BEAUTY AND THE BEAST IN ONE NEAT LITTLE PACKAGE

When we went on a walk the other day, ending up at the Walney Visitor Center, what I was looking for were butterflies. I didn't see one unfortunately, not even skippers, but there were lots of bees, a few milkweed bugs and an interesting, pretty little creature that you can see in my next photo. I found it on a milkweed plant. I thought to myself what a little beauty. When I got home, I found that this was Beauty and the Beast in one neat little package.

What I read surprised me and I was disheartened by my find. It is an Invasive Spotted Lanternfly nymph. What strikes me is that they are the most beautiful insect but horribly destructive to crops. Because they are an invasive pest in Virginia, local agricultural departments strongly encourage residents to destroy them.

These nymphs go through four developmental stages (instars) and I am getting all this from Google). The first three are black with bright white spots, while the final stage turns bright red with black stripes and white spots. They are wingless, powerful jumpers and feed on plant sap, excreting a sticky substance called honeydew.

These are their four distinct stages: nymphs hatch from over-wintered egg masses in late April or early May. They grow through molting stages (instars) before transforming into adults in mid-to-late July.

1st to 3rd Instar: very small about 1/4 inch wingless and black with distinctive white spots.

4th Instar: larger (about 1/2 inch) and bright red with black stripes and white spots. This seems to be the one I found.

Diet and Damage: nymphs use straw-like mouthparts to pierce the tender stems and foliage of over 70 plant species, extracting nutrient-rich sap. While feeding, they excrete excess sugary fluid called "honeydew", mentioned earlier. 

Sooty Mold Threat: the excreted honeydew coats surrounding plants and surfaces, promoting the growth of a thick black "sooty mold" that blocks sunlight and can harm or kill the host plants.

Jumping ability: because they don't have wings yet, nymphs can't fly but they have strong hind legs and will jump and hop rabidly when disturbed.

Here's a YouTube on how we can take steps to get rid of them and there is plenty of other information online if you have found them in your area. 

The following photos were on Wikipedia here and where you can see the adult. Quite beautiful as you can see from the middle photo at the bottom.

According to a study done by Penn State, this YouTuber says they have caused $50,000,000 worth of damage, and the loss of 500 jobs per year.

This was only my second introduction to the Spotted Lanternfly. The last one I saw was an adult in a Winchester shopping center three years ago. I had no clue as to what it was but I remember thinking it was one of the most beautiful moths I had ever seen. However, it isn't a moth despite its moth-like wings. It is actually an invasive planthopper that belongs to the order Hemptera (which includes true bugs, cicadas and aphids). Moths belong to the order Lepidoptera. And now I know.

Have you seen them in your area?

Thanks for looking and hope you are all staying cool in all this heat. To those of you on the other side, hope you are staying warm.

ANN'S 4TH OF JULY CARD PLUS...

A few things today but first of all I wanted to share and thank Ann for her lovely 4th of July card. It's beautiful. All the components go so well together, a lovely color and pattern combination. 

Thank you Ann! 

Whenever I think you can't send anything prettier than what you have sent before, you do! It's beautiful!

I enjoy Ann’s blog too. It’s called Ann’s Snap Edit Scrap and you can click here to visit. 

I also want to thank everyone who sent me a birthday card, family and friends, and to everyone for your birthday wishes. It was lovely getting all of them.You are all very special and kind.

Not only that, but many of you gave great advice on my birthday meal. I still can't quite believe that ever happened. Not even a cheerful countenance and pleasant conversation saved that dinner, and letting me know what you would have done, gave me a clearer mind about it all. But there you go, into every sunny day a little rain falls to remind us not to take these things for granted. The lady avatar above I put together a few days later just for fun, and the eye rolling gave me a smile. It was like looking in the mirror, wink, wink! 

I was given a lovely birthday gift, which I will share later when I have it set up. The gift I can show you now are these. A pair of dangly earrings that I saw the other day and were a birthday gift to myself. I couldn't resist them. They are just costume jewelry, nothing expensive but I was drawn to them. Just for fun I tucked them into a sunflower for the photo.

My birthday flowers from Gregg, son and daughter-in-law. Those put a smile on my face too. I have separated them into vases and placed them around the family room.

I am a little late answering your comments. Over the last few days I have felt slightly under the weather. I went out in the heat and think I overdid it, even though I took my container of water with me to stay hydrated and wore my sun hat. I should have known to turn back earlier but I can become laser focused when looking for those butterflies! I have been out a few times to get some exercise, but today I knew better and made it a very short one. 

We went over to Walney Visitor Center to see if we could see butterflies but didn't even see a Skipper. A few bees and... 

a couple of interesting insects. The one below looks like the kind Ginny identified the other day, a milkweed bug. There weren't many but I expect they will soon be abundant. It seemed to be very taken with the milkweed pods.

I saw a hummingbird but not close enough to take a photo. It was for the mind's eye only and what a treat. Everywhere there have been mushrooms. Must have been all that rain we've had!

That's it for now. Thank you again for your delightful 4th of July card Anne, and everyone else for my birthday cards, wishes and great advice. Thank you for helping me feel better after my birthday post. You are all the best!

