| September 1998 |
| 30 |
|
medium |
36" pine tree uprooted
by the hurricane, Ocean Springs. |
29 |
|
medium |
Garden spider with brand new
web, Mobile. |
28 |
|
medium |
Morning glory after the storm
Mobile, Alabama. |
27 |
 |
medium |
(Hurricane Georges)
Shrimpboats in Ocean Springs Harbor last winter. |
26 |
|
medium |
(Hurricane Georges)
Luna moth, freshly hatched and found by a neighbor on the mailbox nest door earlier this
summer. |
| 25 |
 |
medium |
A gulf fritillary butterfly
recently hatched from it chrysalis. I found the chrysalis among the passionflower
vines a week ago and brought it inside. He/she was released and toasted with a glass
of wine.
Butterfly on my hand. Large |
| 24 |
 |
medium |
The Arawak Indians in the
Caribbean placed rocks similar to this one in the center of their villages. People
rid themselves of malevolent spirits by pressing their hands against them. This rock
is from a cove in Maine; it's on the waist-high stump of a sliver maple in the front yard.
Decorations include bracket fungus and bird poop. |
| 23 |
 |
medium |
Pokeweed leaf viewed from below.
This leaf is more than 12" long, and looks a lot like tobacco. The red
veins are similar in color to the berry stems. |
| 22 |
 |
medium |
Wet pine bark at the base of a
large tree in the front yard, with lichen and small Virginia creeper vine. Still wet
from yesterday's rain. |
| 21 |
 |
medium |
Lichens on pine limbs that fell
about30 feet onto the deck during the first rain we've had for weeks. |
| 20 |
 |
medium |
Fern leaf looking like an
example of a fractal. |
| 19 |
 |
medium |
An organic definition of
parallel, Christmas ferns near the pond. |
| 18 |
 |
medium |
There are at least four
fritillary caterpillars on the passion flower vines, now and at least one has already
formed a chrysallis. |
| 17 |
 |
medium |
An algae bloom occurred
yesterday on the surface of the water in the half-barrel "pond." The
photographs couldn't quite capture the color of the reflected sunlight. Here's a
rough idea of the color, using the flash: small,
large. |
| 16 |
 |
medium |
Gulf fritillary caterpillar on
passion flower vine. The butterflies arrived about three weeks ago to lay eggs. Another view. |
| 15 |
 |
medium |
Still life by squirrels.
Pine bark, needles, and cone debris dropped onto the deck by squirrels feeding on the
seeds in the cones. |
| 14 |
 |
medium |
Water strider on the surface of
the pond. Note the shadows of the impressions on the surface caused by the left
feet. |
| 13 |
 |
medium |
Bald cypress trunk with shadow
of leaves. |
| 12 |
 |
medium |
Bald cypress leaves. |
| 11 |
 |
medium |
Windvane close-up. This
was done at 9:00 am with a strobe to remove the background. |
| 10 |
 |
medium |
New ivy runner among the older
leaves. |
| 9 |
 |
medium |
Mimosa leaf with an insect nest. |
| 8 |
 |
medium |
Paulonia leaves from
above. The leaves arranged in horizontal tiers with alternating pairs of leaves 90
degrees apart to minimize self-shading and maximize the amount of light they
receive. Front yard. |
| 7 |
 |
medium |
A bracket
fungus on a silver maple stump. Front yard. |
| 6 |
 |
medium |
Very colorful berries about the
size of a small marble. Foul-smelling foliage. Very dark green leaves.
I've heard them called Jerusalem cherries (nightshade family), but the foliage doesn't
look like the photos I've found on the web. Front yard. |
| 5 |
 |
medium |
Paulonia tree. This one is
about waist-high. Another on the side of the house has reached 16 feet tall in just one
season after being cut to the ground last year. The larger leaves are 12" in
width. A Georgia forester told me that the soft white wood is valued in Japan for
decorative boxes and carvings. Front yard. Paulonia, named
in honor of Anna Paulonia an eighteenth-century princess of the Netherlands, is a genus of
17 deciduous Asian trees in the Bignonia family (Bignoniaceae). The most common of the
Paulownia, P. tomentosa or Empress Tree, is unknown in its natural habitat yet has scaped
cultivation to become naturalized from New York to Georgia. |
| 4 |
 |
medium |
Robin's nest,
made of pine straw, grass, and mud and lined with moss. Found beneath a sweet gum
tree around the corner. |
| 3 |
 |
medium |
Gulf fritillary butterfly roosting for
the night on a rosebush. It perched with wings folded at about 6:00 pm yesterday and
flew away at 8:05 this morning after I warmed it by holding a mug of coffee beneath
it. Back yard. |
There was an opportunity for a single
exposure after it unfolded its wings.
 |
| 2 |
 |
medium |
Bluejay's wing feather, sweet
gum burr, and dry leaves on limestone patio. Back yard. |
| 1 |
 |
medium |
Passionflower
blossom. My original plant was transplanted in 1996 from a roadside in rural
Alabama near the birthplace of Hank Williams. It's an invasive annual vine subject
to attack by small black beetles during summer and fritillary caterpillars in the
fall. Front yard. |
