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The Morning Porch

Daily short takes from an Appalachian hollow

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little wood satyr

July 13, 2025 by Dave Bonta

Another warm and humid morning. A brown butterfly lands on my book and closes its wings to show a row of eyespots: Little Wood Satyr. In the deep shade next to the springhouse, a twig snaps under a paw or hoof.

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Categories Plummer's Hollow Tags little wood satyr, springhouse
May 29, 2016 by Dave Bonta

Exotic dancers of the Lepidoptera have names like Little Wood Satyr and Pearl Crescent. Their underwings bear black suns and crescent moons.

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Categories Plummer's Hollow Tags little wood satyr, pearl crescent
May 24, 2015 by Dave Bonta

The white porch railing is a landing-strip for butterflies: red-spotted purple, little wood satyr. A fat contrail lingers above the ridge.

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Categories Plummer's Hollow Tags contrails, little wood satyr, red-spotted purple 2 Comments
May 31, 2013 by Dave Bonta

Two wood satyr butterflies careen through the yard, the dark pages of their wings marked with yellow Os. A blue dragonfly circles the house.

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Categories Plummer's Hollow Tags dragonflies, little wood satyr 2 Comments
July 16, 2010 by Dave Bonta

A little wood satyr—brown butterfly with yellow-rimmed eyespots—lands on the glass door and pivots at the center of its reflection.

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Categories Plummer's Hollow Tags little wood satyr 2 Comments
July 8, 2008 by Dave Bonta

The little wood satyr I first spotted yesterday flutters up from the side garden, yellow-rimmed eyespots like dim headlights in the fog.

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Categories Plummer's Hollow Tags fog, garden, little wood satyr

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On This Day

  • January 12, 2025
    Not far below freezing. The sun appears through a keyhole in the clouds. A gray squirrel reaches into the snow and extracts a black walnut.
  • January 12, 2024
    The Carolina wren who sleeps above my laundry-room door forms a one-bird cheering section for the sunrise. Then the cloud-lid closes, and only the creek…
  • January 12, 2023
    Fog prolongs the dawn well past sunrise. How long will squirrels keep scolding after a cat has slunk away? Ten minutes and counting.
  • January 12, 2021
    A mixed flock of winter birds flitting though the yard. The mockingbird comes flying over the house and joins them at a half-frozen seep.
  • January 12, 2020
    A yellow gash appears in the clouds to the east and heals up again. The cardinal attacks his reflection. Military jets howl over, unseen.

See all...

Related book

Cover of Ice Mountain with a linocut of a big ridgetop tree.

What I do after I sit on the porch. One winter and spring's daily walks distilled into short poems with linocut illustrations by Beth Adams.

Header image: detail from Paper Garden by Clive Hicks-Jenkins (used by permission)

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