HollerPhenology

Sharing lavender with the birds and the bees

I originally planted lavender for my use. The plant is several years old now, doing well, and making lots of flowers this season. I'm not the only critter in the holler who likes it.

[Photo: Cathie Bird]

This female ruby-throated hummingbird came around on June 10th, spending a full minute visiting every spike that had open flowers.

[Photo: Cathie Bird, 6/12/20]

Bumblebees like it, too. For the past few hours up to three bees at once have been buzzing the flowery spikes -- quite a few more flowers are available today. A wasp stopped by but didn't stay long.

Here's a photo of the new water and puddling stations in my planter garden:

[Photo: Cathie Bird]

I'm not sure this placement is the best, but it's workable for now. A silver-spotted skipper, eastern comma and silvery checkerspot have used the puddle -- it's hard to get photos from my window. Here's the comma resting among some leaves above the edge of the station that was kind of primordial-looking after a rain:

[Photo: Cathie Bird]

Yesterday a chipmunk got a drink, and hung out for awhile in the shade of the Asia lillies:

[Photo: Cathie Bird]

[Photo: Cathie Bird]

 

Some creatures great and small in the holler last week

Yesterday as I was returning from my CSA veggie pick-up, I had to share the lane with a snapping turtle! I squeezed safely past her/him and drove on up to the house to drop off the produce and grab a camera. Approaching slowly and with caution, I got this photo:

Common snapping turtle (Chelydra serpentina) on June 6, 2020. [Photo: Cathie Bird]

I backed away after I got the pictures but took some time for thanks and admiration. My neighbors often see a snapping turtle around the bridge farther down the lane. This is the first time I've seen one around the creeks and swampy areas at this end of the holler, but I wondered if it was just visiting, since it was headed in the direction of the bridge when I encountered it.

I saw quite a bit of interesting bird activity, including a Carolina wren that was gathering nest material:

Carolina wren (Thryothorus ludovicianus) on May 28, 2020. [Photo: Cathie Bird]

A pair of Carolina wrens has been hanging out close to the house this spring. I'm guessing this is one of them, but not sure where they are in their breeding cycle. The male comes to the porch to sing several times a day. Right now he's out at the edge of the woods.

I think I actually have two pairs of tufted titmice nesting near the house this year, one pair to the north and one south based on flight paths to the feeders. This one is of the northern pair:

Tufted titmouse (Baeolophus bicolor) on May, 29, 2020. [Photo: Cathie Bird]

Maybe the biggest bird story for me lately was the photo I didn't catch. On May 31st I came back to my study after a session outside with Chewie -- my brush mower -- and saw a female wood thrush gathering a beak-full of clippings. I came within seconds of snagging a photonic trophy before she flew out of sight with the fruits of my labor. I was happy to have been of service, though, and rode waves of awe to the end of the day just to have seen her.

Southeastern 5-lined skink (Plestiodon inexpectatus) on May 28, 2020. [Photo: Cathie Bird]

Skinks are plentiful this year. I've seen Plestiodon inexpectatus -- southeastern 5-lined adults and at least two different juveniles -- one with its tail intact and the other without. I'm pretty sure I'm seeing broad-headed skinks (Plestiodon laticeps) as well. I'm still doing a little guessing on this. Coloration of both species is variable, and I have not caught any to look closely for the differentiating features, i.e., labial and tail scales.

Broad-headed skink (Plastiodon laticeps), on May 31, 2020. [Photo: Cathie Bird]

I think the individual in the photos above and below is P. laticeps.

Broad-headed skink (Plastiodon laticeps) on May 31, 2020. [Photo: Cathie Bird]

No doubts that this is an eastern tiger swallowtail, though. The plant is a snapdragon that I bought for my planters. They flower earlier than any of the other container plants. Swallowtails are feeding on clover now, and were frequent visitors to the fleabane before it phased out.

Eastern tiger swallowtail (Papilio glaucus) on May 24, 2020. [Photo: Cathie Bird]

In the planters around this one, I have phlox, beebalm, Asia lilies and two species of milkweed. The phlox will be plentiful by the looks of it now. The others are not off to a great start, though I think the "snowball" milkweed will flower for the first time in a week or two:

The asia lilies have gotten quite tall but I haven't grown them before and am not sure what to expect.

