Blog #14—June Was Bustin' Out All Over

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"This Week At Hilton Pond North" is an on-going series of original photo essays—posted more or less weekly—about natural history happenings here in the Blue Ridge Mountains of upper Ashe County, North Carolina. If you want a free e-mail reminder about each new installment, click here to SUBSCRIBE.

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JUNE WAS BUSTIN' OUT

ALL OVER!

#14: 12-30 June 2025

Random observations about Blue Ridge Birds and Nature

BIRDS BANDED AT HILTON POND NORTH

DURING CURRENT PERIOD

12-30 June 2025

● Banded in 2025: 28 species, 880 individuals

● All-time totals, March 2024 to present: 68 species, 2,882 individuals

BANDED BIRD RECAPTURES/RETURNS

AT HILTON POND NORTH

DURING CURRENT PERIOD

12-30 June 2025

All birds were banded and recaptured locally. All except hummingbirds are likely year-round residents

NOTE: During the period we had a remarkable 22 returns of 154 banded Ruby-throated Hummingbirds from 2024, some banded on the same day. Only five were males (blue). We had 10 other returns earlier in 2025 for a total so far of 32—an astonishing 21% return rate.

Ruby-throated Hummingbird banded 07/22/24; now after 2nd-year female #1

Ruby-throated Hummingbird banded 07/22/24; now after 2nd-year female #2

Ruby-throated Hummingbird banded 07/22/24; now after 2nd-year female #3

Ruby-throated Hummingbird banded 07/22/24; now after 2nd-year female #4

Ruby-throated Hummingbird banded 07/24/24; now after 2nd-year female

Ruby-throated Hummingbird banded 07/29/24; now after 2nd-year female #1

Ruby-throated Hummingbird banded 07/29/24; now after 2nd-year female #2

Ruby-throated Hummingbird banded 07/29/24; now after-2nd-year female #3

Ruby-throated Hummingbird banded 07/29/24; now after-2nd-year female #4

Ruby-throated Hummingbird banded 07/31/24; now after-2nd-year female

Ruby-throated Hummingbird banded 08/02/24; now after-2nd-year male

Ruby-throated Hummingbird banded 08/06/24; now 2nd-year female

Ruby-throated Hummingbird banded 08/08/24; now 2nd-year female

Ruby-throated Hummingbird banded 08/08/24; now after-2nd-year female

Ruby-throated Hummingbird banded 08/11/24; now 2nd-year female

Ruby-throated Hummingbird banded 08/15/24; now 2nd-year male

Ruby-throated Hummingbird banded 08/15/24; now 2nd-year female

Ruby-throated Hummingbird banded 08/17/24; now 2nd-year male

Ruby-throated Hummingbird banded 08/22/24; now 2nd-year male

Ruby-throated Hummingbird banded 08/25/24; now 2nd-year female

Ruby-throated Hummingbird banded 08/28/24; now 2nd-year female

Ruby-throated Hummingbird banded 09/01/24; now 2nd-year female

Ruby-throated Hummingbird banded 09/05/24; now 2nd-year male

Carolina Chickadee banded 09/09/24; now 2nd-year female

Northern Cardinal banded 04/03/24; now after-2nd-year female

Northern Cardinal banded 08/25/24; now after-2nd-year male

Eastern Towhee banded 04/26/24; now 3rd-year male

The table below shows birds banded during the most recent period, plus each species' tally for the year and the total for each since banding commenced locally in March 2024. New species for this year are in RED.

All photos, videos, maps, charts, and text © Hilton Pond North

Winter was seasonably cold here at Hilton Pond North so spring was a welcome change, but in the world of nature things really started to pop during the last half of June. We saw it all—from baby birds to bugs and fungi to flowers, with trail cam videos of a fawn and a feral cat. Read on for a plethora of photos and fun facts from here in upper Ashe County NC.

Spring ephemeral wildflowers were long gone, replaced by sun-loving species like Black-eyed Susans, Rudbeckia sp. (above). This hardy North American native blooms summer through fall, displaying bright yellow petals surrounding dark brown centers. These are actually composite blooms made up of two kinds of flowers: Outer "petals" that are actually sterile ray flowers that get pollinators' attention, plus a dark center containing fertile disc flowers that bear nectar and pollen and produce seeds favored by American Goldfinches and other birds. Drought-tolerant once established, Black-eyed Susans can thrive in poor soils and spread through underground rhizomes, making them excellent for naturalizing in meadows and prairies. (We suspect those here at Hilton Pond North were planted by a former resident.) The flowers have been used medicinally by Native Americans to treat colds, infections, and snake bite.

