In the movie, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, the archeologist, Indiana Jones, searched for his father who went missing while seeking the Holy Grail. Over many years the term “Holy Grail” has come to mean an elusive object or goal of great significance. During my career as a nature photographer there have been times when a situation has allowed something very special to happen — a Holy Grail moment. I recently had a Holy Grail experience.
On a recent trip Jan and I took to Oregon, I went on a long walk every morning. On the very first walk I discovered something I had never experienced before. An apple tree, loaded with last year’s fruit, had been exposed to an unusually early frost last fall. Some of the apples had fallen to the ground, however, many of the apples were still hanging on the tree. Although, at first glance, the apples looked ready to pick, they were actually just as brown, soft, and rotten as most of the ones on the ground.
Photos (c) Bill Beatty
A large flock of American Robins were flying in and out of the apple tree, competing for perches near the hanging apples. I wanted to take some photos, but I had a dilemma — my professional camera, lenses and TRIPOD were at home. All I had was a good point-and-shoot camera. The problem was that I couldn’t hold the camera steady enough to get the good, long-distance photos I wanted. So I improvised. I found a shovel in a shed and, after trying some different orientations, it became my tripod. Now I could remain at a distance that wouldn’t scare the birds, but still have a way to get steady photos.
Photo (c) Jan Runyan
The shovel tripod worked pretty well, so I left it in place until the last day.
American Robins (Photos (c) Bill Beatty)
American Robin (Photos (c) Bill Beatty)
American Robins (Video (c) Bill Beatty)
On each of my 6 morning walks I checked the apple tree. Each morning there were birds feeding on apples. So I took more photos. Some birds were easy to see among the apples, but some were almost camouflaged. It was funny to see how an American Robin’s orange breast looked like a rotting apple!
Red-breasted Sapsucker and American Robin (Photo (c) Bill Beatty)
Red-breasted Sapsucker (Video (c) Bill Beatty)
Flocks of Golden-crowned Sparrows would also fly in to feed on apples on the ground and occasionally one would eat from a perch in the tree.
Golden-crowned Sparrow (Photo (c) Bill Beatty)
Golden-crowned Sparrow (Video (c) Bill Beatty)
It was amazing! So many birds vying for the apples both on the ground and hanging on the tree. Black-capped Chickadees and Ruby-crowned Kinglets frequented the tree, but they moved so quickly from one apple to the next that I had no chance of getting a photo. When I was much farther away, I could see Western Scrub Jays feeding on the apples, but when I approached a bit, they flew away and didn’t return until I was too far away for photos.
I was able to photograph Spotted Towhees on the ground and in the tree. Their breast color also matched the color of the rotting apples.
Spotted Towhee (Photos (c) Bill Beatty)
Spotted Towhee (Photos (c) Bill Beatty)
Strangely, some of the apples on the ground didn’t seem to be rotten at all. In fact, each morning I picked up a “good” apple from the ground and ate it. This made me curious, so I decided to taste the apparently rotting apples still hanging on the tree. They were soft and looked rotten, but, surprisingly, tasted like applesauce. Wow! Now I may know why the birds were so intent on getting access to those apparently rotten apples in the tree.
We know that birds search for berries left on trees, bushes and vines to provide food for them during the winter. They love the small fruit from plants like poison ivy, holly, crab apples, chokeberry, sumac, hackberry, mountainash, and hawthorne. If these birds could think like humans, they would be sure this apple tree was the Holy Grail of winter sustenance. One piece of fruit could last days! And my Holy Grail was getting to experience so many different birds enjoying the bounty of Nature in such a photogenic situation.
So often when I go outside I discover something new and interesting. Life is good!
At this year’s West Virginia Wildflower Pilgrimage, one of the participants and I were talking about birds when I mentioned a photo I had taken showing an Indigo Bunting female feeding a grasshopper to her chick. This person follows our blog and asked if I could somehow show her the photo. I decided to do a blog post about it.
When I was making a living shooting photos professionally, I had some incredible experiences and learned a great deal about birds that I couldn’t have learned without passionate, regular visits to wild places looking for birds in nesting and feeding (young) situations. I was always very careful not to cause undue stress to nesting birds. My photos were always from a camouflaged blind which was portable and could be quickly and easily set up. I wore camouflage. Playback recordings were never used. I couldn’t have learned so much about the birds’ normal behaviors if I had attracted them with recordings. And, of course, the recordings really stress birds during breeding/nesting season. Eventually, I was able to look at a bird and know immediately by its behavior if it had an active nest and was feeding young. There are ways I can gently follow a bird to its nest without causing it undue stress. I knew when and how to safely set up the blind without causing the bird to abandon its nest, even though the blind would sometimes be just 4 feet away.
One day I found an active Indigo Bunting nest. The nest was easy to see and would be easy to photograph, but there was a dilemma — it was quite a distance from the nearest road. I would have to carry all my equipment — blind, tripod, camera and other gear — a long way. I checked with the person who owned the property and they kindly gave me permission to drive my CJ5 Jeep through the woods to the location. Fortunately, my Jeep was small enough to negotiate close quarters between woodland trees to the edge of the meadow where the nest was. After setting up the blind and camera equipment, I began shooting photos. Only the female was feeding the chicks, while the male sang happily from distant and nearby perches. She was feeding them large grasshoppers (large, I thought, for the small throats of the babies). She didn’t feed them as often as I had hoped and I spent a lot of time waiting between feedings. After a few hours the sky began to darken — rain was forecast. I left the blind and tripod set up there, planning to return the next morning. It was a rainy and windy night.