Inside my study -- once I can keep the window open -- I have to do a bug patrol several times a day to catch and release any trapped insects. I successfully rescued this Nessus sphinx moth:

Nessus sphinx moth (Amphion floridensis) on May 29, 2020. [Photo: Cathie Bird]

I caught this robber fly in the bug jar and opened the lid but he decided to stay for awhile, which allowed me to get some photos and search the images at BugGuide to narrow down the genus and species:

Robber fly (Laphria sp., maybe L. sericea or L. aktis) on May 29, 2020. [Photo: Cathie Bird]

This weekend I plan to install a new bird bath and make a "puddle" for butterflies...then sit back and see what amazing creatures show up.

Recent butterfly and dragonfly sightings in the holler

Eastern tailed blue (Everes comyntas) on July 10, 2018  [Photo: Cathie Bird]

The eastern tailed blue butterfly -- a species I observe for Nature's Notebook -- has been out for awhile. Earlier this month, I finally caught up with one that sat still long enough for me to get the photo above as it visited my insect-friendly watering hole.

On the other hand, the crescent butterfly that had come to my window several days earlier sat within a few inches of me for 2-3 hours. He allowed me to get a number of photos, to get right up in his face (literally) for a closer look, trying to figure out for sure if he was a pearl or northern crescent, or a silvery checkerspot. I'm thinking now that he was a northern crescent. A silvery checkerspot came to the window this past week and, though I didn't get photographic evidence, I did get a good look at the black wing markings that help differentiate the crescents from the checkerspots.  The more open orange markings on the butterfly below suggest those of the northern as opposed to the pearl crescent:

Crescent or Checkerspot on July 5th, 2018  [Photo: Cathie Bird]

As I often do when I have such extended encounters with other Earth dwellers, I spoke to this butterfly as I sat next to him, butterfly guide in hand. I've had conversations like this with a number of species. What might they have to tell us, and how might we get their messages?

When I took a short break to see what was up with Facebook friends, I noted that psychoanalytic colleague, Renee Lertzman, had just posted a link about journalist James Nestor’s work with the CETI Project, which focuses on studying and attempting to comprehend sperm whale clicks. As I sat trying to comprehend this butterfly -- after reading of CETI Project questions about what cetaceans are saying -- I decided that I should try to organize some posts at my In Hawk Space blog about my own experiences. Human interactions with the non-human environment is a subject in which my psychoanalytic study and practice intersects with previous work as a naturalist and current interest in phenology. My encounters with plants, birds, insects and mammals as a phenology observer serve to generate both data and narratives about those spaces where humans and nature meet...inaugural post coming soon to hawk space.

Female Diana fritillary (Speyeria diana) on July 2, 2018  [Photo: Cathie Bird]

For several years, the Echinacea patch and planter garden have attracted at least one pair of Diana fritillaries. I don't record observations for this species, but their presence always prompts me to carefully differentiate the blue flash of a female Diana (above) from that of the the pipevine swallowtail, and the striking orange of the male Diana (below) from the great spangled fritillary.

Male Diana fritillary (Speyeria diana) on July 1, 2018  [Photo: Cathie Bird]

Earlier in the month I also saw a viceroy. I had spotted one in the holler a few years ago, but hadn't seen another until this one came by:

Viceroy (Liminitus archippus) on July 7, 2018  [Photo: Cathie Bird]

The ebony jewelwing is another species I don't see much of for long stretches. Then comes a year like this one in which I see them often and can get close enough for photos. This female jewelwing seems to find poison ivy much more user-friendly than I do:

Female ebony jewelwing (Calopteryx maculata) on July 1, 2018  [Photo: Cathie Bird]

I've noticed a greater variety of dragonflies in the holler this year, including a large blueish one that I could not catch a long-enough look at to identify. One day while I was watching wrens bring food to their most recent nest, one of them landed on a planter geranium, and I was able to get a good enough image to identify it as a male slaty skimmer:

Slaty skimmer (Libellula incesta) on July 2, 2018  [Photo: Cathie Bird]

The female's markings are more like that of a female whitetail, though the slatys are noticeably larger. Both genders of both species have hunted near my planter garden this year.

Finally, a brief wren update: I have seen two juvenile wrens, often times with an adult male, around my planter garden several times since the most recent nestlings fledged, so I'm thinking two made it instead of just one.

