July 2019 – Page 4 – LLOYD'S LENS PHOTOGRAPHY LLC

Milkweed

I come to the conclusion that weeds are just a figment of the imagination. There’s only two types of plants.

1. Those that we know how to use.

2. And those that we don’t know what to do with.

Milkweed actually touches both ends of the scale. It’sgenerally considered a weed because it’s toxic to people, pets and livestock. And while it’s no longer used for its industrial purposes it was considered to be a cash crop at one time. Prior to the development of modern life jackets a sailor’s life may have depended on this underappreciated plant. That was because the seed pods were once used to make tge fillings of life jackets.

Today we recognize the Milkweed as an important host for the Monarch Butterfly. The catipiller feeds exclusively on Milkweed. Special organs in the Monarch Butterfly store the toxins making the Monarch poison to predators. Without the Milkweed there would be no Monarch Butterflies.

Monarch On Ironweed — Adult Monarch Butterflies feed on a variety of nectar but the catipiller eats only Milkweed.

Those beautiful butterflies that we find visiting a variety of flowers would starve to death without the Milkweed.

I remember when I was a kid how much fun it was to sew Milkweed. The seeds are similar to dandelion in that they’re spread by the wind. My brother and I would break open the pods once they were dry and pretend that they paratroopers landing on D-day. Sure enough that the next Spring new plants would pop up wherever we played. Fortnite might be fancier than the old games but you don’t get Monarchs at the end of Fortnite.

This Fall when you see those dry pods breaking open go ahead and scatter the fluffy seeds inside. Sooner or later you’ll have Monarchs as well as a few others.

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A Conversation For The Birds

Color Photography, wildlife

Hello friends! Tonight’s feature image is titled “Robin Eating Honeysuckle Berries” and is available for purchase by following the instructions at the bottom of the article.

One of my favorite movies was Jeremiah Johnson. The movie staring Robert Redford is a fictionalized version of a true story. There’s a couple of scenes where Redford just freezes in mid sentence and scans the mountains visually because he knew something was wrong. The mountains were silent in those scenes. What tips the mountain man off to danger in the scenes is very subtle. It’s the alert call of a robin.

I have never actually read the book “What The Robin Knows” but it’s often been referred to in other wilderness guides and videos. The book encourages you to pay attention to the sounds of nature. Birds especially. They’re the tattletales of the forests.

The individual calls and their meaning is literally a complete language in and of itself. A person could devote an entire blog to that subject alone. During the course of writing this article I did a quick Google search and found enough material for anyone to learn the basics.

The types of calls are:

Location calls, which helps them to keep track of babies and mates.

Flock calls, which is keeping track of the flock.

Food calls, which communicates that food has been located.

Mating calls, when romance is in the air.

Alert calls, to warn of danger.

I have probably left something out but this is enough to get started.

Something that I like to pay attention to is the “holes” in the bird chatter. This works like sonar for locating predators in the woods. Or even lost people for that matter. During hunting season I let the birds tell me where the other hunters are by paying attention to the holes in the bird chatter.

The little robin in tonight’s feature image is feasting on fly honeysuckle berries. These berries are poison to people but are a staple crop for birds. The little guy was having the time of his life with a whole bush full of berries all to himself! I watched him gobble down a few of the bright red globes before heading out to have my own dinner.

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Tattered Wings

Color Photography, West Virginia

The butterfly bush got it’s name for a reason. This bush near the state road garage in Glen Ferris was so full of butterflies that it looked like the scene of a movie. Multiple species of Swallowtail were swarming the blooms. One particular Pipevine Swallowtail caught my eye. The wings were pretty torn up. Presumably from multiple bird attacks. The butterfly obviously had plenty of opportunities to just give up and let a bird take her but here she was. Going about her daily life as if nothing ever happened.

We often see the moment a butterfly emerges from the crysalis with it’s beautiful wings in full glory but we don’t often see the wings after the daily challenges of a lifetime in the wild. At first this might seem like a downer. But let me tell you now that it’s not. Why? Because this butterfly personifies a winner. This is what a winner looks like. This butterfly has obviously overcome adversity.

As often as have been advised on how to be successful in anything the one piece of advice that comes up consistently is “Don’t give up.” Sure there’s a lot more to it but in order to perform the other tasks you have to not give up before reaching that point.

Pop culture has given us the picture of a winner as a person who has always done it right, never making a mistake and just casually strolling into victory. That’s a lie. Even a person who we would consider to be a savant in a particular field has had to overcome struggles of one kind or another. We don’t really notice the that person’s “tattered wings” because we’re focused on the accomplishment and not the struggle that got them there.

