This afternoon I felt compelled to photograph mushrooms, of which there are several of at least three different species along Piney Woods Church Road right now. This is a view from underneath, looking up at the gills that are letting in the sunlight.
On a shrub along Piney Woods Church Road today, I saw this tiny insect perching. According to insect experts at the BugGuide on Facebook, it is a species of leafhopper in the family Coelidiinae. I am fascinated by its enormous eyes, one of which seems to be focused on the photographer. It patiently endured a several minute photo session before hopping away.
On my early afternoon walk down Piney Woods Church Road, I was quickly drawn to explore some shrubs growing near the road edge just a short distance from Rico Rd. Among the leaves, a broken fragment of a leaf was hanging by a single thread. The slightest hint of wind would send it twirling round and round. It was a marvelous lesson in patience trying to focus on it, let alone photograph it. With enough tries — maybe fifteen in all — I succeeded a last, and the result is the lovely image below.
An unusually elongated sassafras leaf in brilliant colors demands my attention as I walk down Piney Woods Church Road. I am reminded of satellite images of the Earth from space, or a map to an imaginary world.
“Say can I have some of your purple berries?”
“Yes, I’ve been eating them
For six or seven weeks now; haven’t got sick once.”
“Probably keep us both alive.”
— Wooden Ships, Crosby/Stills/Nash —
The sassafras trees (Sassafras albidum) along Piney Woods Church Road bear bright bluish-purple berries now. I pull one off and crush it between my fingers. It is mostly seed, with a thin layer of pulp that has a fresh, invigorating scent, reminiscent of sassafras tea. Later, at home, I pore over field guides and search the internet for information on the berries. I find that they are beloved of many bird species, but none of my edible wild plant guides inform me whether or not they are safe to eat. It would take quite a few to satisfy a hunger, of course, but I relish wild flavors, a bit like Thoreau with his love of wild apples. Maybe tomorrow I will try one. I doubt they are harmful, given that sassafras twigs can be chewed and roots steeped for tea.
On a cloudy, windy afternoon, I discovered another new flower blooming: a single whirl of four yellow petals, forming a cross atop a low shrub with oval leaves. The plant is almost certainly Saint Andrew’s Cross (Hypericum hypericoides), native to the Southeastern United States.
As the sun sinks low in the sky along Piney Woods Church Road, the rays illuminate a barb on a pasture fence. Ah, how I relish such moments of grace along my way….
I took these photographs on Piney Woods Church Road four mornings ago, after a dense fog had blanketed all the spiderwebs with dew. The cattle pastures were covered with webs, and many more were strung along the barbed-wire fences along the roadside.
Late last night, a male Reddish-Brown Stag Beetle (Lucanus capreolus) visited me on our back porch, doubtless attracted to the light. This stunning beetle, easily two inches in length, sports quite impressive pincers. Nonetheless, the beetle is a vegetarian, feeding on tree sap. The pincers are for challenging rival males. Interestingly enough, the female of the species also sports a set of pincers, though smaller than the male’s.
On my walk this afternoon, I wandered into a neighbor’s yard and began photographing butterflies on his blooming lantana, phlox, and butterfly bush. I noticed a lovely long-legged fly (Condylostylus sp.), less than 1/4 inch in length, perched on the edge of a phlox leaf. I am not able to identify if precisely, but I am comforted by the fact that two different insect identification books on my shelf both comment that the different species of Condylostylus (of which there are over 40) can only be distinguished by a specialist. If I am correct as to its genus, at least (as the shape of its wings, red color of its eyes, and length of its legs indicate), then this fly is actually brilliant metallic blue or green in color, and only appears coppery in this photograph because of sunlight reflecting off its body.
