On the Rocks

Z50: 1/200s, f9, 100ISO, autoWB, 16mm. composite photo

I rested by the riffle in the Creek, and walked through it, for these photos.

Ctenucha

Z50: 1/160s, f6.3, 100ISO, autoWB, 50mm.

The Virginia ctenucha moth is starting to flit around the meadows and I captured it resting on a clover plant in the south field.

Baneberry

Z50: 1/50s, f6.3, 400ISO, autoWB, 50mm.

On my evening wander, I noticed this ball-shaped flower. It’s a baneberry (Actaea sp.) though I haven’t decided which one yet.

Ferns in Shade

Z50: 1/200s, f8, 200ISO, autoWB, 16mm.

I crossed the creek today, and look, more ferns! These are another patch of lush ostrich ferns, seen this time with the riffle and poplars.

Lush Ferns

Z50: 1/60s, f8, 800ISO, autoWB, 16mm.

The greenery is amazing now and growth is lush. Ferns are an old plant lineage and remind me of jungles and dinosaurs. These ostrich ferns look particularly perfect right now, and grow in the floodplain along Cold Creek, where cedars also flourish. (But also, the mosquitoes have taken off!)

Rattlesnake Fern

Z50: 1/80s, f6.3, 2000ISO, autoWB, 39mm.

This fern, Botrypus virginianus, the rattlesnake fern, isn’t located in a particularly out-of-the-way location but I only noticed it today. It’s fertile frond comes off of the main frond and is shiny. This one has been visited by a light green caterpillar.

Dark Wings

Z50: 1/160s, f6.3, 100ISO, autoWB, 50mm. cropped

Something dark fluttered in the vegetation during my walk and I realized it was a fishfly (Megaloptera: Corydalidae: Nigronia sp.), another harbinger of summer.