A Sphinx and a Swallowtail

Try this for camouflage! A Nessus sphinx moth (Amphion floridensis) was found resting on the emerging leaves of a pitcher plant, which I have kept potted until my pond is built. The moth is often active during the day and can be seen hovering around flowers as it sips nectar. Grape and Virginia creeper, of which I have plenty, are its larval host plants.

At this time of the year I love to discover the myriad of insects that visit flowers and plants in the garden. The gorgeous caterpillars of the black swallowtail butterfly (Papilio polyxenes) devour parsley. They also visit the dill and can be observed passing through a couple of instars until they reach their prime and there are no more leaves to chew. Then they seem to vanish. Are they food for a hungry bird or is their shriveled, dark brown chrysalis impossible to find? I will continue to replace the pot of parsley, but not just for a culinary purpose, so I can feast my eyes upon adult swallowtail butterflies.

Leucanthemum daisy heads, now chest high, make it easy to view insect visitors. Yesterday evening I came across a rather large mosquito (Toxorhynchites rutilus) sipping nectar. Members of this group of mosquitoes do not require a blood meal for a source of protein. Their larvae devour the larvae of other more harmful mosquitoes. So there are some mosquitoes that are beneficial!

House Wrens Raise a Family

A week or so ago sweet baby bird-chirping could be heard from the direction of one of the tiny nesting boxes that hang from the dogwood tree. The wren parents have been seen running relays to provide food for their offspring. They perch on the tree with insect in beak waiting for the other parent to emerge. As they enter the box in a quick flash the young ones can be heard chirping loudly and the whole box visibly shakes. The feisty birds fiercely defend their house. Their clamoring call has alerted me to a marauding blue jay as it tried to pierce a young chick through the box hole with its beak. My old felines get no peace when they lie on the warm stones on the terrace beneath. Soon the fledglings will depart and I will miss the drama, chatter and song of the little wren family.

Round-leaved pyrola

There are other small survivors that return to the garden every year and are surely remnants of the native woodland. Besides false Solomon’s seal (Maianthemum racemosa) defying the ivy, I have found round-leaved pyrola (Pyrola americana), growing amongst hostas.

Oaks flower, birds arrive

The storm that brought rain to our area was driven by warmer air. And so the warblers arrived! Yesterday after the rain abated I just had to step outside my front door to hear the telltale warbles and buzzes of some neo-tropical migrants. The tall oaks are in flower and way up there, flitting amongst newly opened leaves, were the tiny birds feeding on the catkins’ pollinating insects. The “zee, zee-zee” buzz of the black-throated green warbler (Dendroica virens) was plainly heard. I could see the black-and-white warbler (Mniotilta varia), an acrobat on a high branch, as it foraged for insects along the bark. The yellow-rumped warblers (Dendroica coronata) are singing now and flashing their breeding plumage. Early this morning I awoke to the song of a hermit thrush and dashed outside, to hear the dawn chorus. I did not have to use my bleary eyes in the grey light. I just listened. Besides the thrush, a Baltimore oriole chimed in along with a Carolina wren, blue jays and cardinals. The house wren was singing its heart out, while perched on one of the nesting boxes that hang from the dogwood tree.

                                                                            

House wren territory

The house wren has returned to claim its territory amongst the boughs of the flowering dogwood tree. Both bird and tree are putting on quite a show. The strong, staccato warble of the tiny bird can be heard throughout the day. On the tree, greenish-yellow flowers are encircled by four heart-shaped bracts, massed in layers of white that float in the breeze and seem to be especially vibrant at sunset or on this overcast, rainy day. The much-needed rain is a relief permitting the tree canopy to leaf-out as spring green. Virginia creeper vines are also coming out of winter hiding.

Red Hues of Spring

Mayapple (Podophyllum peltatum)

 The canopy of the wood has a red blush of maple blossom and high up amongst the bare branches of the chestnut oak a pair of tiny birds is flitting and fluttering about. They are hard to identify as they are so small and move very fast - just two little olive-colored birds. When one of them raised its scarlet crest I knew at once they must be ruby-crowned kinglets! Now I listen out for their high-pitched whistles and warbles as I peruse the ground below for emerging plants. There is mayapple about to open its umbrella of leaves and, to match the hues of red above, wild columbine is just starting to flower.

Wild Columbine (Aquilegia canadensis)

Know Thy Weeds

In this early spring there are already flowering plants growing wild where my lawn used to be. Unlike the large-petaled and gaudy crocuses and daffodils planted in place, there are plants that just seem to turn up. I could describe these as weeds i.e. plants growing where they are not wanted. But for me right now these tiny plants with their delicate flowers are forming a good groundcover that will be replaced by violets later in the month. They attract wildlife and are edible for the gardener too.

Hairy bittercress (Cardamine hirsuta) attracts butterflies such as the Spring Azure. It bears clusters of tiny white four-petaled flowers on long stalks above a basal rosette of deep green compound leaves. Seeds are held in long, narrow pods, which release seeds explosively far and wide. If you want to stop the spread of this annual plant pull up the basal rosette of leaves before the seeds ripen and use as a bitter herb. As with other members of the mustard family its leaves are loaded with vitamins, minerals and antioxidants.

Common chickweed (Stellaria media) got its name because chickens eat it. This plant turns up anywhere there is disturbed, cleared ground on the edge of yards and is often considered to be the bane of vegetable gardeners. This plant can form large dense patches and here on my ex-lawn robins and other birds relish its seeds. It has a pretty little flower of five, deeply lobed petals that look like tiny, ten-pointed stars. The succulent stems bearing fleshy leaves are easy to pull up and can be an ingredient in a wild green salad. When cooked it tastes a lot like spinach.   

The trees have feathers

On a walk in some nearby woods I came across a tree adorned with countless little shelves of fungi all the way up its trunk. It looked quite spectacular. Shelf fungi also add colors, texture and form to my winter woods. They grow layer upon layer and in great profusion on tree stumps, trunks and nooks and crannies of log piles. The turkey-tail fungus, Trametes versicolor, is especially colorful en masse and each shelf has contours of rich browns, yellow, orange, blue or purple. The variation in color is due to different minerals extracted from the decaying wood.