The clouds were very angular on this morning at Half Moon Pond in Hancock, but they weren’t what I was trying to get a photo of. I was interested in the trees along the far shoreline, which are starting to show just the first hint of their fall colors.
Some of our native dogwoods like this silky dogwood (Cornus amomum) have already turned a beautiful deep red-maroon.
Silky dogwood berries go from green to white and then from white to blue, but for a short time they are blue and white like Chinese porcelain. In fact I’ve always wondered if the original idea for blue designs on white porcelain didn’t come from berries just like these. Once they are blue and fully ripe birds eat them up quickly.
Among the birds that love silky dogwood berries is the beautiful, sleek cedar waxwing. According to the Cornell Lab of Ornithology the name waxwing comes from the brilliant red wax drops you can see on its wing feathers. Cornell also says because they eat so much fruit, cedar waxwings occasionally become intoxicated or even die when they run across overripe berries that have started to ferment and produce alcohol. I met a drunken cedar waxwing once so I know that story is true. I got between a bird and its fermented dogwood berries one day and it flew directly at my face at high speed, only pulling up at the last second. I wondered what is with this crazy bird as it flew at me several times, but once I finally realized what was happening and moved away from its berries it left me alone. I can still remember the feel the wind on my face from its drunken aerobatics.
If you’re wondering if I climbed a tree to get above that cedar waxwing in the last photo the answer is no; I just stood on a bridge and looked down on it. There is a huge brush pile against one of the bridge piers and the birds rest here between flights. They fly out quickly and grab insects out of the air in the evening, just before the sun sets. Earlier in the day they feed on silky dogwood and other berries and rest in the bushes.
Cedar waxwings are beautiful birds that don’t seem to mind me being above them, but if I walk down along the riverbank so I can be eye to eye with them it causes quite a ruckus among the flock and they all go and hide in the bushes. Though this photo looks like we were on nearly the same level I was quite far above the bird when I took the photo. Once I saw the photo I thought that the bird’s wing didn’t look quite right. Or maybe it does; I’ve never been much of a bird studier and it was obviously able to fly, but it does seem to be missing the red wax drops.
Rain can be a blessing to an allergy sufferer because it washes all of the sneezy, wheezy pollen out of the air, but on this day it washed it into the river where it could reveal the otherwise invisible currents and eddies.
One of the reasons I like cutting and splitting firewood is because, unless you want to lose a finger or two, you have to be focused on the task at hand and on each piece of wood before you. When you focus so intently on any subject you see many unexpected things, like these robin’s egg blue “insect eggs.” At least I thought they were insect eggs, so I put this piece of wood aside to see what happened when they hatched. They hatched all right, but after turning white and splitting open instead of baby insects out came black spores, and then I knew it was a slime mold. Blue is a rare color among slime molds and I’m happy to have seen it.
This event really was an insect hatching and there were hundreds of baby hickory tussock moth caterpillars (Lophocampa caryae) crawling all over this tree. I’ve never seen as many as there are this year.
Hickory tussock moth caterpillars have a stark beauty but each one should come with a warning label because those long hairs can imbed themselves in your skin and cause all kinds of problems, from rashes to infections.
I’ve done several posts that included hickory tussock moth caterpillars but I just realized that I’ve never seen the moth itself, so I went to Wikipedia and found this photo of a very pretty hickory tussock moth by Mike Boone from bugguide.net.
According to what I’ve read the banded net-winged beetle (Calopteron discrepans) is commonly found resting on leaves in moist woods, and that’s right where I found this one. Its bright Halloween colors warn predators that this insect contains acids and other chemicals that make it at best, distasteful. The adult beetles eat nectar, honeydew, and decaying vegetation.
I find more feathers than you can shake a stick at but this is the first time I’ve ever found one like this one. It was quite big as feathers go and I think it was a great blue heron feather.
But the feather wasn’t from this great blue heron. I walked around a tall clump of Joe Pye weed at a local pond and almost ran nose to beak into this bird. We both looked at each other for a moment and I don’t know which of us was the most startled, but instead of flying away the big bird just calmly walked into the cattails and began hunting for food while I fumbled around for my camera.
Instead of pretending to be a statue the heron bent and jabbed at some unseen morsel several times, but from what I could tell it missed every time because it never swallowed.
Each time after the heron had dipped and missed whatever it was it was trying for it would look back at me and grin in a self-effacing way before wiggling its tail feathers vigorously. I’m not sure what it was trying to tell me. If at first you don’t succeed try, try again?
The berries of the white baneberry plant (Actaea pachypoda) are called doll’s eyes, for obvious reasons. The remains of the flower’s black stigma against the porcelain white fruit is striking, and so are the pink stalks (pedicels) that they’re on. Though Native Americans used its roots medicinally all parts of this plant are extremely toxic. As few as six berries can kill so it’s no surprise that “bane berry” comes from the Old English words bana or bona, which both mean “slayer” or “murderer.”