Take good care of yourselves, don't stay too long out in that heat like I did. I wish you a wonderful rest of the week.

HAPPY SUNDAY EVERYONE - REVISITING A TRIP TO FLORIDA TAKEN IN JANUARY 2013

 We woke up this morning to wind chill warning as low as 10 below zero. Can cause hypothermia if you are out in this too long. Temperature is 12 degrees F.  People east of us have worst conditions than we do, and probably further north. Please stay safe out there. Gregg just sent me this from his cell phone. Neither of us remember experiencing this before.

Now back to my ‘warm weather’ post.

The information below was found years ago, so may not be up to date, though I have checked and fixed the links when needed for this redo post. They do over the years keep changing. What you read below was done in 2013.

Today I thought I would share some photos I took when we were on vacation in Florida a while back. It was a fun experience taking photos of birds we don’t get in our state, definitely a bird-lover’s paradise. Some of these were taken in the Everglades and others at a bird rehabilitation centre found while driving down to Key West.

We found this beautiful Green Heron when looking around a Marina.

The Stork was having fish for lunch under a pier in Sebastian. A fishing boat had just pulled in and one of the men from the boat tossed a bucket of leftover fish bait to the birds.

A Brown Pelican found also in Sebastian.

We found these pelicans at the Florida Keys Wild Bird Rehabilitation Center in Tavernier.

As we did the Great Egret.

I have included a couple of maps showing Florida in the first map, and the Keys in the second. You can see the location of the rehabilitation center. It's very much worth a visit.

I was surprised to see all the restaurants pinpointed too. If you travel down Rt. 1, you can see the sanctuary approximately two-thirds of the way down. You can enlarge any of the photos for better details by clicking on them. I sometimes forget to do that when I am visiting blogging friends.

But now we are in the Everglades where there were many, many photo opportunities to take photos of Cormorants close up without using a zoom. It was an incredible experience. They must be very used to visitors and they should be. The Everglades typically welcome 1 million visitors per year (I added this information on Sunday, 2/7/26)

I saw several with outspread wings, drying them in the warm sun after diving and swimming for fish.

This pretty little bird is a Palm Warbler. 

And now for the bugs we found on the palm trees. These are the Eastern Lubber Grasshopper, young nymph (Romalea microptera).

2-7-26: thank goodness for old photos when the well is running dry, so to speak. I have been trying to take photos of bird out back and am not very successful at capturing them. My reflexes are definitely slowing down and the camera with our zoom is getting heavier it seems. Still, I never give up, says I smiling.

Thanks for looking everyone.

Have a great day.

GREEN SPRING GARDENS AND CHATEAU DE CHANTILLY CAFE BAKERY AND COFFEE

I only have a few photos taken at the garden (these photos are from the beginning of November). Lining one side of the parking lot are flower beds, and beyond is the garden. The garden mums (maybe Harmony mums) were looking very healthy. The sun was shining which felt so good and I didn’t need a coat. At first I thought there were dozens of bees buzzing from one flower to another, and was again surprised as they should all be safely tucked away for the winter. I looked closer and knew they weren't bees, for all the similarities. They were Drone flies. 

The Drone fly has brown and orange markings, and it looks very similar to a male Honeybee but is harmless. This mimicry helps protect it from predators while it gathers nectar. 

The key differences between this fly and the male Honeybee include its lack of a stinger and ‘waist’, and only one pair of wings. You can usually find them in gardens and urban areas. The Drone fly not only mimics the Honeybee in looks, but also in the way that it moves about, following the same flight patterns. Many of our often-overlooked insects are important pollinators for all kinds of plants, including those which we rely on like fruit trees. As I nibble on my apple, I will think of them very kindly. Splendid little things for what they give us, and we must do our utmost to protect them, along with all the other hardworking pollinators.

The Painted Daisies weren't as abundant but still beautiful and healthy looking. The Drone flies were enjoying them too. 

A very enjoyable trip to the garden and a nice surprise. This was one of those flying visits.

Another flying visit was to our favorite bakery of the moment, the Chateau de Chantilly Cafe, for a pastry and a cup of coffee. Santa was at the door greeting us.

Thank you for visiting.

Have a great day.

HAPPY SUNDAY EVERYONE - GREEN SPRING GARDENS - 9/18/25 - PART 1

Our obligatory photo of the old house that I always take a photo of and put on my blog. I must have taken a hundred of these. I wrote about its history in this post written in 2017.

Whenever we come here, we always have the most wonderful time at this garden. The weather was perfect for walking. Today though, was special for other reasons...

starting with the very nice couple above who saw us taking a selfie with the moon gate in the background, which now has a lovely brick walkway by the way. The lady started chatting about how great the weather was for walking, as always seems to be the way when exchanging pleasantries. Their pups may have come into the conversation also. I never miss an opportunity to talk about pups. They moved on but after they got about a hundred feet away, the lady turned around and asked if we would like for them to take a photo of the two of us. We thanked them and said yes please. The husband walked back. I could tell he knew what he was doing as he directed us out of the sun and then said perhaps it would be better from the other side. He took his time which we were very grateful for.

