Butterflies on the (Blooming) Joe-Pye Weed

The Joe-Pye Weed at the Robinson Nature Center is blooming and full of insects right now here in Maryland. The most noticeable insects are the butterflies: Easter Tiger Swallowtail and Spicebush Swallowtail.

There are so many of them it is quite easy to get some excellent photographs of the insects!

Reading the Landscape

May Theilgaard Watts popularized the idea of ‘Reading the Landscape.’ I’m reading her book about Europe now. Of course, it easier when you are out and walking around a landscape - but a picture can be a start. What can you tell from the picture above of the Robinson Nature Center and its immediate surroundings?

It is winter.

The building must not be that old since the plants do not appear to be universally well established.

The trees are not very big but they do appear to be several different types. Can you recognize them from their bark? It may be difficult or impossible from the picture but certainly something that would be possible with closer inspection.

There are some new trees that have mesh around their trunks. Someone is trying to help a forest become re-established here. Deer must be around - perhaps over abundant.

There is lot of undergrowth and downed limbs. Have the winds blown down some branches recently? We can’t tell if there are spots or shelves of fungus on the windfall. That would be clue about how long it had been on the ground.