Day 139: Tulip-Tree Silkmoth Wing

 Backyard Nature, Geometry and Nature, Insects, Natural History, Piney Woods Church Road 365 Project, Sense of Place  No Responses »
May 192014
 

On my walk late this afternoon, I was startled and delighted to discover that the Saturniid moth whose cocoon I photographed earlier this year had chosen this very day to emerge.  It was a female tulip-tree silkmoth (Callosamia angulifera).  What a beautiful creature, and how fortunate I was to be passing by — and to notice this moth — at the time of her emergence.

As an addendum, I discovered the next day that I was mistaken — it was a different moth from the one in the cocoon!  The cocoon remains intact as of 23 May, and I continue to await the emergence of yet another moth.

 

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Day 138: Rainy Day Ant

 Backyard Nature, Insects, Piney Woods Church Road 365 Project  No Responses »
May 182014
 

On a dripping, chilly afternoon I set out in search of the latest “news” along Piney Woods Church Road.  As usual, I found all sorts of fascinating images of water droplets balanced on tree leaves or cradled by blades of grass.  I also observed one intrepid red ant braving the elements on a Chinese privet.  I spent several minutes photographing it, though most of the time it moved at a determined pace, preventing me from getting a picture in sharp focus.  This one was an exception.

 

Rainy Day Ant

Day 137: Red-banded Leafhopper

 Agriculture and Husbandry, Insects, Natural History, Piney Woods Church Road 365 Project, Sense of Place  No Responses »
May 172014
 

I caught this red-banded leafhopper (Graphocephala coccinea) resting on a sweetgum leaf along Piney Woods Church Road this afternoon.  Although common, they are quite small (less than half an inch in length), and easily overlooked (unless they have become a plague in one’s garden).  Because they feed on the sap of plants, they are generally considered agricultural pests.  I still find them fascinating, with their almost alien shape and brilliant coloration.

 

Red-banded Leafhopper

 

Day 136: Feeling Sori

 Backyard Nature, Native Plants, Piney Woods Church Road 365 Project, Sense of Place  No Responses »
May 162014
 

Today I dashed off to Piney Woods Church Road mid-afternoon, having returned from one hike (Line Creek Preserve in Peachtree City; photos from that walk will be posted tomorrow) and being about to leave for another one (Boundary Waters Park in Douglasville, where I hiked sans camera).  I took few photographs; one feature that caught my eye was a Christmas fern (Polystichum acrostichoides) sporophyte frond covered with tiny brown dots, called sori (singular: sorus), which are clusters of spore-bearing structures called sporangia.  Each sprangium, in turn, contains countless dust-like spores.  Basically, there is a whole lot of reproduction going on here.  No sex, though — that is reserved for a separate generation of fern plants, called gametophytes.  Alternation of generations (from gametophyte to sporophyte and back to gametophyte) is characteristic of ferns, mosses, and their ilk.

 

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Day 135: Roadside Landscape, Inverted

 Backyard Nature, Geometry and Nature, Piney Woods Church Road 365 Project, Sense of Place  No Responses »
May 152014
 

Oh, what a magnificent morning!  The air temperature was about sixty degrees, and the cool breeze was delightful.  The sky was still overcast, and I felt a bit of mist against my skin as I made my way to Piney Woods Church Road.  Evidence of the long overnight rainstorm were everywhere.  To celebrate Day 135, I have chosen this macro of a single drop of water, containing an inverted roadside landscape, suspended from a horizontal plant stem.

 

Meadow, Inverted

 

Day 133: Grain over Grain

 Agriculture and Husbandry, Backyard Nature, Golden Hour, Piney Woods Church Road 365 Project, Sense of Place  No Responses »
May 132014
 

On my way back toward Rico Road, my attention was caught by a couple of blades of grass in a recently planted future horse pasture along Piney Woods Church Road.  One blade was curved above another, shorter one.  I was entranced by their flowing forms in the golden light of one half-hour before sunset.

 

Grain over Grain

Day 132: Orchard Orbweaver

 Backyard Nature, Geometry and Nature, Natural History, Piney Woods Church Road 365 Project, Sense of Place  No Responses »
May 122014
 

On a warm and humid mid-afternoon, I roamed Piney Woods Church Road, in search of new discoveries and possible images.  Near Rico Road, I found an circular  web with this jewel of a spider waiting patiently for her prey.  She is a female orchard orbweaver (Leucage venusta), a relatively common orb spider of the Eastern forest, notable for a prominent orange-red horseshoe on the underside of her abdomen.

 

Orchard Orbweaver

Day 131: In the Misty Morning

 Backyard Nature, Geometry and Nature, Piney Woods Church Road 365 Project, Sense of Place  No Responses »
May 112014
 

I ventured out this morning into lingering fog after rain yesterday and overnight.  I found endless delight in all the water droplets, like finely polished gems, that had collected on the surfaces of leaves and at their tips.  My photograph today is the largest droplet I saw on my walk, suspended at the curled tip of a Chinese privet leaf.

 

In the Misty Morning

Day 130: Tendril

 Geometry and Nature, Piney Woods Church Road 365 Project, Sense of Place, Uncategorized  No Responses »
May 102014
 

On my daily walk down Piney Woods Church Road today, I relished the warm, moist air, evocative of a rain forest.  Everywhere I was bedazzled by sundry shades of green — saplings, shrubs, and vines all crowding for space along the roadside.  In this image, one vine supports another as they scramble for sunlight.

 

Tendril

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