After they left, we walked a little further along and I see 'my' bench and sit down (my bench because no one else was sitting on it this time). It is in the shade of an old shade tree, which seems like 50 feet high, a great place to observe others having a good time. In the distance there was a gentleman coming towards us on the path, with three of the cutest Boston Terriers. 

When they neared the shade of the tree we were enjoying, as soon as she hit the shade, the one called it quits and lay on her back, wouldn't budge another inch. Her human spent quite some time trying to coax her. We chuckled and this gentleman looked up and said something. 

They were about 30 feet away. The two pups looked at first pup lying down and, as if they knew it could be a while, they decided what's good for the goose was good for the gander. Except that now, head came up and first pup stared at us. She must have heard me say hello as she walked right up to us. Her nice human said she wants a fuss but was concerned because she was a jumper and could give quite a head-butt. I can move fast when I am motivated I told him, and I was more than a little willing to take a chance on her. She could have been King Kong!

Meet Oreo, who is the mother of the two other dogs, Apple and Linguini. They were getting a bit jealous and wanted in on the action but were being held back on their leashes. I got to know Oreo for several minutes one-on-one. This is a shortened version of the video I took.

Furthest away is Apple, the middle one is Linguini (the children), and Oreo, the mother, is closest to us and in the video.

Here's Apple looking a bit tired like his mother. It was very warm that day but lovely, no humidity.

As you can see, we had a great time with these cute pups.

After a while they moved on. I have more photos from our time at the garden and will share them next Tuesday. I was surprised at how many beautiful flowers were still blooming.

Thanks for visiting and I hope you have a great Sunday, and an equally great week ahead.

HAPPY SUNDAY EVERYONE - OAT GRASSES, BLACK EYED SUSANS AND MILKWEED BUGS AND SUCH

The Mourning Doves are cooing right now, such a pretty sound, so peaceful and relaxing. The sun is shining (I wrote this on Saturday the 9th), and it is 78 degrees F. (25.5 degrees C(?), going up to 83 (28.33(?) in Centigrade). We are off for another walk later on when the sun starts going down. 

Continuing the visit to Walney, in the same flower bed as the Black-eyed Susans, I saw Inland Sea Oats. At least I think they are, so if you can confirm or deny because you already know, go right ahead. I try my hardest to get a correct ID. On this website there is a debate going on, about whether to plant these oats or not. It is the first time I have noticed them. I have seen a lot of grasses but not these. Anyhow, if you are really interested in this yay or nay conversation, you can check it out at the above link. I think they look lovely together but I read that the Inland Sea Oats can take over if allowed to.

I was very curious about these Inland Sea Oats, so I did a search on Google. They are edible but I doubt I am ever going to try them. Unless I am 100% sure about what I forage, there is no way I would eat them. I am not 100% confident in my abilities, and then of course they would have to be pesticide free. Anyhow, not an expert and only read about foraging. But I enjoy finding out and passing on what I read. At the same time they are very appealing to me, and I would love to have a bed of Black-eyed Susans with Inland Sea Oats among them. In the meantime, I'll take note of what others' experiences are first, and I'll just be happy to take photos in any of the gardens where I seem them grow.

From Google: "Inland see oats (Chasmanthium latifolium) are edible. The seeds can be processed and used as a cereal grain or ground into flour. They can also be cooked and eaten as a grain, similar to traditional oats. Some resources note that they were a Staple food crop for some indigenous peoples."

And more: "The seeds of the inland sea oats are the edible part. The seeds can be processed similarly to traditional oats, including being ground into flour or cooked as a grain.

The Cocopah Indians are known to have used the seeds as a food source.

In modern use some foragers and wild food enthusiasts suggest that the seeds can be used in a variety of ways, similar to other cereal grains."

The next day (8-4-25) it was another very pleasant temperature, cloudy but I thought I could still get some decent photos. The first things I came across was these little creatures on the milkweed pods. They were several Milkweed plants in the front beds of the house, it was the right time to see these red bugs. 

On the left of center on the above photo, you can see the Small Milkweed Bugs which you can read about at this site. They also show the Large Milkweed Bug. There are other similar bugs mentioned. I found it a very interesting read. 

I have no idea what this is, some kind of shield bug perhaps? It seemed to me that it had caught the attention of the Small Milkweed Bug as it followed it around the pod.

As I hadn't taken photos of these bugs in a long time, I left them and turned to the Milkweed Nymphs. These are immature milkweed bugs that feed on milkweed plants. They gradually develop into adults through a series of five molts, which eventually brings them to adulthood.

Not cute and cuddly creatures by any means but fascinating to me. They lack wings at this stage, often found in clusters on milkweed plants. Their bright orange and black coloration serves as a warning to predators, indicating they are unpalatable due to the toxins they accumulate from milkweed. You can read more about them here, along with a few other insects that feed off the same plant.

Leaving bugs alone for now, here are some pretty flowers including the above spider flower and below, the garden phlox.

One last photo and that's all from Walney until the next time we go.

Thanks for taking the time to visit. 

Hope you all have a great day!