On a recent trip to the Broad River Wildlife Management Area in Wilkes County, Georgia, we found this Little Wood Satyr (Megisto cymela) in a clearing along the trail in the woods off the end of Anthony Shoals Road. This is the first Little Wood Satyr we’ve seen.
Carolina Satyrs (Hermeuptychia sosybius) are very common in our woods. Rarely, we’ll see a Gemmed Satyr (Cyllopsis gemma). However, I’ve never seen a Little Wood Satyr in our area.
With its wings partly open. This is the only satyr in our area that has eye-spots on the top of the wings.
With wings folded.
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Identification resources:
- Westcentral Georgia Butterflies by Michael Beohm: Little Wood Satyr (Megisto cymela)
- BugGuide: Little Wood Satyr (Megisto cymela) [Dorsal] [Ventral]
OK, now I’m getting a complex. I had a secret hope that I’d see and photograph more snakes this year. But two in the space of two days is overdoing it. At least they’re Black Rat Snakes.I was driving home yesterday afternoon and saw a snake extended across the opposite lane. It was a young snake compared with the one we saw on Saturday. It was in ‘crinkle’ pose – frozen into a series of kinks – probably in response to me driving up. As I passed it, I couldn’t tell if it was alive but, as I was deciding whether to back up, it started to move off. I backed up quickly and pulled forward between it and the embankment it was going to have to climb to reach the woods.
I jumped out and found a stick to encourage it to stop. It coiled up into a tight ball. That gave me time to re-park the car off the road, grab my camera, run back to get at least one photograph, run back to the car to turn off the headlights and run back to take more photographs.
It had curled up into a tight ball in response to being asked to stick around for some photographs. I couldn’t see its head.
A closer view. If you enlarge this photograph you can see its head sticking out from under the coils on the right. I didn’t see its head until I enlarged the image tonight.
I rolled the ball over, suspecting that its head was protected under the coils of its body. It’s interesting to compare the defensive response of this young snake to coil up into a ball compared with the big snake that assumed a strike pose.
After a while it started to move off cautiously
A little further
Almost completely uncoiled and heading up the embankment. It was a beautiful young healthy snake. About 3 feet long and slender, only about a third of the diameter of the snake we saw last Saturday.
Almost to the top
Heading over the top and off into the woods. There’s a subdivision on the other side of the woods. I hope it stayed clear of the houses. It’s more likely to be killed by folk who think that the only good snake is a dead snake. It deserves to live a long life.
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Identification resource:
- Savannah River Ecology Laboratory, Herpetology Program: Black Rat Snake (Elaphe obsoleta)
Related posts:
- Black Rat Snake (Pantherophis obsoleta): Broad River Wildlife Management Area, Wilkes County, Georgia
- Black Rat Snake: Another Close Encounter
- And There It Was… Black Rat Snake (Pantherophis obsoleta)
Phemeranthus teretifolius is one of two Phemeranthus sp. that may be found in the Piedmont area of Georgia and the Carolinas. Phemeranthus teretifolius is known by several common names: Quill Fameflower, Appalachian Rock-pink, Appalachian Fameflower, or Rock Portulaca. We’d read that this flower could be found at the Rock and Shoals Outcrop Natural Area.
The lure of the Appalachian Fameflower is that each flower only opens for a few hours late in the afternoon. If the flower is not fertilized by a passing insect while it is open, it will self-fertilize. Since we made our visits in the early to mid-afternoon, I never thought I’d see this fameflower in bloom. But fate stepped in…
On April 29th, we arrived at the trailhead a little later than usual and met a DNR staff member who was making sure the mailbox was well stocked with trail maps and doing some repairs to the area beside the steps descending to the trail. We got to talking and time passed. So we were a little late getting started on the trail although we were a lot better informed about the area. Thanks.
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We’d noticed some succulent leaves on short stout stems during our visit in mid-April. Clearly, these plants were perennials but, since I hadn’t done my homework on fameflowers – that they belonged to the family Portulacaceae – I didn’t realize that these were fameflower plants.
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We arrived at the upper rock at the outcrop at about 4:30 pm. A number of the succulent plants had, or were developing buds.
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At 4:36 pm, we thought the best we could hope for were photographs of partly opened blooms.
But as we were photographing the blooms, they appeared to open a little, almost imperceptibly. But it was real!
At 4:41 pm, the bloom opened a little more….
And a little more still…
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Until, at 4:43 pm, the bloom had opened completely.
Of course, as the blooms began to open, we knew that we were witnessing the opening of the Appalachian Fameflower. Something I didn’t think I’d be fortunate enough to see. It was quite extraordinary to sit and watch a bloom open before one’s eyes.
As we made our way down over the lower stone outcrop to leave, we found that many fameflowers had opened in the area between the two outcrops.
Phemeranthus teretifolius is native to the United States: From Pennsylvania, Maryland, West Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee, the Carolinas, Georgia and Alabama. Phemeranthus teretifolius is distributed more widely in the Piedmont in Georgia than is Phemeranthus mengesii.
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Distribution Map:
- United States Department of Agriculture Plants Database: Phemeranthus teretifolius (Quill Fameflower)
Compare with: Phemeranthus mengesii (Menges' fameflower)
- University of North Carolina Herbarium: Phemeranthus teretifolius
Compare with: Phemeranthus mengesii
Identification resources:
- Natural and Naturalized Plants of the Carolinas and Georgia: Phemeranthus teretifolius (Appalachian Rock-pink, Appalachian Fameflower, Rock Portulaca)
Compare with: Large-flowered Rock-pink, Menges' Fameflower, Large-flowered Fameflower, Menges' Rock Pink (Phemeranthus mengesii)
- Carolina Nature: Appalachian Rock-pink, Talinum - Phemeranthus teretifolius
Related posts:
- Rock and Shoals Outcrop Natural Area; Part 1, Blue Trail- 2010: Year Of The Wildflower – Wildflower Index
The Southern Pearly Eye is one of two Enodia species found in Georgia. The other species which occurs throughout Georgia is the Creole Pearly Eye (Enodia creola). The underside of the wing of the Creole Pearly Eye has a slightly blue cast compared with the Southern Pearly Eye.