Great spangled fritillaries, common whitetails, and 2 different skinks

In my last post I talked a little about my new butterfly milkweed plant and its magnetic qualities. Once its flowers opened on June 3rd, I began to see butterflies on it. On June 5th, two great spangled fritillaries came to feed several times:

Great spangled fritillaries on June 5, 2018 [Photo: Cathie Bird]

The next day I saw as many as four fritillaries and a crescent butterfly on it throughout the day. In the photo below are three fritillaries and the pearl crescent:

Great spangled fritillaries and a pearl crescent on June 6, 2018. [Photo: Cathie Bird]

They are so focused on feeding that they remained at the flower even when my dog or cat walked by. I easily got a close up of this single fritillary:

Great spangled fritillary (Speyeria cybele) on June 6, 2018 [Photo: Cathie Bird]

The butterflies seem mesmerized by the milkweed, and I'm definitely mesmerized by the butterflies. Here a video of them:

Of course, where butterflies and other insects gather, there, too, may be dragonflies such as this pair of common whitetails. I see them hunting together almost every day:

Common whitetail (Plathemus lydia) female on June 6, 2018. [Photo: Cathie Bird]

Common whitetail dragonfly (Plathemus lydia) male on June 6, 2018. [Photo: Cathie Bird]

Among the amphibian visitors to my planters are two skink species -- the eastern 5-lined skink and the broadheaded skink. Recently I got short video clips of each while I was recording activity of the butterflies and dragonflies:

Even with all of this happening, the story of life around my planter garden continued to unfold with the return -- exactly a month later -- of the Carolina wrens that fledged on May 6th. I'll share what the holler wrens are up to in my next post.

 

Old and new butterfly friends, ebony jewelwing, new plants and another toad

Red Admiral (Vanessa atalanta) on June 3, 2018. [Photos: Cathie Bird]

Out in the holler, trees are fully leafed out and most of the early spring flower species have pretty much finished their above-ground phases. Among the plants I observe for Nature's Notebook, I've turned my focus to Echinacea, jewelweed, wingstem, and hopes of catching initial growth phases of later summer species like the frost and wood asters.

Activity of winged creatures -- birds, butterflies, dragonflies, bees -- brings new amazements daily. After zero sightings of red admirals last year, I saw one (images above and below) the first week of June.

Red Admiral, side view. June 3, 2018 [Photo: Cathie Bird]

There are many butterfly species that I see infequently, for example, the hackberry emperor. Until last week, I had not seen another one since my memorable introduction to this species in June 2010, when one landed on my window sill and walked around for several minutes while I got plenty of great close-ups:

Hackberry Emperor, side view -- a 2010 photo. [Photo: Cathie Bird]

The one I saw last week stayed for a long time on a pile of garden soil, but I was not able to get closer than a long lean out of my study window with my video camera for this photo:

Hackberry Emperor (Astrocampus celtis) on May 31, 2018 [Photo: Cathie Bird]

I could have rested in butterfly bliss with the return of the admiral and hackberry alone. Then along came an Appalachian brown, my first ever. Again, I managed to get a few distant images from my window.  When I went outside to do some planter maintenance a little later, I saw it just a few inches from me. Not only did it stay put while I ran back inside to get my camera, it let me get right up in its face, so to speak, for 15 to 20 shots from different angles:

Appalachian brown (Lethe appalachia) on June 6, 2018. [Photo: Cathie Bird]

Just to make sure it was an Appalachian and not a Smoky brown, I submitted an ID request at BugGuide. You can view the entry and confirmation at my BugGuide user account.

I saw my first ebony jewelwing of the year on May 29th -- too far away for a photo. They are one of the most strikingly beautiful winged creatures that live in the holler.

I'm still seeing toads around. I almost dropped a new tarp for my brush mower in this one's head. If it was sitting there when I approached the car, it's a wonder I didn't step on it:

American toad (Anaxyrus americanus) on May 28, 2018. [Photo: Cathie Bird]

This toad sighting was of interest because I'm pretty sure now that I'm seeing at least two different toads. American toads' skin can be brown, red, olive or gray. To complicate identification, air temperature, humidity and stress can cause color shifts. Fowler's toads come in shades of gray or brown to brick red.

