Many thanks to Treebeard for holding this pair of very active ticks for me. I wanted a picture of both sexes but couldn't hold them and focus the camera at the same time - the little suckers are quick! The female is the larger one on the left, the male is on the right. The Black-legged tick (Ixodes scapularis) is a carrier of Lyme disease. Luckily we seldom find them attached.
A surprise on the forest floor. This is a puttyroot leaf. Puttyroot, a.k.a. Adam-and-Eve, Aplectrum hyemale, is a native orchid that blooms in the spring. It is much more common in the mountains and piedmont of my state so I didn't expect to find it here in the work swamp.
Not sure which species of potter wasp constructed this nest. I will have to keep an eye on it and see what emerges in the spring.
Are you lookin' at me? White-tailed deer, Odocoileus virginianus.
Treebeard snapped this picture of a hermit thrush, Catharus guttatus, from his truck window. He seems to be enjoying the new digital camera that Santa brought him.
9 comments:
Well it wasn't me who fussed, but I'm glad they did 'cause these were great photos.
FC,
I knew it wasn't you :) Ironically, it was a lurker. The individual has never commented but is apparently a frequent visitor. Who knew?
Cyberworld is a weird and wonderful place.
I'll 'second' FC's comment. Hope you're just busy and not overwhelmed by microbes or macro concerns. (Hope we'll get to see a pix of the putty root in bloom. Funny name -"putty" root.
Thanks for the tick picture...making my skin crawl.
Love the hermit thrush though. It has the prettiest song in the bird world.
I never realized I was a lurker until a friend posted that last week was 'de-lurking' week - and now the term is here too. Although I was not the one who complained either, I now feel guilty for never having left a comment.
I have been visiting your Blog for months and enjoy the pictures very much! I am a Fish & Wildlife Technologist (now teaching in northern Canada) and miss that aspect of my life, especially since all I have seen in months are ravens!
I have learned about many different species and have been engrossed by the beautiful pictures! Keep up the great work!
Swampy- As usual I love the pics. Now Treebeard has a camera he should have his own blog. I can't compete with your pictures but I'm trying to post more to my blog while here in Texas.
Still intrigued by "putty root" aka "Adam and Eve" plant I did some googling. Cool! "Adam & Eve is a reference to the growth habit of the bulbs as the leaf and flower arise from the current seasons growth (Eve) while last years bulb (Adam), from which forth sprang Eve, is still present. One way of propagating the plant is to cut Adam away from Eve with a sharp knife and replant him."
MISS YOUR POSTS - WAITING PATIENTLY:0)
cathy,
Not to worry, I'm healthy - just very, very busy at work. As for "puttyroot," I believe the name comes from the fact that the plant has "...several subglobose, glutionous corms...which produce slender fibrous roots at the base..." In other words, it has a sort of round, squishy base from which the roots grow. Thanks for the info on the "Adam-and-Eve" name. I can use that in an interpretive program.
Lynne,
Ticks do tend to cause that reaction :) The hermit thrush does have a pretty song, but I am partial to the song of the wood thrush.
Artic Fox,
Thanks for the comment. Don't worry, lurking is perfectly acceptable. I do it myself all the time. Don't feel guilty! I'm just glad you enjoy the blog.
Cindi RV,
I'm looking forward to the Texas posts. I got a kick out of the picture of the person taking pictures of snakes. We'll just have to find a snake you can get close to, and dare I hope, touch. That tiny little ringneck snake we found on the logging road near your house this summer would have been perfect. ;)
Love love love the winter puttyroot leaves! I marked all I found last winter... and then failed to follow up and find them again when the weather got warmer! Oh well.
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