The next morning I discovered that the blind had been blown over, right on top of the nest. I was horrified. However, I soon noticed that the female bunting was going in and out under the blind and was continuing to feed her chicks. After quickly resetting the blind while she was out foraging for food, I decided that since she didn’t seem to be deterred by the blind that had been laying over her nest and by my photography, I would lean in even closer toward the nest to take this photo. This photo is not cropped.
Female Indigo Bunting feeding a grasshopper to her baby. (Photo (c) Bill Beatty)
The next day at the WV Wildflower Pilgrimage on my tour, I was talking with the same person about the Ovenbirds we were hearing. I mentioned that their nests are on the ground and have leaf-covered tops. The nest entrances are on the side, similar to old-fashioned ovens — hence the name, Ovenbird. Again I told her about a photo I took showing a parent with caterpillars in its mouth, standing at the nest entrance near 4 hungry babies whose mouths are wide open, begging for food. She asked if I could share that photo also.
Ovenbird at nest feeding babies. (Photo (c) Bill Beatty)
A goal in my life is to enjoy nature, all of nature, while interfering with nature as little as possible. I used to tell people, “My success as a nature photographer is 10% photography skills and 90% knowing my subject.” Photography is the easy part. It takes a lifetime to know the subjects, and it is the most enjoyable thing I can imagine doing….except for sharing the wonders of nature with other people.
Pileated Woodpeckers are breath-taking! When you see them at a distance, you know you have seen something special. But to see them up close brings a certain kind of magic — this bird is like no other! So, how can you increase your chances of such an amazing encounter?
First, let’s tackle the topic of attracting these almost crow-sized woodpeckers. Jan and I are located on two acres of mostly meadows and trees. When we moved here in 2010 EVERYTHING was mowed. Right away we decided to not mow most of the property. Instead, we wanted to make our property inviting to a wide variety of invertebrate animals — insects, spiders and others. By doing that, the birds would also find a pleasing haven with plenty of nesting areas and natural foods. Our back meadow borders a large forest with many kinds of trees and wildflowers. Our property is in a rural area with neighbors on either side and far down front, but none in back. Now, over a decade later, we have many kinds of birds nesting on our property. To my knowledge, we don’t have Pileated Woodpeckers nesting right on our acres, but during the warm weather months we hear them almost daily and see them occasionally.
Jan looking at recently excavated Pileated Woodpecker holes on a Wild Black Cherry Tree in a nearby woodland. (Photo (c) Bill Beatty)
Since they were already visiting us occasionally, the next issue was to attract these exquisite birds close enough to observe and photograph. In summer there is not much more we can do beyond letting the land be more natural and leaving dead trees for food and housing. But, during the cold weather months we have more options since we usually have as many as 12 bird feeders operating much of the time. Most of our feeders have black oil sunflower seed since that’s the preferred food of most birds that stay through the winter or migrate to our area from the north. However, since Pileateds are invertebrate eaters, they aren’t interested in the seed feeders. To attract them we needed something more like their natural foods. We discovered that they will sometimes feed on suet cakes and many of our birds are especially fond of a commercially-made suet that has peanut butter as a main ingredient.
Our “store-bought” suet cakes look like this.
But even suet cakes don’t guarantee Pileateds for us, at least not right away. We start putting suet cakes out in late October, but the Pileateds aren’t usually interested in them until the snow and cold temperatures of January. What Pileateds DO seem to like best is what we call “Bill’s Bark Butter”. It is a recipe I created after we saw how birds loved something similar we had bought from a store. See this blog post for the recipe: https://wvbirder.wordpress.com/2020/02/19/bills-bark-butter-recipe/. It’s a bit more work, but worth it to be able to enjoy all sorts of birds really close and active.
On the snowiest, coldest days Pileateds visit us more often. Each year, after they discover Bill’s Bark Butter and the suet cakes, they usually don’t stop visiting until the first warm days of late winter/early spring .
Our bark butter feeder is a log approximately 18 inches long with 3/4 – 1 inch holes drilled part way into the log in various places. I use a putty knife to squish the bark butter into the holes.
Photos (c) Jan Runyan
The bark butter feeder is outside our bird window, about 12 to 15 feet from the front of my camera lens inside. I am nice and warm when I shoot photos on the coldest days.
So now that we have the food our Pileateds like, we wait and watch and hope for snow and cold. When Jan is doing her FeederWatch bird counts ( https://feederwatch.org/ ) at the bird window and I have my tripod set up nearby for bird photos, she also has a point-and-shoot camera handy for taking videos. Not too long ago, snow covered the ground and the temperature was in the low 20s. Great conditions for our “flying dinosaurs” to arrive ( https://wvbirder.wordpress.com/2015/05/26/banding-a-dinosaur/ )! And they did! The female Pileated below seemed to prefer the store-bought suet. Below is a photo I shot and a video Jan took at the same time. You can hear my camera shutter clicking in the video.
Pileated Woodpecker and Blue Jay (Photo (c) Bill Beatty)
(Video (c) Jan Runyan)
Woodpeckers have tongues that are almost as long as their bodies, not counting the tail. This helps them extract insects from insect tunnels inside a tree, so people don’t often get to see the tongues.