I have taken this into account as I've collected and recorded toad sightings. It's also why I treasure any photos I can get to look for more reliable differentiations. The one above is lighter in color and slightly smaller, but had the space between the cranial crests and the parotoid glands.

I had a surprise encounter with a darker toad on June 5th when I went out to re-pot a new foxglove plant. I'm not sure if it was a Fowler's or American toad -- no photo to study later. I was happily shoveling dirt around the plant when the toad suddenly popped into view near my hand. I have no clue where it came from, unless it had been sitting within the dense leafage of the foxglove before I pulled the plant from its plastic nursery pot.

Foxglove (Digitalis sp.) on June 3, 2018. [Photo: Cathie Bird]

I'm still doing some upgrades around my planter garden. In addition to the foxglove, I found a butterfly milkweed at Stanley's Greenhouse -- my go-to nursery for annuals and perennials -- that already had buds atop very sturdy looking stems, and brought it home to the holler. I've tried to grow this species for the last few years, but I'm doing something they don't like, I think -- new plants have come up every spring, but they're skinny, budless, and only one or two have made it through to the fall. At this point, I'm guessing the problem is that the soil and planters I've put them in don't drain or dry out very well. Also, I am pretty deep in the woods here. Plants that need full sun occasionally require that I move the pots around as the sun shifts across the seasons. Or maybe I need to buy plants that are more mature to begin with.

Butterfly milkweed (Asclepias tuberosa) on June 3, 2018. [Photo: Cathie Bird]

The first flowers opened on June 3rd. People are not kidding when they say these milkweeds are butterfly magnets. That's my next post.

Toothwort flowers, yellow trout lily leaves, and other early risers in the holler

Early risers such as this cutleaf toothwort (Dentaria lacinata) continue progress through their phenophases, despite freezing night temperatures. Flower buds on this plant opened around March 17, 2018 [Cathie Bird photo]

 

After my last post, I decided to track daily weather highs and lows more closely for awhile, and notice how different plants fared. So far, the coldest temperatures of any 24-hour cycle have not lasted long -- for the most part, just 2-3 hours of freezing air before it starts getting warmer again. The lows themselves have not been more than 6-7 degrees below 32ºF. I'm speculating that this situation is consistent with weather history of the holler.

I hadn't done such close surveillance before and had not thought much about resilience of wild plants to what seemed pretty darned cold for little lives out in the woods. Thinking more about it this week, in light of considerations for how long earth, air and water stay warm during a day and how long they have to cool down before a reversal, it made more sense to me why most wild things seem to do pretty well even though this human worries about them!

Initial leaf of a yellow trout lily (Erythronium americanum), March 17, 2018. [Cathie Bird photo]

I have seen frost on my car during this period but not on the ground or plants. So far. Most wild plants I observe seem to do okay with one session of frost, but not with several in a row.

Rue Anemone-2 (Thalictrum thalictroides) has moved beyond its initial leaf stage, and has multiple flowers. March 17, 2018. [Cathie Bird photo]

One of the species that has not shown signs of a spring breakout is the apple tree down the lane. When earlier-than-usual warming periods began happening a few years ago, this tree responded with disastrous results. What I notice now is that it doesn't start budding or leafing out during the first warm days, even though other plants do. The quince bushes also seem to have adapted in this way, although they put out what I call "test buds" early, then more as the warm periods stretch out. Speculating again: the apple and quince are making adjustments to a warming climate.

Echinacea leaves are up, March 6, 2018. This particular group grows in front of a large rock that probably serves as a bed warmer of sorts. [Cathie Bird photo]

I'm seeing leaves of several violet species throughout the holler. The haldberdleaf yellow violet (below) grows in the woodland edges close to my house. I don't observe this species for Nature's Notebook, but they are one of my favorite early spring flowers.

Haldberdleaf Yellow Violet (Viola hastata), March 6, 2018. [Cathie Bird photo]

The day I checked on yellow violet progress, I also scanned the area for yellow trillium and leaf bud activity on a nearby Mapleleaf Viburnam. No action here yet, but, on my way back from town on Saturday (the 17th), I spotted a yellow trillium in the lower regions of Terry Creek. I look forward to emergence of the four trillium species that grow in the holler neighborhood.

Narcissus in my rock garden, March 6, 2018.