These showy summer sunflowers attract all sorts of insects, including butterflies such as Silvery Checkerspot, Chlosyne nycteis (above)—a small orange-and-black species found across much of North America; it is distinguished by silver-white spots on the underside of its hind wings that give rise to its name. This resilient species has adapted to use multiple host plants for its caterpillars, including sunflowers, asters, and other members of the composite family; this has helped maintain stable populations even as habitats change. Adults have a relatively long flight period from late spring through early fall, often producing two broods per year in warmer regions. Males engage in "puddling" behavior, gathering at mud puddles to drink minerals needed for reproduction. Silvery Checkerspots exhibit geographic variation in wing patterns and coloration—northern populations darker and more boldly marked than southern counterparts.

Butterflies aren't the only insects attracted to our Black-eyed Susans. Native metallic bees (above, covered with pollen) are solitary or semi-social insects that shimmer with iridescent greens, blues, and bronzes, thanks to structures in their exoskeletons that reflect light. These ground-nesting bees are incredibly valuable native pollinators, often more efficient than Honeybees at pollinating native wildflowers and crops. Many metallic bee species exhibit fascinating social behaviors, some forming small colonies where a dominant female controls egg-laying while daughters become workers; others are strictly solitary. Metallic bees are excellent indicators of ecosystem health since they require diverse native plant communities and undisturbed nesting sites. Populations are declining in areas with intensive agriculture or urban development, making their conservation crucial for maintaining pollinator diversity across North America. We do what we can to help at Hilton Pond North.

Alas, when a metallic bee visits a flower for nectar or pollen it sometimes gets more than it bargained for in the form of North American Crab Spiders, also called Flower Spiders. These are masterful ambush predators that don't build webs but, nicely camouflaged, wait motionless on flowers to capture unsuspecting pollinators—as shown in our image above of a Northern Crab Spider, Mecaphesa asperata. These spiders inject fast-acting venom that quickly immobilizes victims. Despite fearsome hunting prowess, crab spiders are completely harmless to humans and actually provide valuable pest control services in gardens. Females often guard their egg sacs through winter before dying as spring arrives, leaving the next generation to emerge and continue the lineage.

Along with bees, butterflies, and spiders, we're also starting to see lots of dragonflies at Hilton Pond North, one of which we carefully extricated from a mist net we used to capture birds for banding. This was a Common Whitetail, Plathemis lydia, a medium-sized dragonfly easily recognized by the male's distinctive chalky-white abdomen and broad, dark-banded wings (below right).

Ever since encountering them by the dozens decades ago in West Virginia's wet meadows, we've always wanted to have bright red flowers of Beebalm, Monarda didyma (above), on our property. We failed at several attempts in South Carolina, likely because of dense red clay (and having black thumbs). This summer, thanks to dear friends and long-time supporters Amy Girten and Kim Pierce Lascola, our wishes finally came true. Last fall those two master gardeners came down from Ohio to donate and install several Beebalms outside our cabin windows at Hilton Pond North. The plants took hold and in late June multiple flower heads began to open at our Blue Ridge Mountain paradise.Success at last! The other good news: Beebalm is a favorite of Ruby-throated Hummingbirds and the hummers have already discovered these nectar-laden red blossoms. Double win!

Clavulina coralloides (above), commonly known as Crested Coral Fungus or White Coral Fungus, is a striking saprophytic fungus that resembles underwater coral; its distinctive white- to cream-colored branching structure grows upward from decaying wood and leaf litter in deciduous and mixed forests like those here at Hilton Pond North. Its intricate branched tips often become flattened or crested (hence the name), creating an almost antler-like appearance.This fungus plays a crucial ecological role as decomposer, breaking down organic matter and recycling nutrients back into the forest ecosystem. It also forms beneficial mycorrhizal associations with tree roots, helping plants absorb water and nutrients while receiving carbohydrates in return. The species can be found throughout North America and Europe late summer through fall, typically growing in clusters on rotting hardwood logs and stumps. While edible, it's considered bland and tough, making it more valuable for its ecological contributions than culinary appeal.

Females have a brown body, as shown in our photo above, with yellow abdominal spots and similar wing patterns. These territorial, strong-flying hunters are found near ponds, lakes, and slow-moving streams across most of North America.

Males establish and aggressively defend prime perching spots on emergent vegetation or bare ground, chasing away rivals and potential mates until courtship begins. Common Whitetails are voracious predators with nearly 360-degree vision thanks to compound eyes containing up to 30,000 individual lenses that allow them to spot and intercept flying insects with remarkable precision. They can consume hundreds of mosquitoes, gnats, and flies daily, grabbing them with barbed forelegs. The species undergoes complete metamorphosis, spending one to three years as aquatic nymphs that are equally fierce predators in underwater environments. The nymphs use an extendable lower jaw to snatch tadpoles, mosquito larvae, and other small aquatic creatures before emerging in their aerial adult form.