As I drew closer to the butterfly trying to get a better frame showing just how shredded the wings were she proved just how mastery of the air she still has as she lifted effortlessly from the bloom and moved out of my reach between frames.

Since there was more butterflies there than I could count I chose not to pressure her any farther. I was still looking for a Spicebush Swallowtail in the first place and part of not giving up includes being focused on the goal.

I didn’t find the particular species that I was looking for that day in spite of getting several nice photos that I will be releasing in upcoming posts. But I did get encouragement to keep on keeping on.

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Forage Friday #16 Jewelweed or Touch-Me-Not

Color Photography, Forage Friday

Jewelweed behind my house — Hello Friends! Tonight’s feature image was taken specifically for this article and is untitled. All of the photos on my blog are my original work. Unless otherwise stated. Prints are available for purchase by following the instructions at the bottom of the article.

I’m often in awe at the providence of God. There’s so many “everyday blessings” that constantly surround us that it’s easy to take them for granted. Such is the case with Jewelweed. The name was given to plant because of “jewels” that adorn the leaf when it’s wet. The leaf also takes on a gemstone like look when fully submerged.

Jewelweed behind my house 2 — The bright orange or pale yellow flowers are hard to mistake once you know what they look like.

The unmistakable flowers always reminds me of a fairy hat of some sort. I can almost see a tiny elf plucking a fresh dew covered “hat” every morning so it can go about its business in style. In reality the flowers are favored by bees, butterflies and hummingbirds. Tonight’s photos are from my back yard near the forest edge. The large patch grows on the shady side of the mountain beneath the hickory and magnolia.

The name Touch-Me-Not is more commonly used in my region. In the Fall when the pods are fully mature they explode at the slightest touch. The pressure is provided by natural springs that grow in tight coils within the pods.

Jewelweed behind my house 3 — Here in picture 3 you can see the bean-like pod just behind the orange flower. This one is not ripe yet but in a few days the pressure from the coils growing inside make the pods bulge.

The seeds can be ejected as far as thirty feet from the plant. Those seeds are edible and said to taste similar to walnuts. The collection technique is to place a bag over the pod and gently shake it until you hear the seeds impact on the bag. They are covered by a shell that’s rough to open. The suggestion of how to get to the tasty little nut ( it’s really small ) is to crush them and dump the mix in a dish of water. The nuts sink but the shells float. Simply skim the shells off of the surface.

The thing I use Jewelweed for the most is as a remedy for poison ivy rash. Now, it’s possible for anyone to have an allergy to anything. And there’s probably a certain amount of people who it will not work for but I’ve not met them yet. I have successfully prevented poison ivy rash by crushing the plant stems and all directly on my skin. Admittedly, I am not very sensitive to poison ivy in the first place but I do get a mild rash when I am unprotected. I rubbed the juice of the Jewelweed into my skin and then brushed the poison ivy across the underside of my arm. No reaction. Next, I juiced up my skin and pulled the poison ivy out of Bush. Still, there’s no rash. It wasn’t until I crushed the poison ivy out my skin that the protection of the Jewelweed was insufficient. Even then the rash went away when I applied more Jewelweed the next day. The most extreme example that I ever seen was an eight year old boy who had blisters from head to toe. I helped his parents collect several Walmart bags full of Jewelweed and we crushed them with a rolling pin. The crushed plants were dumped into a tub full of hot bathwater and the boy soaked for several hours. By the next morning his blisters were gone. ( I’m not a medical professional. I’m just telling you about my personal experience .)

Jewlweed/Touch-Me-Not is really a good plant to have around.

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Quest For A Golden Dragon

Color Photography

Hello Friends! Tonight’s feature image is titled “Natural Treasures” and is available for purchase by following the instructions at the bottom of the article.

The morning sun is already started to burn hot as I enter the marsh. I have heard a tale that somewhere in the maze of cattails lives a golden dragon who guards a jewel of great value. The crisp aromas of water mint fills the humid air. Rustling noises on the other side of the thick mat of leaves tells me that the birds are on the hunt. Silvery flashes dart through the water as I make my way towards the goal. Something moves just outside of my field of vision. I turned around but saw nothing. There’s a buzzing sound with a rattling that sounds a little like paper caught in a fan. I moved slowly in the direction of the noise and it moved away. I paused to give the sound a chance to settle. When the sound of papery wings ceased I gently moved the foliage aside and searched the lush green leaves underneath. And there I saw the legend was true. A golden dragon rested on a leaf guarding diamond sphere. I marveled at the shiny body and gossamer wings. Unlike the questing knights of tales told long ago I came not a sword and lance but a lens to capture my quarry. This tiny dragon breathes no fire. No smoke encircled it’s lair. The sun will soon reclaim it’s guarded treasure but it’s legend is forever preserved in my lens.

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