Activity in rock garden and planter areas includes narcissus, daffodils, phlox and bee balm. Orange daylily and iris leaves are much bigger than they were at the time of my February 27th post. A few dandelions are up, and grass on the lane and around the house will need to be mowed soon.

This morning as I wrote this post, a pair of eastern phoebes flew around an old nesting site on the porchlight above the planters. I'll check later today for placement of new nesting material. They have plenty of bugs to keep them energized for now!

 

Sightings in the holler: wood sorrels, blackberry, maple-leaf viburnam, lyreleaf sage, wood thrush

I have been recording the presence of wood thrushes for several years, but had not seen active individuals until one flew up out of the grass and landed on a branch, at eye level, only 10 feet or so from me on April 24th. I had my camera but focused on a mental picture so I could double-check the field marks when I got home. I'd have to say that was the most treasured sighting since my last post.

This spring, I discovered several new colonies of Oxalis violacea -- the violet wood sorrel -- mixed in with violets, orange jewelweed, wingstems and several other species:

Violet Wood sorrel (Oxalis violacea), April 25, 2017, [Photo: Cathie Bird]

This week, the fading O. violacea have been succeeded by their yellow relatives, Oxalis stricta, in numbers greater than I recall ever seeing before:

Common wood sorrel (Oxalis stricta), April 30, 2017 [Photo: Cathie Bird]

In other areas of the holler, multiflora rose bushes were loaded with flowers this week. The one I observe is in a shadier spot, and slower to flower. I saw its first flowers on April 25th, and got this photo on the 30th:

Multiflora rose flowers, April 30, 2017. [Photo: Cathie Bird]

I ended last week's holler report with a screen shot of a storm system that ended up dumping 10+ inches of rain in 2 days before moving on. For a few hours, Terry Creek came over the access lane and bridge, trapping me at the high end of the holler. Because many of the plant and tree species in my Nature's Notebook observation area grow on or near the banks of Hudson Branch, I was worried. When I did my first holler walk on Monday after the storm, I was happy to find all of them unharmed. Here's a photo of a downed tree and the gravel deposit it created; the white flowers in the bottom right area of the photo belong to Multiflora Rose-1:

Material left by areal flooding last weekend in the main channel of Hudson Branch, about 20 feet from the multiflora rose [Photo: Cathie Bird]

Also flowering in the past week: the mapleleaf viburnam...

Mapleleaf Viburnam, May 2, 2017. [Photo: Cathie Bird]

and blackberries, yay! Later in the season, I'll start taking a container on my holler walks so I can bring some ripe berries back to the house:

Blackberry flowers, April 30, 2017. [Photo: Cathie Bird]

Higher in the holler, and closer to my house, the lyreleaf sage is plentiful and peaking:

Lyreleaf Sage, May 1, 2017. [Photo: Cathie Bird]

I don't see a lot of bedstraw in the holler, which makes it more fun when I do spot some:

Bedstraw (Galium aparine), April 30, 2017. [Photo: Cathie Bird]

I think the early spring and its erratic temperatures made it hard for the Dwarf Crested Iris. Very few bloomed this year (photo below) and the ones I saw seemed smaller than usual:

Dwarf Crested Iris, April 26, 2017. [Photo: Cathie Bird]

Another group that seemed to suffer from early emergence into shifting air temperatures and weather patterns was the toothworts. I saw only one plant of one species with any flowers -- a Dentaria diphylla -- though many individuals of at least three of the four species found in the holler made it into the leaf phenophase.

Among the species showing up last week, but for which I rarely snag photos: whitetail dragonflies, tent worm caterpillars, little satyr butterflies.

One of my main projects this week is to settle a bunch of new garden plants into their permanent homes. The annuals I got from the greenhouse will give butterflies and insects something to sip on while the perennials put their flowering act together.

 

A week of old favorites and a welcome surprise in the holler

In a post last week, I focused on plants I observe for Nature's Notebook. On more recent holler walks I collected images of some of the other species that live here and have also made the spring shift.

I love it when the apple tree leafs out and blooms. I find the flowers impressive and really easy to photograph compared to others. Beyond that, I know that this apple tree serves other species with its pollen and fruit, attracting insects, deer, and all kinds of birds, including wild turkeys and crows. It's always a little scary when the flowers come early, though. Yesterday the holler had temperatures below freezing.

