Reconnecting with nature through hiking, camping, and paddling
Hiking through a meadow on a sunny, summer afternoon I spotted this beautiful black snake resting just off the hiking trail. In my experience black snakes are fearless of humans and this one was no exception. I got close enough to get this picture with my iPhone and the snake didn’t seem in the least bit interested or concerned.
This Ailanthus Webworm Moth was making its way among wildflowers when I saw it in early September.
The Eastern Carpenter Bee is easily confused with the American Bumble Bee. While the bumble bee is covered covered in fuzzy hair, the carpenter bee is missing the fuzz from its abdomen.
At first I thought the beetle on this thin-leaved sunflower was a soldier beetle but something didn’t look quite right. Looking more closely I’ve identified it as a Pennsylvania Leatherwing Beetle. According to insectidentification.org, the Pennsylvania Leatherwing Beetle is highly beneficial in their predation of aphids. As a bonus, their quest for insect prey turns them into efficient pollinators.
It’s been a very busy summer and I haven’t spent as much time with my camera as I would have liked so I’m pulling out some photos from last year that I never got around to publishing.
This Black Eyed Susan was growing in a forest meadow alongside wild daisies. It looked sort of like the odd man out, surrounded by white flowers. I took a few photos of the lone blooming Black Eyed Susan surrounded by Daisies but I preferred this more closely cropped image of the flower.
A crow watches the field below from a barren tree in the Big Meadow area of Shenandoah National Park.
This black bear slowly wandered through a meadow while we watched it from a safe distance. I wish the lighting had been better but that’s one of the challenges of wildlife photography.
