Loudoun on Earth

This butterfly has a super wide wingspan that makes it ever graceful in appearance.  Since mid-July I have seen quite a few Eastern Tigers, esp around echinacea and ironweed plants. Eastern Tigers have a storied history.   The state insect of Virginia, other legend indicates papilio glaucus was the first butterfly sketched in N. America (but who knows).  Regardless, the butterfly has been immortalized on numerous works of art, incl a U.S. stamp. The female eastern tiger often lays her eggs on host plants in a way that camouflages the eggs in concert with the leaves of the host, particularly the sweetbay magnolia and tulip poplar trees.  I have these trees near my habitat, but have yet to observe any eggs to date. 

There is so much saturation with fad diets that it has become lame.  Well, at the risk of lameness I wanted to share a diet that only takes one day and the purpose is not to just improve one's health but learn about the waste being generated by food packaging you handle.  This is a 24 hour to one week diet in which you consume only foods that can be composted and avoid single use packaging.  This project is a means to cleanse and reset, to become more conscious of the amount of waste in packaging and food waste in general.  Do you ever consider what it would take to move toward a circular system at your home-to reuse the consumer materials entering your household?  The first step is to become more conscious about the amount of waste and food byproduct you generate. The compost diet is a way to become more aware, and because it is reliant on a lot of fruits, vegetables, eggs, and nuts, it is actually quite healthy.  Starting with a 24 hour period, the ai...

I have never seen as many turkey vultures on a daily basis than those in Loudoun County.  They seem to be everywhere.  Your kids may call them hawks or raptors, but often the turkey vultures circle in groups of three or so, their wingspan is pretty distinct with black and some grayish tones. Turkey vultures have a sense of smell for rotting animal flesh (unlike other vultures that wait for the turkey vulture to smell the carcass and then descend and eat the decaying animal).  I used to think the turkey vulture was a useless opportunist, but they actually serve a purpose in preventing the spread of disease by consuming carrion. I have seen them up close a number of times because I know where they nest on some trails I frequent.  They do not scare very easily, as I have been within 15 feet or so of their perch.  They are often in pairs, while one timid one will fly to a higher perch.  I have never seen one of their eggs, though.  They like to nest in...