Apple blossom on April 7, 2017 [Photo: Cathie Bird]

Just down the lane from the apple tree is a flowering crabapple. I mostly see insects and butterflies feeding on this tree. I saw my first bumblebees of 2017 this week around flowers of the autumn olive (see yesterday's post for more on this). Now that the apple and crabapple have flowers, I expect to see bumblebees and honeybees there as well.

Flowering Crabapple on April 7, 2017

As long as we don't get too many freezing nights in a row, I've noticed that most of the wild flowering plants do pretty well. I recall one year when the apple tree's flowers were wiped out by a succession of freezes. I found it a little heart-breaking and really missed seeing all of the wild beings that use its flowers and fruit.

Star chickweed, April 8, 2017. [Photo: Cathie Bird]

Star chickweed (Stellaria pubera) started coming out in late March and is pretty much peaking right now.

One of two phlox species in the holler entered its flowering phase last week. I believe this is Woodland aka Wild Blue Phlox (Phlox divaricota):

Woodland Phlox (Phlox divaricata), April 7, 2017 [Photo: Cathie Bird]

Leaves of the foamflower, a member of the saxifrage family, come out early but take awhile to move into an open flower phenophase. This week I spotted one that has flower buds:

Foamflower (Tiarella cordifolia), April 7, 2017. [Photo: Cathie Bird]

So, for violets, this is the order that holler species generally appear in the spring: Halberd Yellow, occasionally followed by Roundleaf Yellows; then the Sweet White, Common Blue and Marsh Blue; and finally, the Longspur violets that I've seen in just the last 2-3 days. Here's a photo of what I think is Viola sororia, or Common Blue Violet:

Probably a Common Blue violet (Viola sororia), April 8, 2017. [Photo: Cathie Bird]

Also flowering in the past 2-3 days is not only one of my favorites but one the West Virginia White butterflies seem to like -- the Wild Geranium (Geranium maculatum):

Wild geranium, April 7, 2017. [Photo: Cathie bird]

I often see Yellow trillium (Trillium luteum) leaves popping up before the white Trillium grandiflorum, and the yellows are more numerous around this part of the holler. Here's one in its open flower phase:

Trilleum luteum, April 5, 2017. [Photo: Cathie Bird]

Yesterday I spotted what I think is initial growth of Wingstem-1. I should know for sure in a few days, and, if it is, I think I'll be more confident that I can catch this phenophase in the future:

Probably a wingstem emerging, April 8, 2017. [Photo: Cathie Bird]

To wrap up this post, I just have to share this photo of a Six-spotted Tiger Beetle:

Cincindella sexguttata - Six-spotted tiger beetle, April 8, 2017 [Photo: Cathie Bird]

I've seen these in the holler since I moved here 17 years ago, but this is the first time I've gotten close enough, quick enough for a clear photo! Looking at this beetle from several feet away, I thought it was solid green, but a larger image view and plenty of time to look at it revealed the white spots characteristic of Cincindella sexguttata. Information at BugGuide helped me figure out which green beetle it was.

Spring 2017 phenophase shifts are well underway in the holler!

I observe phenophases for a number of plant, animal and insect species throughout the year, but activity generally takes off in March and April here in Frog Pond Hollow. This year some plants I observe made the spring shift earlier, and I go out every day now to catch the changes.

A multiflora rose, one of two understory shrubs I observe for Penn State's "shady invader" project, erupted into a new phase with breaking leaf buds on January 18th. Last year, I volunteered for this project that aims to explore the timing of leaves on invasive and native shrubs. Because invasive shrubs leaf out earlier in the spring and hold onto leaves longer in the fall, they shade the forest floor just when native plants and animals need greater sunlight. (Check out this link to see the findings for 2016.)

Multiflora rose (Rosa multiflora) on February 24, 2017, about a month after the first leaf tips broke out of the buds. [Photo: Cathie Bird]

A second project species, native mapleleaf viburnam, also grows within my observation area, and I added one of those to my list as well. No sign of buds even swelling up so far.

Among the tree-beings in the holler, a forsythia and three red maples I track all had flowers by February 24th.

I stalk phase shifts of two dogwoods. One (photo below) is a wild flowering dogwood that I added to my list this year. I also observe an Appalachian Spring dogwood, grown from a seedling I got free when I volunteered for USA-NPN's Cloned Plant Project.

