Road Trip

Treebeard and I left the swamp behind this weekend and headed to the Piedmont of NC for the wedding of two of our friends.  The wedding was held outdoors in a beautiful setting and everyone had a wonderful time.  Since it was a four hour drive to the festivities, we opted to spend the night and head back Sunday following a Mother's Day brunch hosted by the happy couple.

We are early risers and the brunch was scheduled for 10 a.m.  What to do with our time???  A hike, of course!  It was quite pleasant to roam around and wander up and down those exotic landforms known as "hills" - we don't have many of those down here in the Coastal Plain.  And, of course, we had to check out the wetland area on the property. 

 I haven't taken the time to ID this fern yet.  It was quite tall though.

 This boardwalk leads to what they call a river in these parts -- it was only about eight feet wide at this point.  It does get much larger as it heads east.

 Again, I haven't taken time to ID...most likely some sort of rodent.

The butterfly is a great spangled fritillary.  We don't have these in the swamp.

 I had to rescue this juvenile ring-neck snake from the road.  It was not an easy task.  The little guy made himself as flat as he could and wiggled like crazy.

  

Back in the long ago when Treebeard and I lived in the Piedmont, this was one of my favorite wildflowers.  It has the crazy name of fire pink.

He's Back

See the blue berries getting ripe...

You would think we would have plenty of berries to go with our yogurt, waffles, or whatever.
Sadly, you would be wrong because...he's back...

Yes, I know, he is beautiful.  But he's a little devil, too.  Honestly, he will give us dirty looks and just swoop in and help himself to berries.  It wouldn't be so irritating if he ate all the berries he plucked but he's a nibbler.  Pick a berry, take a bite, go in for another.  Plus he has figured out how to go in under the bird netting we put over the bushes.  Like I said, he's a little devil...

Oh well, it won't be so bad once the berries start to ripen in large numbers.  But for now, we'll just have to heave heavy sighs and enjoy the bird instead of the berries.

Non-insect Yard Critters

Last post for today.  I didn't want you to think the yard was devoid of other types of critters besides insects. 

Take a close look at this picture.  Do you see one of my all-time favorite animals?

Yes?  No?  Maybe???  I'll give you a closer look...

If you've visited this blog before, you probably already guessed what was hiding in the tree.  If you haven't stopped by before, then you might not be aware that I am ever-so-slightly obsessed with green treefrogs.

But this is an equal opportunity site -- here's another amphibian that we found this morning.

Right in the middle of the frame is an Eastern Narrow-mouthed Toad.  He was hiding under a piece of lumber in the front garden.  I love the sound these little guys make.

One last non-insect and then I'm done for the day.

Treebeard ran across this pretty little worm snake in the compost.  I love these little snakes.  It makes me smile whenever I see one.

Yard Critters, Part Two

A few dragonflies to add to the butterflies posted earlier...

 Blue Dasher - male

Blue Dasher - female

 Common Whitetail - female

Common Whitetail - male

 Eastern Pondhawk - female

Spangled Skimmer - male

Yard Critters

Cool spring mornings often offer up somewhat sleepy butterflies and dragonflies, making them the perfect mornings for a walk in the yard.  Treebeard and I enjoyed our breakfast and then took a ramble through the sunny parts of our property.  We didn't venture into the mature woods, we just ambled along the yard and old field sections.  I thought you might enjoy seeing what we saw.  I don't have time to upload all the photos right now.  We'll just have to settle for the butterflies for the moment.

I wasn't able to get a photo of every species that was out this morning but I did manage to get seven of them.

 Common Buckeye

 Clouded Sulphur (unless, of course, it's an Orange Sulphur -- I didn't get a good look and they appear almost identical to me.)

 

 The ubiquitous Pearl Crescent.  They have been quite abundant this year.

 Variegated Fritillary

This pesky Question Mark wouldn't sit still despite the coolness of the morning.  I did manage to get both the dorsal and ventral field marks in one shot, though, so I can't be too irritated with it :)

 Another butterfly that is quite abundant in the yard this year, the American Lady.

And lastly, a highly uncooperative Red Admiral.  This guys usually go out of their way to pose, but this one was being obstinate.

I'll try to do a follow-up post later to show you what else we found.

Waking Up

You know what they say about the best laid plans...  Despite my best intentions, I have been rather slack about posting.  It seems that everything I think of to post has already been posted by others who are more eloquent and more skilled with a camera.  Guess I'm just feeling redundant.  But, insecurities aside, I do have a little something to share today --

Things are really starting to wake up around here.  It is not unusual to find the aquatic basking turtles out any time the weather warms for a few days in winter.  You see them sitting on logs, soaking up the rays.  What is unusual is to find the turtles that spend their winters dug in underground or in heavy leaf litter making their way out in late February and early March.  It's a risky venture.  What if the weather turns cold again?

The past couple of days have seen the emergence of some of our "yard" turtles.  The little mud turtle in the picture below almost got itself stepped on by my big ole feet.  She was out by one of the raised beds in the garden.  I have a feeling she spent her winter buried in the soft dirt of the main garden.

We have two species of mud turtle here.  Unfortunately, I was unable to determine which this was because she wouldn't stick her head out - I needed to see if she had stripes on her head or not.

The next turtle to make an appearance was this eastern box turtle.  I recognize this one from last year.  She looked to be in good shape and felt reasonably heavy for this time of year.