Downy Woodpecker tongue (Photo (c) Jan Runyan)
Jan’s video below shows that as the Pileated Woodpecker feeds on a suet cake it often uses its long tongue as part of the process. It happens so quickly, if you blink, you can miss it.
Video (c) Jan Runyan
This video is in very slow motion, making it easier to see the tongue.
Video (c) Jan Runyan
Photo (c) Bill Beatty
The bark butter and suet do a great job of attracting Pileated Woodpeckers, but sometimes I would like a photo that has a more natural setting. To help with that, I use bark butter on two large snags I have buried upright in the ground, in front of the bird window, specifically for bird photography. The following photos show how I set up the snags.
Photos (c) Jan Runyan
The snags are large branches that fell from a big Black Locust Tree in our back meadow.
Photos (c) Jan Runyan
Photos (c) Jan Runyan
In the winter, on cold, snowy days, I spread bark butter into selected crevices in the bark of the snags. If I want a side view of a bird, I put the bark butter only on the two perpendicular sides of the snag (none facing the house or on the far side), as in this photo. Then I set my camera on a tripod in the house and shoot through our large bird picture windows.
Photo (c) Jan Runyan
Photo (c) Jan Runyan
These are some of the resulting photos using the snags.
Photo (c) Bill Beatty
Photo (c) Bill Beatty
Photo (c) Bill Beatty
Male (red mustache) and female (black mustache) Pileated Woodpeckers (Photo (c) Bill Beatty)
When the Pileated Woodpeckers fly into the area which has the suet, bark butter, bird feeders and snags, they usually stop first in a large Black Locust tree in the middle of the driveway circle. Sometimes I’m also able to get some photos of them in this more natural setting.
Photo (c) Bill Beatty
Photo (c) Bill Beatty
Photo (c) Bill Beatty
After we attract the Pileated Woodpeckers with their favorite food and take sharp, clear photos of good poses, there is still another step to creating a great photo. All of my years as a professional photographer have taught me that, although I may shoot lots of photos, only a few will be really outstanding. After I am sure the focus of a photo is absolutely perfect, one of the keys to achieving a great presentation is cropping. The three photos just below are the same exact photo. They show what a difference cropping can make. If the focus is good on the original photo, it can be cropped very close as the bottom photo shows.
Photos (c) Bill Beatty
Photo (c) Bill Beatty
Below are three presentations of another photo, showing how cropping can bring drama to the presentation.
Photos (c) Bill Beatty
Photo (c) Bill Beatty
The two photos below show the original photo and then what can be achieved by careful cropping.
Photo (c) Bill Beatty
Photo (c) Bill Beatty
I take many photos and choose the best to work from. Many of the photos I delete are excellent photos, but they are not quite as good as the ones I keep. Often the “best” photos you see on the internet and in magazines have been cropped and/or color-adjusted in some way with a photo software program. It takes real skill to enhance a photo without making it look overdone, pushed too far, or just plain unreal. My goal is always to take a photo that will be perfect just as it is. But, if a photo needs to be cropped (or, occasionally, have a distracting branch removed), I use a free download program called GIMP. I’ve found it does everything I need and works as well as expensive name-brand programs. I highly recommend it. See this blog post: https://wvbirder.wordpress.com/2022/01/11/the-story-behind-bills-photo-credits/ .
The camera body I use for my photos is a Nikon N90 with a Tamron SP 150-600mm F/5-6.3 Di VC USD G2 lens, and I always use a tripod. For videos, Jan uses a Canon PowerShot SX720 HS which has a 40X optical (and 40-160X digital) zoom. We appreciate the recommendations of friends and colleagues in helping us find our great photo equipment.
Learning how to attract birds, especially unusual ones like the Pileated Woodpeckers, has made a big difference in the photos I am able to take. I have spent much of my life working outdoors, getting photos of Nature’s wonders in the places they occur. But on the coldest, snowy days it is nice to be able to be close to winter Nature in a cozy warm place with just a piece of glass between the wonders and me.
I have been blessed with having a career far better than anything I could ever have imagined, especially because of all the time it allowed me to spend shooting photos in the wilds . Part of what got me thinking about a career as a nature photographer, was winning in the National Wildlife Magazine Photo Contest — twice — the only times I entered the contest.
Without the follow-up encouragement of photo editors, John Nuhn of National Wildlife Magazine and Bob Dunne of Ranger Rick Magazine, I might never have pursued a career in nature photography.
Approximately 95% of my photography has been done in West Virginia. Many years ago, when circumstances prevented a planned trip to the JN Ding Darling National Wildlife Refuge on Sanibel Island to do bird photography, I stayed home and shot nature-related photos in my backyard and surrounding woodlands, wetlands and meadows. The photographic results and what I was able to learn about the richness of local nature helped me find my niche as a macro-photographer. Most days I was able to shoot photos within walking distance of my home or within the borders of West Virginia. I loved my work and fortunately the photo editors loved my photos. I have sold many thousands of images and some sold multiple times.
My photography website is designed for photo-editors. I do not sell to the public, however, anyone can visit the site to see the kind of work I do and enjoy my photos.