Flowering dogwood (Cornus florida) bud on February 24, 2017. [Photo: Cathie Bird]

While I wait for the dogwoods to move into flowering phases, toothworts, spring beauties, and trout lilies wow me with their emergence:

Cutleaf toothwort (Dentaria laciniata) on March 22, 2017. [Photo: Cathie Bird]

 

Carolina spring beauty (Claytonia caroliniana), March 22, 2017. [Photo: Cathie Bird]

 

Yellow trout lily (Erythronium americanum), March 22, 2017. [Photo: Cathie Bird]

 

Deer tracks on the lane. [Photo: Cathie Bird]

I see white-tailed deer tracks more often than I see the track-makers throughout the year. Lately I've seen eastern cottontail tracks in these same mud-holes. Other recent mud-hole visitors include spring azures, a small butterfly with white wings below and blue wings above.

After a brief absence, the eastern gray squirrels are back out, and birds that are here year round are becoming more active. Two eastern phoebes have paired up and I've seen at least one of them with nest material in its beak.

For about two weeks I've spotted eastern comma butterflies in the yard, and, as I write this post, the first eastern tiger swallowtail of the season has made a couple of appearances at the window.

Temperatures in the holler will be in the low 70s over the next few days. I anticipate an even busier observation week coming up!

Mayflies in the holler

My walks through the holler have multiple aims -- to see what's out there, to walk with my dog and visit with my neighbor, and to check on numerous plant and animal species that I observe for Nature's Notebook. Almost everyday, though, I see or hear or smell at least one thing I didn't expect. On Mother's Day this year, it was this mayfly, a species I had never seen before:

Female imago, Green Drake mayfly (Ephemera guttulata) and exuvia (below), May 8, 2016 [Image credit: Cathie Bird]

I had no clue about what species this was or what the silvery-looking thing was just below it on the stem of grass. I submitted an ID request at BugGuide right away, and got a fairly quick response, from someone who knows mayflies, that he believed this to be a female imago (adult form) of Ephemera guttulata, commonly known as a Green Drake. I did further research based on this identification and happened to find a Wikipedia page that pictured the "exuvia" of Ephemera danica, a mayfly also known, in some parts of the British Isles, as a Green Drake:

Exuvia of Ephemera danica. Genoa, Italy [Photo credit: Hectonichus]

This solved the mystery of the other mayfly-looking-thing in the photo I took. I felt very fortunate to have found both the adult and its exoskeletal remains! I'm guessing it hadn't been out long and let me get several photos while it adjusted to its emergence. Later in the day, both imago and exuvia were gone.

If my Grandpa -- a great fly fisherman -- was still around, I'm sure he could have told me a lot about Green Drakes and other mayflies. When I did a search for Green Drakes, a lot of fishing websites popped up.

In 2014, I found this mayfly, which I'm guessing is some form of Hexegenia limbata, near the door of the Pioneer post Office:

Possibly Hexagenia limbata, June 23, 2014 [Image credit: Cathie Bird]

I believe this is one of the genus Leptophlebia. I came across this one on a fallen sycamore tree during a holler walk in 2012:

Leptophlebia intermedia, maybe? March 10, 2012 [Image credit: Cathie Bird]

This was the first mayfly I was able to observe and photograph here in the holler. I think it's likely another of the genus, Leptophlebia:

Leptophlebia nebulosa? March 31, 2010 [Image credit: Cathie Bird]

Mayfly communities have been of interest to me since I found out they were vulnerable to drastic surface mining operations such as mountaintop removal mining. Before I ever saw one here in the holler I had read some of the research and often mentioned them when I testified at public hearings to oppose destruction of headwater streams by coal mining.

Last year the Office of Surface Mining released a draft of its new Stream Protection Rule. When finalized, some of its provisions may protect mayflies and other species from further damage. However, the coal industry is trying to delay a final version of the rule until President Obama leaves office, hoping they will have a shot at killing stronger protections for Appalachian headwaters. Appalachian Voices has issued an action alert through which citizens can tell OSM that we need a final rule now.

Also, some of the research on mayflies and surface mining is available online if you're interested. For example:

Patterns of Ephemeroptera taxa loss in Appalachian headwater streams (Kentucky, USA)

Elevated major ion concentrations inhibit larval mayfly growth and development

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