With summer well underway, just-fledged birds are appearing more frequently here at Hilton Pond North. In some cases juveniles look quite unlike their parents, while others are nearly identical Mini-Me's with similar feathering—albeit unkempt and not as smooth as adult plumage. Youngsters often behave differently, too, especially when they beg and flap their wings rapidly while begging food from mom and pop. One sure sign a free-flying songbird fledged recently is its gape—the area at the base of the bill where mandibles join. In nestlings and fledglings the gape is typically brightly colored: Yellow (as in the young Tufted Titmouse in our photo above), even red, orange, or white.

A colored gape has several functions, perhaps most important being as a target area that allows parent birds to find a nestling's gaping maw in the relative darkness of the nest. Curiously, healthier chicks may have more brightly colored gapes, meaning they have a greater chance of survival—especially when parents give them more food. In many species the gape is lined with papillae (small bumps or spots) that reflect ultraviolet light most birds can see, making the mouth even more conspicuous to parents. The fleshy, soft gape also helps the bill flex and open more widely, important for nestlings that need to gulp down large food items. As the bird matures and starts self-feeding, the gape flange usually fades, recedes, and hardens, although we've noticed adult House Finches and Purple Finches continue to show some yellow in the gape. By late summer, the yellow bill lining in our recently banded titmouse will have turned gray. By then we'll have to look for different clues to determine a bird's age.

Along with banding recent fledglings, we've also been capturing adult birds—one of which, a Blue Jay, was particularly interesting. As we were removing it from a trap we noticed some red color between bill and eye. We initially thought it was simply juice from some wild berry, but when got the jay to the banding table we realized it must be fresh blood—apparently from a tick that had burst as the bird moved around in the trap. Indeed, after looking very closely with a hand lens we could see there were still two ticks attached (above), one 3mm long behind the eye and another 1mm long at the front. Just above the small one had been at least one more that popped.

It is not rare to capture a bird with tick attached, usually in the head region where the host can't bite to remove it. (In fact, some winters back in South Carolina 5-10% of all birds banded had one or more ticks, and several times we caught individual House Finches with 6-12 head ticks of various sizes!) Bird ticks are often Ixodes brunneus (no common name), which is host-specific with all three life stages (larva, nymph, adult) occurring only on avian hosts. Some other tick species like I. scalpularis—the Deer Tick—are less choosy and live on either bird or mammalian hosts, including humans if given the chance. I. brunneus is particularly problematic for bird hosts because it can cause avian tick paralysis, a condition that may weaken or kill affected hosts through neurotoxins secreted in the tick's saliva, although other tick species are also known to cause the condition.

The Blue Jay we captured appeared otherwise healthy, so we carefully removed the larger tick behind the eye so we could study it further. Although it came off easily with forceps we elected not to remove the other tick because it was so close to the eye itself. (We learned from experience that removing some ticks can cause damage to the bird's conjunctiva. Plus, we'd just as soon not run the risk of popping a tick that might be carrying Lyme disease or Rocky Mountain spotted fever. In most cases we do nothing about ticks on birds and simply let nature take its course.)

Trail cam video snippets have become a popular part of our "This Week at Hilton Pond North installments," so we're including two here. (You may have to turn sound on and click each video to start.) Number One (above) is a very short segment showing our first White-tailed Deer fawn of 2025. Since the rambunctious youngster wasn't in the frame very long we slowed things down to one-quarter speed. We suspect we'll be seeing lots more fawns in coming weeks.

Number Two video is one we'd rather not think about because it shows the hunting prowess of one of two feral cats that keep showing up on our trail cams. These free-roaming felines are a major threat to native wildlife from birds to small mammals and reptiles to amphibians. As the video shows, we're not too sure about how successful a predator this particular cat might be.

As June came to a close we finally had a visible sunset to our west; thunderstorms on a near-daily basis during the last half of the month blocked the view most evenings, but on the 30th clouds broke up and gave us the photo above. A big White Pine is at lower right, with various hardwoods framing the tableau. Look closely and you'll even see the crescent Moon over Hilton Pond North. Peace.

Hooded Warblers are stunning residents of North Carolina mountains March through November, males displaying bright yellow faces framed by distinctive black hoods and throats. These forest-loving birds inhabit dense understories of mature deciduous and mixed forests throughout the Appalachian region, where they forage actively for insects among shrubs and lower tree branches. They often flick tails to reveal white outer tail feathers and their loud, ringing weeta-weeta-weetee-o song echoes through the canopy. The species is an excellent indicator of healthy forest ecosystems, requiring large tracts of mature woodland with well-developed understory for successful breeding. We banded an adult male (above) this week at Hilton Pond North.

This week we were pleased to host Louis, Jack, and Cristina MacConnell for their annual visit to Hilton Pond North. It was Jack's brother John MacConnell who designed and built our environmentally sensitive earth-sheltered cabin here in the mountains of upper Ashe County. After John passed away in 2023, Jack and Cristina sold us in early 2024 the cabin and 35+ acres we now call home. The trio was quite interested in our bird banding operation and the Song Sparrow we had banded. Incidentally, the bander's pockets were filled with empty laundry bags used to hold birds temporarily after capture.