Each year Jan and I usually spend 2 weeks in September volunteering at the Allegheny Front Migration Observatory (AFMO) on the eastern edge of the Allegheny Plateau in the mountains of West Virginia. We go to bed with the sunset — usually about 8 pm, and rise each morning at 5 am to open the mist nets in the dark for morning bird banding. This year was different due to COVID. AFMO didn’t open. But we decided we would still go to the Dolly Sods Wilderness in September. This year, instead of “early to bed and early to rise”, we sat around the campfire until 10 pm and got up the next morning whenever we wanted to. We had no schedule. Best of all, close friends were camped at sites on either side of us.
For extended visits to the Dolly Sods Wilderness area, we camp at the Red Creek Campground, a primitive campground in the Monongahela National Forest.
Photo (c) Bill Beatty
I started the first morning by taking some photos.
Photo (c) Jan Runyan
My first photo was of a White Flat-topped Aster (Doellingeria umbellata). It is, by far, the most common aster in the Dolly Sods Wilderness.
White Flat-topped Aster (Photo (c) Bill Beatty)
Just across the road was a goldenrod. Some of the goldenrods are hard to know by sight and I had to key this one. It keyed out to be Elm-leaved Goldenrod (Solidago ulmifolia).
Elm-leaved Goldenrod (Photo (c) Bill Beatty)
Several butterflies caught my attention. Just across the camp road was a Flowering Dogwood, the only dogwood I saw during our time on Dolly Sods. And drying out on the fall-colored leaves was a Monarch Butterfly.
Monarch Butterfly (Photo (c) Bill Beatty)
A Question Mark Butterfly couldn’t resist enjoying a nearby partially-eaten pear.
Question Mark Butterfly (Photo (c) Bill Beatty)
We noticed Tiger Swallowtail Butterflies on several occasions.
Tiger Swallowtail Butterfly (Photo (c) Bill Beatty)
After more than an hour of shooting photos, Jan and I sat down to a nice picnic lunch, and, a short time later, our last homegrown watermelon.
Photos (c) Jan Runyan
I hiked every day. Sometimes Jan hiked with me and sometimes she followed her own trail. One day, after talking with two campers also staying in the campground, I invited them to join Jan, Lee and me to hike on the Allegheny Front Vista Trail.
Jan, Lee, Dunn and Jeff on “The Rock”. (Photo (c) Bill Beatty)
Cottongrass/Cottonsedge (Eriophorum angustifolium) in the Alder Run Bog. (Photos (c) Jan Runyan)
Lunch at the Red Pine Plantation at the end of the High Mountain Meadow Trail. (Photo (c) Bill Beatty)
It was fun to share with new friends some new sights they had never seen on Dolly Sods.
Checking out the 1953 Mercury (Photo (c) Jan Runyan)
For several evenings Jan and I set out a mist net and audio lure to attract locally-breeding Northern Saw-whet Owls as part of Project Owl-Net. On most evenings, while the audio lure beeped out the sound of a Northern Saw-whet Owl, we sat around the campfire sharing stories with various friends.
One night we did catch a NSWO. She was a young, local bird, very well-behaved in spite of her razor-sharp talons.
NSWO and the campfire (Photo (c) Jan Runyan)
NSWOs are aged by using a UV light to check the porphyrins present on the underside of the wing feathers. New feathers have lots of the chemical, which shows up as bright pink under the ultra-violet light. Since all her feathers show the pink, they are all newly grown this year. That only happens the year a bird is born.
Photo (c) Jan Runyan
To determine that this bird was a female we had to take 2 measurements. After measuring her longest flight feather in the wing (wing chord) and weighing her, we took those measurements to the chart developed by past NSWO banders. Based on their experience, a bird with her measurements would be a female.
Video (c) Jan Runyan
It is always fun to see what a NSWO will do when it is released. Some fly away immediately and are silently out of sight in seconds. Others don’t mind hanging around for a while.
Video by Jan Runyan
One morning Jan and I explored an open area near the campground. We found some interesting things. Golden Ragwort is a distinctive-looking plant, but at this time of year, only the leaves were present after having bloomed earlier in the spring.
Golden Ragwort (Packera aurea) (Photo (c) Bill Beatty)
Initially we were unsure of this leaf rosette. Then we noticed the same basal leaves on a plant that was blooming profusely nearby.
Black Knapweed (Centaurea nigra) (Photos (c) Bill Beatty)
A large female Garden Spider was in her orb web as if she were guardian of the meadow we were exploring.
Garden Spider (Photo (c) Bill Beatty)
Rock Polypody Ferns (Polypodium virginianum) covered many rocks in shaded areas.
Rock Polypody Ferns (Photo (c) Bill Beatty)
Lots of Many-flowered Gentians (Gentianella quinquefolia) were in full bloom and could be found in several open areas near Forest Service Road 75, but we didn’t see any in the backcountry.
Many-flowered Gentian (Photo (c) Bill Beatty)
Shrubby St. John’s-wort (Hypericum prolificum) with their seed capsules appeared to be almost everywhere we went.
Shrubby St. John’s-wort (Photo (c) Jan Runyan)
Indian Cucumber-root (Medeola virginiana), which had already flowered, was easy to notice due to its whorled leaves. Most often the plants have one or two levels of whorled leaves, but this one had four!
Indian Cucumber-root (Photo (c) Jan Runyan)
On Dolly Sods our camping meals vary from very simple with no cooking, to gourmet, expertly cooked by friends Jeff and Shelia.
