What a glorious afternoon it was along Piney Woods Church Road! A few clouds appeared in otherwise blue skies, and the temperature soared into the mid-70s. I had a busy day filled with errands, but took a few minutes to explore the light along the road, transfiguring leaves into pages of illuminated manuscripts. The relics of nature’s grace are all around me, in such stunning forms as white oak and greenbrier leaves infused with sunlight.
It was a balmy day along Piney Woods Church Road, with temperatures nudging into the upper 60s. I searched for the same spider I had seen yesterday, but found another one — much larger than the first — instead. This lovely orbweaver rested calmly at the center of her (most likely a she) web, not even fazed when I brought my camera lens close. This is her underside; efforts to photograph her top side were largely foiled by the locations of nearby loblolly pines. I saw lots of other small insects darting about, so clearly a food source was readily available. Still, I was surprised to see spiders active after our hard frost of a week or so ago, when nighttime temperatures plunged into the lower 20s.
I have since learned that this spider is Larinia directa, a species common to the lower South. It is not mentioned in my guide to Spiders of the Carolinas, suggesting that it is not common there. I am not surprised by this, given that the spider is still active so late in the autumn.
I find leaves endlessly captivating this time of year along Piney Woods Church Road. And endlessly available, too. So their images keep turning up here on this blog. It hasn’t rained in quite a few days, so water droplets are out of the question. And insects and other invertebrates have largely gone into hiding these past several weeks. I was surprised to find a lone orb spider a couple of centimeters across on its web this afternoon, but it scurried away before I could capture a good photograph. Still, as a bit of diversion from all the leaves, I add it to my post as well, converted to black and white with a dark blue filter.
Along Piney Woods Church Road, I encounter a water oak tree whose leaves glow with colored light in the sunlight of late afternoon. From behind, the join where three come together reminds me of a pinwheel.
After many hours of online work, I set out down Piney Woods Church Road in search of something new to photograph. I repeated to myself again and again that I would not photograph any more leaves. I have photographed dozens of them, and it was time for something different. In the late-afternoon light, I photographed threads of spiderweb on hoary mountainmint and strands of horse hair on a barbed wire fence. But at the end of the day, it is these two images of illuminated autumn leaves that I find most compelling, as they catch a bit of the lingering light of a late autumn evening.
On a dark, overcast, chilly Thanksgiving afternoon, I am grateful for a trio of greenbrier leaves that provided me with a moment of wonder as I made my way down Piney Woods Church Road.
I paused on my walk down Piney Woods Church Road late this afternoon to notice a silken cocoon that was attached to the side of a greenbrier stem. I photographed it in the waning light, trusting that identification would be relatively easy back home. After thumbing through various field guides and looking at many photographs online, I finally found a tentative match: the six-spot Burnet moth, Zygaena filipendulae. Alas, this moth is found in Britain and continental Europe, not in North America. Its closest Georgia relative is the Grapeleaf Skeletonizer (Harrisina americana), a common crop pest and certainly a possibility. However, this caterpillar evidently spins a cocoon among the fallen leaves at the base of its host plants, rather than along a stem. I could not locate any photographs of its cocoon, so I still think it is a possibility. I suppose I will have to wait until spring and see what emerges.
Today’s photographs from a late afternoon Piney Woods Church Road visit include two images of sky: first, as seen through a hole in a greenbrier leaf, and second, as reflected in a drainage ditch alongside the road. The tree in the reflection is a pecan, already leafless as winter draws nearer.
In the early morning, I encounter worlds in water drops still clinging to a naked branch….
Between rainshowers today, I dashed out t take a few pictures of water droplet suspended from branches. Most did not turn out as hoped, but I enjoy this one quite a bit, with a colorful blurred leaf outline in the background. I took this photograph around noon; since then, skies have remained overcast with dark gray, accompanied by much-needed rain.
I also include a second photograph — yet another muscadine leaf, covered with water droplets. It doesn’t quite go with the oak — though it does, at least, grow with the oak. Yet it doesn’t quite seem to merit its own post, at the same time.
