Signs of Fall in the Blue Ridge

Witch hazel flower

Seasonal changes in flowering are well known but the specific reasons for spring/summer/fall timing are not always so clear. For example, the famous witch hazel is now blooming in the woods and it is one of the few woodland trees to do so this time of year. One obvious idea is that flowers in fall will have far fewer competitors for pollinators. But on the other hand, there will be fewer insects available for pollination. The strange one-year-old fruits are also visible.  

Similarly, some asters such as this white wood aster are in full bloom in September. I noticed some bumblebees visiting the flowers; they are warm-blooded and designed for flying in cooler conditions. Another common late summer and fall bloomer along roads and paths is white snakeroot, which has here attracted a flower beetle. We sometimes forget that beetles can pollinate flowers and indeed were present earlier in evolutionary history than the later evolving bees and butterflies. 

White woods aster

Flower beetle on white snakeroot flowers

While walking in the yard, our son noticed a very interesting fungus, the elegant stinkhorn or devil's dipstick. The phallic shape of this peculiar fruiting body has elicited some strange human reactions. It stinks in order to attract flies that pick up the spores and distribute them widely.

Some amazing life and death scenarios can be observed in flowers- note that in this morning glory flower a bumblebee is foraging deep in the flower, but a crab spider has caught a Zabulon skipper and is eating it.   

Elegant stinkhorn

Skipper male Zabulon caught by crab spider in morning glory with  bumblebee

Red eft

Occasionally on a damp day, you may be fortunate to observe one of the most beautiful salamanders in our woods- the red eft. It is an immature terrestrial stage of the aquatic red-spotted newt. Their striking color is aposematic or warning since they contain a potent toxin, tetrodotoxin. How do potential predators such as birds (most mammals are color blind) know that red on a salamander is bad but red fruits are edible? Both learning and a genetically determined component may be involved. The northern red salamander is considered to be a tasty mimic of this species.  

Box turtle female

On a stroll in the fall woods, you may encounter a box turtle such as this female with a brown iris, slowly moving through the leaves. Box turtles are a very ancient lineage, far older than the dinosaurs, and they live slowly and as long as humans.  You can see the numerous growth rings on the scutes, but they cannot be counted accurately in a turtle this old. Box turtles hibernate in shallow scrapes and can resist freezing by producing antifreeze in their tissues.  

So enjoy the natural beauties of fall, which are considerable. But soon enough the deep freeze will be upon us and life will have to flee or hunker down for the winter.

Biking for Natural History

Although the typical means of enjoying nature would be by walking, I have found that biking can be a great way to find natural wonders in any area which has biking trails.  The rails to trails paths are ideal since they tend to be easy to ride while watching the passing nature show.  One of our favorites is the New River Trail State Park in VA which has repaid repeated rides on the same trail segment to spot daily and seasonal changes in natural history.

Some butterflies tend to congregate on trails as open spots in the forest.  This eastern comma seemed to be sunning itself with open wings as did a nearby red admiral.  However a clubtail dragonfly, a black shouldered spiny legs, was also admiring the red admiral and swooped over, caught and ate it !   Another feature of this trail which attracts butterflies is the prevalence of horse dung which provides sodium salts; this male spicebush swallowtail seemed to be sipping fluids from dung in a behavior termed "puddling."  

Box turtles are often seen on bike trails, perhaps attracted by the sun light and/or a place for egg laying and interactions with other turtles.  Males typically have a red iris and a concave lower shell, the plastron.  Females have a darker iris and a convex plastron.  Animals sometimes do unexpected things, as this male box turtle observed swimming in a pond.  Although he was an inefficient swimmer, he did manage to cross the pond safely while floating like a cork.  Since box turtles live to a considerable age, more than 50 years, and reproduce slowly, they deserve our respect and care for their well being in coping with the dangers of the modern world.

We observed a great egret along the New River Trail and became excited by this since we had not seen one this year in the mountains of VA.  This indicates that not only is the value of real estate determined by location, but also the value of a bird siting.  In FL and along the SE coasts the great egret is a "trash bird" hardly worthy of notice.   Yet in the Blue Ridge Mountains it is a regular but uncommon visitor which attracts some attention.  It is also one native species that is coping fairly well with the changes made by humans to the planet, since it seems to be able to respond in a flexible manner to feeding opportunities.  

So get that bike out of the garage and take a ride on the wild side, cover more territory than you can on foot, and scan the surroundings for interesting natural history occurrences.  It is fun, healthy and a very productive way to observe nature.