One-pan suppers make for the easiest clean-up, which I appreciate since that’s my job. One night Jan cooked salmon steaks with fried potatoes and onions. W.V. peaches Jan had frozen days before completed the feast.
Photo (c) Bill Beatty
Supper at Jeff and Shelia’s campsite started with fried manchego cheese wrapped in fresh sage leaves (from Jan’s herb garden) as an appetizer.
Sage-wrapped cheese ready to cook (Photo (c) Bill Beatty)
The main course was sliced rib-eye steak and varieties of Hericium mushrooms, expertly prepared.
Photos (c) Bill Beatty
And for dessert we had a special treat: fresh-picked apples and cranberries, both from Dolly Sods, in an apple/cranberry galette. Everything was ABSOLUTELY delicious!
Photo (c) Bill Beatty
We were happy, well-fed Dolly Sods campers!
Photo (c) Bill Beatty
Captain Morgan, a.k.a. Lee Miller, is my frequent hiking companion on Dolly Sods.
Photo (c) Bill Beatty
Our hikes are often shorter in miles than we plan, and longer in time than we expect, because we are always stopping to investigate, like here where we are examining a fungus on a dead, fallen Red Spruce.
Photo (c) Jan Runyan
Lee and I found quite a few interesting fungi, including a highly prized, medicinal Chaga (Inonotus obliquus) mushroom growing on a Yellow Birch Tree.
Photo (c) Bill Beatty
Among the many kinds of fungus we discovered were the deadly Destroying Angel Mushroom (Amanita bisporigera) and
Photo (c) Bill Beatty
the Gelatinous Stalked-puffball (Calostoma cinnabarinum).
Photo (c) Bill Beatty
Each September, when Jan and I are on Dolly Sods working at the AFMO, I invite a small group to accompany me on a 5-mile hike on a trail that does not appear on any Dolly Sods trail maps. This year there were 8 of us, including Dahle, the dog.
Photo (c) Bill Beatty
In many Dolly Sods rock fields, berry-loaded American Mountainash Trees (Sorbus americana) were obvious.
Mountainash Tree (Photo (c) Bill Beatty)
The “bent” tree is a trail indicator we sometimes use to lead us to our lunch site and is a good place to search for snakes.
Photo (c) Jan Runyan
Lunch time was at the edge of at the Red Pine Plantation and the High Mountain Meadow.
Photo (c) Bill Beatty
Although we didn’t see any Black Bears on Dolly Sods this year, we did find several fresh bear scats – always full of Wild Black Cherry seeds.
Photo (c) Jan Runyan
The midway point of the Bog to Bog Loop Trail is at Fisher Spring Run Bog, probably Dolly Sods’ largest wetland.
Photo (c) Bill Beatty
Video by Jan Runyan
Bog Goldenrod (Solidago uliginosa) is probably the most common goldenrod on Dolly Sods. It is often the only goldenrod found in bogs and other wetlands, but is also common in dry habitats.
Bog Goldenrod (Photo (c) Bill Beatty)
Crossing Fisher Spring Run Bog can provide some difficult hiking depending on how wet it is. This fall the bog was drier than usual and crossing was less difficult. Still, it took quite a while due to how large it is.
Photo (c) Jan Runyan
Is Lee: 1) praying we find our way out of the vast wilderness, 2) looking for a contact lens, 3) trying to suck water from moss, or 4) trying to identify some animal by tasting its scat?
Photo (c) Jan Runyan
And the answer is…
Video by Jan Runyan
The next day was cold (27 degrees) in the morning, but warmed rapidly. Jan found a warm, comfortable spot to sit and repair her hiking pants.
Photo (c) Bill Beatty
I decided to go hiking.
Photo (c) Lee Miller
On a hike with Lee, I discovered that what I had been previously identifying as “Winterberry” (Ilex verticillata) was actually “Mountain Holly” a.k.a. “Mountain Winterberry” (Ilex montana) … those @^#*! common names can get confusing! Just so I could keep these two deciduous hollies straight in my mind, I collected berries from both, squeezed out the nutlets and photographed them. The “Mountain Holly”/”Mountain Winterberry” has ridges on the nutlets while the “Winterberry” nutlets are smooth.
Mountain Holly/Mountain Winterberry (Photos (c) Bill Beatty)
Winterberry (Photos (c) Bill Beatty)
On clear nights the Milky Way was incredible. Dolly Sods is one of the darkest places east of the Mississippi River. One camper we met explained that it is the standard of darkness for the eastern U.S. — the goal for the rest of the areas to attain. We were lucky to be there while the moon was “new” and the sky was at its most dark.
It was amazing how many friends we encountered during our stay. The wild, mountainous plateau is like a magnet for others who also appreciate its beauty and nature.
How time flies on Dolly Sods. Our 10 days were over much too soon. On our way home we stopped in Davis, WV, to get a Sirianni’s pizza.
While I ordered the pizza, Jan shopped at “Wild Ginger and Spice”. I wandered around Davis for a short time while waiting for the food.
Roofs of houses on one of the back streets in Davis, WV. (Photo (c) Bill Beatty)
Leaving Dolly Sods is always bittersweet for Jan and me. It is sad to say goodby to close friends and the beautiful mountain plateau we’ve grown to love and respect. But we are also glad to get home to our own special “Almost Heaven” place in West Virginia.
