Another Bird Feeder Story

Hey, look, there are no greedy mourning doves at the sunflower seed feeder.

The little birds can eat.  Here's a male goldfinch.

A female goldfinch joins him.

And here comes a chickadee.

A Bird Feeder Story

Those greedy doves have emptied the sunflower seed feeder again.

 The titmice just feed from the flower itself.

A chipmunk waits below for droppage.

My Pet Lizard

This Eastern fence lizard likes to sun herself on the corner of the house and takes little notice of humans walking past.  Her colors are intense--she's the one that just shed her skin a few days ago.

Lizard toes with claws. 
 

Voracious

I was checking out a small crabapple that seemed to be losing its leaves prematurely.  I didn't notice this guy until he stung me.  The crabapple wasn't losing its leaves, they were being eaten off.  He had five buddies helping him.

Eastern saddleback caterpillar, Acharia stimulea

Here's an end view.   (I'm not sure which end.)

I turned the leaves upside down to take the photos, the caterpillars were on the undersides.

Garden Marauder

Eastern cottontail, Sylvilagus floridanus

Wildflower Wednesday

When we built our house above Heck Creek in western NC a few years ago, I was dismayed to see how much bare red clay we were left with after construction.   Very few plants seem to be able to establish themselves on our badly eroding banks, but there are 2 plants that seem quite happy to grow there.  I haven't identified these plants other than that they are aster-daisy-sunflower family members.  Any ideas?

Both plants are perennial, over-wintering as a basal rosette, and reach 5 to 7 feet tall in the summer. Here they are growing on a clay bank.

The first plant, with smooth stems with no leaves on the stems.

Basal leaves,lobed and smooth.

Close-up of the flowers.  About 1inch in diameter.

Second plant, basal leaves.  It has hairy stems and a few leaves on the stems.

Close-up of the flowers, 2 to 3 inches in diameter, with hairy stems and leaves.

I'm linking this post to Gail Eichelberger's "Wildflower Wednesday" at Clay and Limestone .



Edited to add:  I'm almost 100% sure the plant with the smaller flowers and smooth stems is Silphium compositum.   The other plant will just be "sunflowerish plant"  for now.

Flowers from the Biltmore House

I started this post back in July, the month very little was accomplished.  Our out-of-town company wanted to visit the Biltmore House, built by George W. Vanderbilt back in 1895 as a summer house.   More info on the Biltmore can be found here http://www.biltmore.com/.  The house itself was interesting and worth the visit, though the lighting was low and I didn't take many inside photos.

My favorite room was the winter garden, illuminated by a glass roof.  There's a fountain in the center, and tree ferns and other tropical plants.  I wouldn't mind having a winter garden in the house above Heck Creek.
  

It was decorated for the summer with paper lanterns. 

There were lovely floral arrangements throughout the house.  One of the most impressive was in the equally impressive banquet hall.

Look at that moss ball!

The Biltmore Estate includes several greenhouses filled with orchids, bromeliads, ferns, begonias and many other tropicals.  I was in my element there and my camera was kept quite busy snapping photos of the orchids. 

 

 And a pitcher plant.

And here are the kids at the entrance to the house.
  

Shedding

There he was, Mr. Eastern Fence Lizard, Sceloporus undulatus, on the wall outside the downstairs windows, changing his skin.

Daylilies

The beginning of August marks the end of the daylily bloom.  Well, there are still a few stragglers but the big show is over.

The daylily is one of my favorite flowers.  (I don't think I'm alone in this.)   When we left Missouri, the daylilies came with us.  My collection is rather small and mostly yellow but I love them anyway. 


This one is such a happy color and the flowers are huge--they can be 5 or 6  inches across.

This one is a beautiful lemony yellow.

This one has such fun ruffled petals.

And this one has a bit of a blush.

I even like the looks of this one--the original species from which all others are derived--Hemerocallis fulva. 

I may just have to add to the daylilies at Heck Creek next spring.  With a daylily farm (http://www.blueridgedaylilies.com/) almost next door, I have no excuse not to.  Maybe a pink one.

How Many Mourning Doves Can Fit at the Bird Feeder?

One?

 

Three?

 

Six is the maximum observed.

Edited on 8/6/17 to add:  I saw eight trying to get to the seed this evening, but the camera wasn't handy.