Another baneberry that can have white berries is red baneberry (Actaea rubra) but I know these plants well and I’m sure they’re white baneberry. It really doesn’t matter though, because both plants are extremely toxic. Finding baneberry in the woods tells the story of rich, well drained loamy soil and a reliable source of moisture, because those are the things that it needs to grow. I often find it at or near the base of embankments that see a lot of runoff.
On their way to becoming brilliant red, the berries of false Solomon’s seal (Maianthemum racemosum) are speckled green and red for a short time. This plant is also called treacle berry because the berries are supposed to taste like treacle or bitter molasses. They are rich in vitamins and have been used to prevent scurvy, but large quantities of uncooked berries are said to act like a laxative to those who aren’t used to eating them. Native Americans inhaled the fumes from the burning roots to treat headaches and body pain. They also used the leaves and roots in medicinal teas.
From a distance I thought a beautiful spotted butterfly had landed on a leaf but as I got closer I saw that the beauty was in the leaf itself.
I did find butterflies though; they were all on the zinnias at the local college but only the painted ladies were willing to pose. I was able to tell the difference between this butterfly and the American painted lady thanks to a link posted by blogging friend Mike Powell. If you love nature but aren’t reading Mike’s blog you’re doing yourself a real disservice. You can find him by clicking on the word here. I’ve also seen several monarch butterflies lately but none would pose for a photo.
How very lucky and grateful I am to be able to see such beauty in this life. I hope all of you will take time to see it too.
Beauty is the moment when time vanishes. Beauty is the space where eternity arises. ~Amit Ray
Thanks for stopping in.
What a wonderful post! I really like all the different berries you feature here and the heron and waxwing shots are beautiful!
Thank you Clare, I’m glad you liked them!
Here in Ohio the Cedar Waxwings never cease to put a smile on our face.
They’re a very pretty bird!
Lovely photos & interesting post … I just love the waxwings … Absolutely beautiful… They look as if they are made of silk.
Thanks you. I don’t know what it is that makes waxwings look so sleek but they are very pretty birds.
Great photos of the Cedar Waxwings. Like the Herons and Butterflies, too.
Thanks!
A fantastic set of striking images today. The white baneberry is worth the entry money by itself.
Thank you. Pretty but deadly.
You got some very beautiful photos! I love the waxwings but they haven’t come to visit here yet. They will be soon though, I think. The last photo of the butterfly is splendid! What a great end to summer you are experiencing!
Thanks Montucky! I wonder if the waxwings eat their way across the country. They seem to be voracious eaters.
Yes, in spite of the cool wet spring and mixed up bloom times the plants have done really well this year. I’ve never seen so many cones on the evergreens.
So many beautiful things to admire, my favourite was the swirling patterns the pollen made on the water.
Thank you Susan. I liked seeing that too, and I was glad I didn’t have to breathe any of it in.
You certainly find the unusual beauty in nature. I imagine it must have been startling coming beak to beak with the heron. That cedar waxwing is gorgeous.
Thank you Cynthia. Yes, that heron really took me by surprise. I still can’t believe that it didn’t hear me coming.
I love watching the cedar waxwings. (Unless they’re drunk.)
Unless they’re drunk or you? What do they drink?
As I said in the post, they get drunk on fermented berries.
Forgot that.
Wow, lot’s of great images in this post! I’ve never seen that many hickory tufted caterpillars in my life, let alone all at one time.
Great shots of the waxwings also. I haven’t figured out if it is a difference between males and females, or the age of the bird, but not all waxwings have the red on their wings. The differences between individuals as far as coloration may be what led you to think that the second one had been injured.
You were very lucky to have the heron allow you to be so close as it was hunting, that seldom happens with that species. The way you describe its actions, I’d have been laughing at its antics. Maybe that’s why they don’t let me get as close.
I really love the last image in this post, you got the flower and the butterfly as close to perfect as it gets.
Thanks Jerry! That was a shock seeing all those caterpillars! I’m guessing that they must have just hatched.
Thanks for the info. on cedar waxwings. I must have missed it on the Cornell website. Maybe the second one was a female.
I was really shocked by that heron. I could have reached out and petted it when I first bumped into it, but by the time I remembered the camera it had walked a few feet away. It was funny how it would look back at me every time it missed its prey, but I was too busy taking photos to laugh.
The painted ladies were wide open to having their photos taken that day. If only the monarchs were!
So much beauty and so informative as well. Many thanks for posting this piece!
You’re welcome Laurie, I’m glad you liked it!
I’m wondering if maybe your second waxwing’s “belly fluff” (scientific term, lol) is just being blown across the wing making it look odd? Looking closely, I think I can see the hint of one of the red wax drops just behind it.
Thank you Karen, that could be it. I thought it looked damaged in the photo but that bird was flying like the wind so I know there was nothing wrong with it.
Several spectacular shots here. Perhaps one of your best posts? And I really like the Amit Ray quotation too.
Thank you Ben. I’ll have to leave that judgement to you. When I’m putting them together they’re all one of my best but then when I see them here, maybe not.
Reblogged this on Poltrack Pix.
Thank you.
Wonderful bird photos and yes lots of hickory tufted caterpillars this year, ugh.
Thanks John. I don’t think that even birds eat the caterpillars.