On Thursday morning I received a call from my friend Lee with a request, “If you can take me into Big Run Bog this Saturday, we’ll take you and Jan out to supper. I know you are busy, so if you can’t do it day-after-tomorrow, maybe you can do it the next Saturday.” A few weeks earlier he had emailed me, wanting to know the location of Big Run Bog. I knew he had been there before with a group I had led, but on that trip we had called it by its other name: Olson Bog. After the name confusion was cleared up, I was sure he knew the bog’s location, so I wondered why he wanted us to accompany him.
Big Run Bog / Olson Bog (Photo (c) Jan Runyan)
Jan loves Big Run Bog and thought it was a great idea especially since we had recently talked about taking more road trips. We didn’t have anything planned for Saturday and the weather prediction was for a cool, dry day … perfect! And, of course, time with Lee and Kimberlee is always fun, especially in wild places. I told Lee we would meet them at the bog on Saturday at 10 am. He was excited and I was still curious about his purpose.
We arrived at the bog at about the same time. Lee got out of his truck with a piece of paper in his hand which he held out to me right away. On the paper was a drawing of Buckbean, Menyanthes trifoliata, only known in 4 very specific habitat locations in West Virginia. “I want you to show me this plant,” he demanded.
Expecting something like this, I was ready! I reached into my pocket and pulled out a blindfold. “Some of the rarest plants in West Virginia are in one part of this bog,” I told him, “and I don’t show them to just anyone. I haven’t even shown them to Jan. You have to go in blindfolded!”
Photo (c) Jan Runyan
We all had fun with the blindfold. I’m not sure if, at first, Lee knew that I was joking, but I knew Lee could be trusted 100% to not reveal the area I was about to show him.
Lee explained that he had been reading a book about WV nature which mentioned that Buckbean has been found in Big Run Bog. As a birthday gift to himself he wanted to see this very rare plant, so a few weeks earlier he had explored part of the bog, trying to find it. His solo trip in the bog had been more of a challenge than he had expected. Big Run Bog, designated a National Natural Landmark in 1974, comprises 731 acres of small streams, beaver ponds and lots of cranberry/sphagnum bog. Lee explained that when he went searching in the area where I had taken the group years ago, he had trouble staying out of the water. Often he would sink in up to his knee and then, when he tried to pull himself out with the other foot, that foot would sink into the muck, too. It was exhausting. Although he saw wonderful plants like insectivorous sundews and pitcher plants almost everywhere he searched, he had found no sign of Buckbean or any other rare plants.
Round-leaved Sundew, Drosera rotundifolia (Photo (c) Bill Beatty)
Pitcher Plant, Sarraceniapurpurea (Photos (c) Bill Beatty)
Now that I knew what our target plant was, we entered the bog in a different place, near the area where I had seen it before. As we were walking through the woods toward the bog, we found American Yew, Taxus canadensis, a plant that is hard to find in West Virginia since most of its range is much farther north.
American Yew (Photo (c) Bill Beatty)
About a minute after entering the bog, we ran into Lee’s target plant, Buckbean. Lee was excited! There were well over 100 plants in that small area. “Okay,” I said, “you’ve seen your Buckbean. Now let’s get out of here!”
Buckbean, Menyanthes trifoliata (Photo (c) Jan Runyan)
Of course we didn’t leave. We decided to explore more of this rarely-visited part of the bog to see what other rare plants and interesting nature we might find. In previous visits to this bog I had noticed that the Golden Club, Orontium aquaticum, had been so heavily browsed by deer that it might only survive in the deeper water where the deer couldn’t get to it. I was pleasantly surprised to find large patches of Golden Club in many places with no sign of deer browse. Golden Club appears to be doing quite well and is expanding to other parts of the bog.
Golden Club, Orontium aquaticum, (Top photo (c) Jan Runyan, bottom photo (c) Bill Beatty)
We found many Golden Club fruits with seeds destined to become more plants. When I had been in Okefenokee Swamp in Georgia many years ago, I had heard this plant called “Never Wet”. No matter how long they are submerged in water, the leaves never retain water or feel wet when lifted out of the water. Water droplets just sit on the top of a leaf and roll right off when the leaf is tipped.
Photos (c) Jan Runyan
Although not a rare plant, Bog Clubmoss, Lycopodiella inundata, is only found in certain wetlands. We saw a lot of this ancient, perennial, evergreen, spore-bearing plant.
Bog Clubmoss, Lycopodiella inundata (Photo (c) Jan Runyan)
A plant I had seen and photographed years before in this same area was Quillwort, Isoetes engelmannii, a tiny, easily-overlooked plant usually restricted to moving-water runs and edges. Although we looked for it, we didn’t find it this time, but I still believe it is hiding in the bog.
Quillwort, Isoetes engelmannii, (Photo (c) Bill Beatty)
We started to explore beyond the Buckbean area. A short distance away was a nice colony of many Kidney-Leaf Grass of Parnassus, Parnassia asarifolia, plants. Many of them had flower buds and a few were in full flower.
Kidney Leaf Grass of Parnassus, Parnassia asarifolia (Left photo (c) Jan Runyan, right photo (c) Bill Beatty)
We discovered many Small Green Wood Orchid, Platanthera clavellata, leaves, but only a few of the plants were still flowering.
Small Green Wood Orchid, Platanthera clavellata (Photo (c) Bill Beatty)
Lee was excited and interested in everything we found.
