early structures on "echinacea1" which is an individual I observe for the Nature's Notebook project at USA-NPN. I picked this one to observe because it's not one that I planted:

Echinacea purpurea, 4 June 2011. [photo credit: cathie bird]

This week was great for bird sights and sounds as well.

A little sharp-shinned hawk has definitely claimed airspace over the holler. I hear him/her every day, it seems. On my way to town on Wednesday, I heard its call, saw it fly over, then watched as it took a steep dive into the holler.

I hear the Carolina wren every day as well, and have seen it around the porch several times this week. Other daily calls and songs come via the tufted titmice, yellow-breated chats, black capped chickadees, crows and white-eyed vireos.

I saw some American goldfinches down the holler this week and thought I heard one up at this end, very near my office window. I looked outside and a bird flew away but I didn't get a good look. It was down on the ground near last year's Echinacea seed heads that I recently pulled out. After the Echinacea has been blooming for awhile, I often see goldfinches checking them out for seeds. I've decided that these birds only come up into the higher, woodier part of the holler for the Echinacea.

I also heard a northern flicker and the drumming of pileated woodpeckers. The awesome bird song of the week, though, was that of a wood thrush.

The holler is dark and wet today...

And it seems like it's been that way forever. If the dogs hadn't been bugging me to go out, I might have stayed inside. I only heard a few birds on today's walk, and saw no bugs to speak of. I heard a common yellowthroat across the creek, but it was so dark in the woods over there that I'm not sure I could have spotted him even with binoculars.

Honeysuckle is out everywhere -- the rain hasn't been able to drown their fragrance. The ox-eye daisies have opened their flowers in large numbers as the daisy fleabane flowers phase out. Yesterday I noticed budding flower stalks of my orange day lilies pushing up above the leaves.

I think I'll post a couple of shots from last year to cheer myself up.

Orange day lily, June 5, 2010

I didn't have time to post anything last Tuesday, the 10th, but a few events stick in my memory. For one thing, I'm finally hearing the spring peepers higher up here in the holler. They were singing back in March or April in other areas near here...usually I hear the chorus at lower elevations and its emergence continues gradually upward. But this year the peeping just seemed to stop and never happened up here. I was wondering if they would come out later or maybe not at all. I was glad to hear them, along with the bullfrogs.

Ox-eye Daisies, May 23, 2010.

Also last Tuesday I saw a yellow warbler in some small trees on Terry Creek, and a northern flicker flying across the field, then calling out calling out from a tree on the fenceline. After many days of hearing a kingfisher in this area, one did a flyover as it took a short cut from Terry Creek over to Hudson Branch (which angles into a confluence with Terry Creek further down).

For the past week or so a Carolina wren has been close, singing for long stretches of time from various directions around the house. I'm pretty sure it's preparing to nest in the birdhouse I have high up under the porch roof. In years past, wrens poked a hole in a huge wasp nest that the previous owner of my house had found and hung up on the porch. The wrens nested there until it fell apart three or so years ago. I put up a wren house next to the wasp nest parts, and the birds seemed okay with that instead.

I usually have an eastern pewee couple nesting near the house, too, though 2 years ago (in the fall) I enclosed one of the nesting sites under the eaves for heating efficiency purposes. They used a second site on the back porch light fixture last year, but I found a splatted egg below the nest one morning and never saw any more activity at the nest. It will be interesting to see if they show up again.

[Photo credits: Cathie Bird]