Soon after the first box turtle showed up and in the same area, Treebeard found this tiny little boy.

I worry most for this little one.  Life for a young eastern box turtle is fraught with danger.  If he can avoid becoming a tasty little snack for some predator, he has the potential for a long life but that particular "if" is a big one.  They are so vulnerable at this point in their lives.  Their shells are relatively soft and they can't "box" themselves up yet.  Yet, if all goes well, I could be walking in my yard in some far future spring and happen upon him again.  Let's hope that is the case - for both of us  :~)

Sorry Photos

Sometimes you have to take what you can get.  So it was this past Tuesday while Treebeard and I were out in the swamp.  I noticed movement way down the trail and pulled up my binoculars.  Wow - five otters!  Two were together - and I do mean together - about 100 feet ahead of a cluster of three.  The two  had eyes only for each other and seemed intent on insuring the continuation of their species.  Got that?  No?  Then allow me to simplify:  They appeared to be mating.  The other three were running down the trail side by side by side.  I don't think you could have slipped a piece of paper between them the majority of the time.  Every once and a while they would separate a little bit.

For a brief moment, I thought we were going to be lucky enough for them to get close to us.  Alas, it was not to be.  Something caught their attention and they all dove into the canal that borders the trail.  Heavy sigh...they would have been such good pictures, if only.

For Your Consideration

 Okay, I didn't make it back when I promised...sorry about that.  The mystery item is a seed from American Mistletoe.  Congratulations to Tom for identifying it correctly in the comments!

A little something to ponder this Friday evening... I found this on a rain-soaked boardwalk in the swamp forest following a bit of a blow this morning. Do you know what it is? (And yes, I do know and I will tell you tomorrow.)

Okay, it's tomorrow.  So far no one has guessed the identity of my mystery item.  Would it help if I told you it came out of one of these?

See how much faith I have in you?  I'll be back tomorrow to give another clue or relent and post the answer.

Out of Sync

This winter has been warm and drier than usual.  As a result, things have been a bit out of sync.  Take these little fellows, for instance.  They should be snug in their ootheca for a while yet.  Instead, they have emerged in the middle of January. 

I wish you good luck little mantids, you're going to need it.

Miscellany

During the course of the day, numerous things will catch my eye.  Sometimes they are things that others may find interesting and other times, not so much.  Trouble is, I never know which it will be...

For instance, here we have a supple-jack vine growing up a tree and through a hole in the tree.  It goes in on one side,

and comes out on the other.  I find myself wondering what's going to happen when that hole eventually closes as the tree grows.  It is going to be very odd looking, don't you think?

And then there are the little unexpected treasures like this empty swallowtail chrysalis on the underside of a holly leaf.  I love happening upon things like this. 

Some things that I happen upon may be considered gruesome by some folks.  Take this particular find...

Yep, it's a opossum head that has been liberated from its body.  It was just sitting along the edge of the trail.  Don't you wonder what lucky predator went to bed with a full belly on a cold night as a result?  Sure, the outcome was probably not one the 'possum wanted, but that's the way it goes in the swamp.

Besides, it gave me a great look at the unfortunate critter's hind foot.

Some things that catch my eye just make me mad.  I spotted a bit of unnaturally bright color on the forest floor and I knew immediately what it was.

See it there in the center of the photo?   Arrgghh...another balloon!

I HATE BALLOONS!  Or, perhaps more accurately, I hate the fact that some people don't think twice about letting go of helium-filled balloons.  People, what goes up, must come down.  When it comes down it is no longer a festive party decoration, it's litter.  And dangerous litter, too, particularly if it lands in the ocean - and the ocean is just a hop, skip, and a jump away.  Please, please, please do not release helium-filled balloons!!!!!!!

(This concludes my rant - at least until I find another balloon miles out in the swamp.)

Poke It With a Stick

Walking down the trail with Treebeard on Sunday, I spied a little pile of fur in the middle of the trail...

...hmmm, a portion of scat or perhaps a pellet?

 Being nature nerds of the first water, we paused to investigate.

A quick sniff test from a safe distance revealed no odor so it was more likely a pellet than a bit of scat.

Next step in our investigative technique:  poke it with a stick.

 Ah ha!  A curved claw of  decent size revealed itself.

A little more stick work and two incisors of the rodent persuasion appeared.

Our conclusion?  An owl pellet containing the remains of an unfortunate gray squirrel.

Isn't being outside fun?

Color-themed Hike

Another Sunday off, another Sunday walk.  Today's walk had an unexpected color theme - burgundy.  I didn't even notice until I got home and downloaded my photos...

 Brook-side alder (Alnus serrulata)

Sporting spiffy reproductive structures.  The long structures are the male bits, the smaller parts up top are the female bits.  If you want to figure out the proper botanical terms, go for it :)

A fern, probably in the family Ophioglossaceae.  

The rest we saw were green, but this one was growing right out in the trail and had its burgundy on.

 

 Flowering dogwood (Cornus florida) bud waiting patiently for spring.

 A cricket frog (Acris sp.), either an Eastern or a Coastal Plain.  

Both live here. When this little fellow hopped, I surprised myself by catching it with a blind grab into the water.  I handed it off to Treebread so I could get a picture of how tiny it was.

Such a cutie.  Nothing beats a frog to put a smile on my face.

I have a few other images to share, but they will have to wait for another post.  They didn't conform to the color theme.