Photo (c) Jan Runyan
The Hispid Blackberries, Rubus hispidus, were ripe and, although very small compared to field blackberries, they were quite tasty. They were found throughout the bog and we grazed on handsful of delicious berries as we explored.
Lee photographed plants while I picked and ate the Hispid Blackberries (Photos (c) Jan Runyan)
Cottongrass, Eriophorum virginicum, added interesting color and texture everywhere.
Cottongrass, Eriophorum virginicum, which is actually a sedge (Photos (c) Bill Beatty)
Jan took photos of many of the plants we saw as well as one of her favorite topics — old, sun-dried, gnarled tree stumps and roots.
Photo (c) Bill Beatty
Jan called this group of stump and roots, “Musk Ox”.
Top photo (c) Jan Runyan and bottom photo (c) Bill Beatty
A Broad-winged Hawk, Buteo platypterus, began calling and was soon circling overhead for quite a long time. It seemed disturbed by something … maybe by us.
Broad-winged Hawk, Buteo platypterus (Photo (c) Jan Runyan)
There were many more common plants throughout the area we explored. Most of these plants we had seen before, but they are always beautiful and interesting.
Left-to-right – Bottle/Closed Gentian, Gentiana andrewsii; Bog Goldenrod, Solidago uliginosa; Wild Raisin, Viburnum nudum (Photos (c) Jan Runyan)
And we weren’t the only ones interested in the Gentian.
Bumblebee and Closed Gentian (Gentiana andrewsii) (Photo (c) Bill Beatty)
Large moss hummocks were covered with ripening cranberries that were larger than the cranberries we are used to seeing most years in West Virginia bogs.
Cranberries (Photos (c) Jan Runyan)
As we explored our way back to the Buckbeans, we continued to notice tiny things we had overlooked earlier. We discovered what appeared to be several tiny red flowers on a very small plant. The plant looked familiar, but the red part confused me. A much closer look was warranted. When I got down (and wet) to examine the plant with a hand lens, I discovered that the red “flowers” were actually the red fruits of Lesser Canada St. John’s-wort, Hypericum canadense, an often-overlooked, tiny wetland plant which has yellow flowers.
Lesser Canada St. John’s-wort, Hypericum canadense (Photos (c) Jan Runyan)
Soon Lee and Jan found another red plant that caused a quandary for me. At first I didn’t know what it was, but then it came to me — it was a very young, insectivorous sundew. But Jan disagreed, asking, “Where are the fleshy, sticky pads that trap insects?” There were none, so it again became an unknown to me. After a much closer examination I finally realized that it was a recently germinated Pitcher Plant. Examining nearby adult Pitcher Plants, we found the same design at the base of the full-sized pitchers.
Newly emerged Pitcher Plant (Photo (c) Jan Runyan)
As we were leaving Big Run Bog, Jan asked Lee and me to be very quiet for about 30 seconds. She wanted to shoot a video of the ambiance of part of our exploration. Turn your sound up.
As we left the bog, we were captivated by the black-and-white artistry of this shadow of a fern on a dried leaf.
Photo (c) Jan Runyan
Out of the bog after hours of exploration, it was time to shed our wet clothes (how did Jan stay so clean and dry?), dry our feet and head to Davis, WV, for supper.
Photo (c) Lee Miller
There are several good places to eat in Thomas and Davis, WV, but my favorite is Siriani’s Cafe. We were so hungry from all-day bog-stomping that, although we had brought a cooler to take home our leftovers, both Jan and I ate our full servings of “Oh, Mike Goss”! Delicious!
Photo on right (c) The Waitress
And, of course, no trip to the mountains would be complete without stopping for dessert on the way home at Saffiticker’s Ice Cream in Oakland, Maryland.
Right photo (c) Bill Beatty
Jan and I are blessed to have wonderful people in our lives and to be able to visit special places and experience the wonders of Creation.
For the “Greatest Generation”, my parents’ young years, Shirley Temple was a mega-star. Between 1935 and 1938, from ages 7 to 10, she was Hollywood’s #1 box office star, but by age 22 she had retired completely from making films. She started acting at age 3 and by age 5 she had flowered into a major actress, singer and dancer. She could do it all and, by the standards of the time, she was a natural.
This early flower who blossomed at such a young age came to mind yesterday as Bill and I walked through woods and meadows. We saw many very early flowering plants already strutting their stuff in the cool spring breezes.
All around the yard the small, leafy rosettes of Pennsylvania Bitter Cress have already sent up tiny flower stalks. The four-petaled white flowers are often overlooked since they are so miniscule. Because of their plain design, they will never be stars in the flower world, but it’s worth kneeling to see these little gems against their backdrop of tiny leaflets (which are a great addition to a spring salad).
Pennsylvania Bittercress (c) Bill Beatty
Pennsylvania Bittercress flower stalk (c) Bill Beatty
In a large “empty” flower planter, Bill spotted Purple Henbit just beginning it’s display. Ringing the stem is a circle of flowers — the first layer of flower rings which will build above each other like a flower apartment building. These showy flowers that no one ever sees rival orchids in their intricacy and beauty. The tiny tubes open upward into nodding hoods and lips in a variety of white to purple colors with deep magenta decorations splattered here and there. It takes magnification and, perhaps, muddy knees to get close enough to see the delicate loveliness of this undiscovered talent.
