Lead Plant & Mosquito-Eaters

A couple of years ago I planted a lead plant, a native prairie shrub.  This afternoon I noticed that one of the branches was in bloom for the first time ever!  The leaves of this shrub from the bean family are silvery.  The flowers are dark purple with bright orange stamens.

I also noticed a female Eastern Forktail damselfly perched on an Obedient Plant leaf (left below) and a male Blue Dasher dragonfly on a withered rose bloom (right below).  Both dragonflies and damselflies feast on mosquitoes.  Eat 'em up! 

Cape Hatteras National Seashore 2012

Wind and waves are constantly shaping the outer banks of North Carolina.  We stayed in a beach house on the ocean (literally on the ocean, depending on the tide).  The first few days a nor'easter was blowing hard and churning the ocean mightily.  Later in the week, the sea was a little calmer.   

We enjoyed a couple of afternoons of paddling at the Pea Island National Wildlife Refuge where we collected some fresh shellfish for dinner (mussels, clams, and oysters).  The refuge was also a great place to see pelicans, terns, sandpipers, and other wading birds.  It's much easier to paddle at mid- to high tide, than at low tide!!

As we attempted to paddle (against a strong current) from the sound out to the ocean at New Inlet, we saw about a dozen large Horseshoe Crabs coming ashore to spawn.  More closely related to spiders than crabs, Horseshoe Crabs have been around for some 300 million years and lived 100 million years before the dinosaurs.  The males were hitching a ride with the larger females, who would burrow a nest into the sand to lay 90,000 eggs.  Apparently, less than 10 of those eggs per nest are expected to survive into adulthood.  During a 3-week window in the spring, about 11 species of migratory shorebirds en route from South America to the Arctic are dependent on the Horseshoe Crab for survival, consuming eggs from nests disturbed by storms and waves.   

The Gulf Stream mixing with the Labrador current creates strong storms and sea swells, which is why this area is called the "Graveyard of the Atlantic."  We visited 2 of the 4 lighthouses of coastal North Carolina.  The Bodie Island lighthouse (right below) was closed for renovation, but we climbed to the top of the Cape Hatteras lighthouse (left below), the tallest lighthouse in America.  We had planned to take the ferry to Ocracoke, but the effects of Hurricane Irene have made this an unreliable trip, so we opted out of venturing further south. 

We also visited the Wright Brothers National Memorial, site of the world's first airplane flight in 1903, and the remnants of Fort Raleigh, which is the site of the 1584 "Lost Colony of Roanoke" and the first English child born in the New World, Virginia Dare.

Although local politics was in full crazy mode (open hostility toward reasonable new rules by the National Park Service for Off Road Vehicles and adoption of an anti-gay amendment to the state constitution), this visit was both exhilarating and relaxing.  Since it was still off-season, the road and beaches were not at all crowded (the spit is so narrow, so there's only one road).   Enjoy this video postcard from the outer banks of coastal North Carolina.

Shenandoah National Park 2012

Shenandoah National Park is on the the Blue Ridge of the Appalachian Mountains of Virginia, not far from Washington, D.C.  Four of us stopped there for a couple of nights on our way to North Carolina's Outer Banks.  Almost as soon as we got on the scenic Skyline Drive, Joe and only Joe saw 2 black bears.  I think the assumption was that if Joe saw these bears so quickly and so easily, then more would surely follow.  Although many hundreds of bears reside in Shenandoah, none of us but Joe saw any bears on all three days. 

We camped at the Big Meadows campground.  The white-tailed deer were fearless.  We were serenaded in the evenings by a chorus of frogs from the nearby wetlands and in the mornings by towhees, bluebirds, catbirds, and warblers.  Even Randy was awake early enough to hear them!  On our way to a wildflower walk on the Appalachian Trail with a park botanist, we found a Chestnut-sided Warbler singing his heart out at an overlook.  During the walk there were loads of spring wildflowers, due to the superabundant biodiversity of the Appalachains, which is one of the oldest mountain ranges in the world.  I really enjoyed seeing several ladybugs, which I hardly ever see in northeastern Illinois.  Two orchid species were a special treat: Showy Orchid and Small Yellow Ladies Slipper.  The botanist said that the orchids were blooming a couple of weeks early because of the unusually warm spring temperatures.     

Showy Orchid

Small Yellow Ladies Slipper

Besides the gorgeous scenic overlooks, another delight of the park was the waterfalls.  While we were at Dark Hollow Falls, it started pouring down rain, and it didn't matter that I had stepped in the water trying to get my waterfall pictures  -- we were all soaked from the uphill climb back to the parking lot.  

I hope you enjoy this video postcard from Shenandoah.