Wordless Wednesday: Who’s Calling?
Category Archives: This and That
Pants Grabbers Are Thriving
These vines grow along many of the rice field berms and overgrown fields I frequent in the wildlife management areas. Most of the year they are rather non-descript and innocent looking, until you find one has latched onto your pants with multiple thorns.
This is the first time I remember noticing their blooms, which are tiny, but there were a small million of them, all looking very healthy.
The thorns are tiny, too. This next image is a severe crop and way over-sharpened, and even then the thorns are hard to see on the stem leading to that center flower.
These two patches were close together, but had different color schemes in the leaves.
The individual flowers aren’t much to look at after they opened, but the water drops made this one special.
If you think you can step over it without an interaction you’re advised to raise your foot another couple inches, just to be sure!
Donnelley Wildlife Management Area, Green Pond, SC
March 21, 2021
Are We Late?
Or early?
A Leaf, A Nest? What Is It?
When I took these photographs I thought these were dried leaves in an arty configuration. On closer inspection at home, I think there may be more to it as they are too precisely shaped.
Here’s a slightly closer view. It was quite breezy that day which may be why I didn’t get a closeup shot
I’m hoping to return to this spot soon, and to remember to look. If I do and they are there I’ll follow up.
Donnelley Wildlife Management Area, SC
February 3, 2012
Hidden Mushroom World
It was a slow bird day at the swamp and I was looking for movement around the edges.
I didn’t see any moving creatures but did spot two groups of fungus that were in their own worlds in a crevice of a dead tree.
The next two images were taken with the Canon built in flash.
I didn’t have great footing and as I didn’t want to end up in the swamp I didn’t try to get the two groups together.
Here’s a wider shot of the tree where you can see the grouping from my first image; the second is a bit to the left. The tree had to have been magnificent in its day and is huge. I doubt I could put my arms around that limb. Sadly it has deteriorated noticeably in the five years I’ve been passing by.
Mute Swan Fun-house Reflections
I like to photograph wildlife with water reflections and even when they aren’t a mirror image they can be interesting. The ripple in this water gave the reflection of the Mute Swan a groovy beak and two eyes.
Less than a second later the reflection had a new shape with two distinct heads.
A Waiting Stage, I’m Still Waiting
I walked by this stump recently when it was nicely lit by the late afternoon sun. I was reminded of a previous post, A Waiting Stage, and took a few images.
It was almost exactly a year later, and the biggest difference in the scene is more green moss now on the trunk. I also got a different angle with Palmetto fronds in the background.
There was still no wildlife taking advantage of the stage but I still think it is an attractive spot and will continue to keep my eye on it.
Extra Fence Ornamentation
A juvenile Bluebird landed between the pickets on an old metal fence at Magnolia Cemetery.
A wider view showing off the corner element of the fence.
Magnolia Cemetery, Charleston, SC
August 7, 2020
Red Seeds Bursting
These bright red seeds got my attention in a tangle of vegetation on the side of a pond dike.
Following their stem they I couldn’t identify any corresponding leaves.
I wanted to get a different angle but I was not willing to step any further in; biting insects are my biggest concern.
Perhaps this is Texas Mountain Laurel based on a search for “red seeds in pods.”
August 20, 2020
Did You See a Sign?
Surely they didn’t mean us!
A pair of juvenile Yellow-crowned Night Herons that flushed out of a tree when I passed by landed on a dock that sits on the Ashley River.
The river is tidal and the tide was in so there would be no river bank fishing for this duo for several hours.