Purple Henbit (c) Bill Beatty
Purple Henbit flowers (c) Bill Beatty
Down the hill, we knew the Skunk Cabbage was blooming on its wetland stage where, this time of year, it is the only actor. Although swampy areas may not be ideal for a spring walk, it’s worth donning high boots to examine this unique character. Next to the unrolling large leaves is the green and purple, pear-shaped piece with a top that gently curves over and around. This is what many people think of as the Skunk Cabbage flower. Actually called a spathe, it almost completely surrounds the thick round spadix on which bloom a number of very tiny flowers of the same off-white, gray-beige color. Like a play way off-Broadway, Skunk Cabbage flowers are not the easiest things to see, but are definitely worth the trip.
Skunk Cabbage (Photo (c) Bill Beatty)
Of course dandelions can bloom in any month of the year…but be careful–what you see may not actually be a dandelion. This is the Coltsfoot time of year! It flowers so early along the road and driveway edges that the plant hasn’t even put out leaves yet. The large, hoof-shaped leaves will come later, but now the thick gray-green stems, rippled with stem leaves, reach up. The flower reminds me of a child’s drawing of a sun: dozens of long, thin, bright yellow petals seem to burst out from the center crowd of round stamens which look like the bubbly surface of the sun. Next time you think it’s just another smooth-stalked dandelion early in the spring, take a minute to look closer–you just may have a miniature sun on a leafy stem.
Coltsfoot on top, Dandelion on bottom (c) Bill Beatty
Coltsfoot flowers (c) Bill Beatty
At first Sharp-lobed Hepatica flowers huddle in the woods with a bell-like shape, protected from the brisk spring winds by 3 green bracts. Soon this early-bloomer opens to show 6 or more long, rounded sepals (“petals” to most of us) of white to deep purple. Above the “petals” and a yellow pistil, the tall stamens look like a ring of bursting white fireworks celebrating the premier of the flower.
Sharp-lobed Hepatica (c) Bill Beatty
Also in the woods, the young Bloodroot flowers seem similarly protected from harsh spring weather by the large leaf wrapping almost totally around the bud. Eventually the stem grows beyond the leaf and the flower with a multitude of white petals and a sunny crown of bright yellow stamens stands proudly on the stage of early spring.
Bloodroot (c) Bill Beatty
The first daring daffodil, while not a wildflower in this area, has already braved the cool weather to dance in the wind. It stands tall, looking as if it were singing in the sunshine spotlight.
Other plants are also starting their careers early, hoping a prompt start gives them an advantage. In open places in the woods, the ground is carpeted with bright fresh green Common Chickweed. As I found out two years ago in the garden, left unchecked, Common Chickweed will take over everything, doing a solo and keeping other plant actors out of the cast.
Common Chickweed (c) Bill Beatty
Tiny, exquisite flowers on our Red Maple are so early that they go almost unnoticed compared to super-stars like dogwood, apple and magnolia. When the tree just seems to have a reddish blush, I grab for a lower branch to examine it more closely. The multitude of long stamens beyond very tiny petals gives the flowers a fuzzy look. Most people have played with the winged samaras (“helicopters”, “whirlybirds”) that are the maple seeds, but few have seen where they originated.
Red Maple tree flowers (c) Bill Beatty
Also mostly unnoticed are the delicate flowers of the American Elm, now nearly past their season. Hanging down from the branches are the thin, long, green stems which end in petite flowers of white to pink. Spraying down from each flower are the white stems and large dark ends of the stamens reminding me of a two-layer firework display at the opening celebration for a new movie.
American Elm flowers (c) Bill Beatty
Like Shirley Temple, these flowers bloom early in the season, early in their young lives.
So many plants are growing, greening, and blossoming right now. Their visual chorus tells us that spring is here! But it’s like a tiny local theater production–beautiful and classy, but seen by almost no one.
Don’t miss out on Nature’s early spring pageant. The actors are dancing and showing off spectacularly right now, but soon they’ll be gone. Grab a coat, hat, gloves and hand lens. See the Shirley Temple wildflowers!
It’s fall here in the east and the deciduous forest is producing some spectacular color. Now is the time to be out looking for photo opportunities and use those colors as backdrops for your photos. Be patient, be creative and, above all, be outside.
Staghorn Sumac color and Jan at Canaan Valley State Park (c) Bill Beatty
Think big with scenic backgrounds… with your subject in the forefront. Find the right angle to show the most and brightest colors possible.
Scarlet and Green Leafhopper on left and Seven-spotted Ladybug Beetle (c) Bill Beatty
Think small with your subject surrounded by the color of fall leaves. One leaf is enough if your subject is small enough. Sometimes I find myself at a spectacular Sugar Maple looking for the perfect leaf with a contrast of bright reds, pinks, oranges, yellows and greens on one leaf. The Ladybug photo above will appear in the Sierra Club’s 2017 Engagement Calendar.
Green Frog and Eastern Garter Snake (c) Bill Beatty
The Garter Snake photo has appeared in many publications. Without the fall-colored leaves as the background I would not have been able to sell the photo at all.
Skull-faced Jumping Spider (c) Bill Beatty
This Spider photo is one of my best selling photos…especially during October…for Halloween stories in kids books and magazines. The skull appearance makes it appealing for Halloween, but the color filling the entire photo makes it attractive to almost any photo editor.
Get out there and take advantage of the leaf color only available for a short time during this season of the year.
Bill Beatty Nature 