Spring is definately here

Last week is was spring peepers and now it is Spring Beauties. I found two blooming Spring Beauties along the Kingfisher trail at Yankauer Nature Preserve last Sunday.

Moving on down the trail I came across this bird kill.  I have no idea what ate it, only feathers remained.

 From the looks of this feather I think a Titmouse was the victim.

Yankaure has a big variety of mosses for such a small space. I found this Delicate Fern Moss,  nestled in with a Broom Moss, particularly beautiful.

Thuidium delicatulum surrounded by Dicaranum scoparium

And LOOK! Spiders are coming out! Some live through the winter but most don't so I was delighted to see these. There were lots of these tiny spiders building horizontal orb webs but they were still way too small for me to identify.

Just as I walked on past these webs a couple of Comma Butterflies landed near by. I've drawn an arrow to point out the "comma" on the underside. Like the Mourning Cloak from last week these Angle wings overwinter as adults and like to bask in the sun of early spring.

They slowly opened and closed their wings, appearing to be in no hurry, always a good reminder to slow down when walking in the forest.

Yankauer is bordered on one side by the Potomac River. In contrast to the Shenandoah River, this river is much deeper than the section of the near my home that I visit so often.

Another early sign of spring is the emergence of Blood Root. I love the crispness of this flower.

One of my friends helps with bee studies so I am usually aware of their presence and they just weren't out and about, so I was beginning to wonder what was pollinating these flowers. Now I'm not saying there weren't any bees around but I didn't see any if there were. When I came across this sap oozing out of a Virginia Creeper vine, I took notice to see what was feeding. I have arrows pointing to the holes (probably made by a woodpecker) where the sap was coming from.

Flies of several varieties were just lapping it up. It was like the grand opening after the long awaited renovation of every ones favorite bar. You can really see and hear them on the movie below.

Deer Fly eggs

If you have been reading my blog this spring and summer you will have noticed that I have been looking for tracks and signs of insects and my afternoon at Sleepy Creek WMA was no exception. While I was down by the lake in one of the coves I was looking for dragonfly exuvia and was rewarded with these deer fly eggs.

They are in the family Tabanidae, genus Chrysops but other than that I don’t know the species of these. I did happen to see a fly laying eggs but by the time I moved closer and focused my camera it had flown, leaving this very white mass of freshly laid eggs. They lay the eggs in tiers which contain a few to several hundred eggs. The eggs are cylinders measuring from 1 to 2.5 mm long. Their choice location is on vegetation which hangs over water so I was in a prime spot along this lake where the vegetation is not too dense. The eggs first appear white as in this photo and later turn brown as in the first photo and then almost black as in the last photo. I thought myself lucky to have found all three stages in the same area.

After about 4-5 days the eggs hatch and the larvae drop down and burrow into the soil. They will overwinter and mature in late spring.

Like mosquitoes the female requires a blood meal before laying her eggs. The bite can be very painful so if you see a large fly ¼ to ½ inch long with yellowish markings, clear wings with black or brown pattern that look like bands, shoo her away before she bites you. The males are probably feeding on nectar or protecting territory and could care less about the blood running through you veins.

In the past when I walked through the woods I would see stuff like this and keep going. Now I have learned to stop and really look at new, odd and strange things and I have found them quite intersting.  It gives me more of a connection and appreciation for the lives of other creatures on our planet.