Tidy Tidy Tidy

Well if cleaning the beach was not enough, I met up with some folks to clean a local park. 

It was my intention to visit Sharpe Park on Fidalgo Island.  I had not been to this area before and my friend Ron told me of its open balds and some of the plants he found there.  Thinking about what else I might fine there I looked at the Geocaching map and saw that there was an event called a "CITO  ~ Cache In Trash Out".  CITO are organized as part social and part service events.  Meet and chat then set out into the territory to clean up.  This day of sprinkles and dreary weather drew in about 15 friendly members and one parks ranger.

We set off in all directions.  My intention was to clean for the two hours then return to areas I did not visit on my sweep through the park.

It was quickly evident that this park was either little visited or well attended by other groups.  I was hard pressed to find trash of any kind.  My final haul was barely half a bag.  In it was a pop can, a beer bottle, a baseball hat and some varied bits of plastic paper and foil.  When I returned to meet up with the group, others found the park pretty free of litter and spent their time with the ranger clearing bits of brush and branch that invade the trails.  I was about the only one who found any trash worth speaking of.  I guess you can say we tidied up rather than cleaned.  It all fit in the trash barrel, no semi-truck needed like at the beach.

One of the members who is a cactus hobbyist brought us cold hearty cactus to take if we like.  Here we have some of our very local Opunta fraqgilis ( brittle prickly pear )cactus.  They are found on a very small stretch of Whidbey Island at Ebby Landing,  just south of here. These are fine looking cactus.  The ones I've seen in the wild look like a string of little potatoes.  Larger classic pad cactus were also a choice.  I took a single pad cactus.  J.P. said they should do just fine outside in our chilly winter weather.

Heading out again I visited the large bald to the south end of the park and took time to enjoy and photograph.  All over the trails Calypso orchids were in bloom.  There is something in the ecology of Fidalgo and Whidbey Island that these flowers love. 

Where there are calypso there are often Fawn Lily.  Not many were here but I was astonished by the robust size of those that were.  Never have I seen such large flowers and strong color.

This park has a little marsh in its center.  Not something I have found in other parks along this rocky strip of land.  This day the Marsh Wrens were chattering away.  I was disappointed that I was not able to capture one close at had, they are great photography subjects.  This fellow is up on the cattail chattering his heart out.

On the north bluff the land gave way to a sheer cliff-face and I was thrilled that two Pigeon Guillemots were feeding close in.  Those red legs and feet turn this from a black and white bird into quite a showstopper.

The woods on the north half of the park were filled with rock faces and ledges covered in mosses.  Succulents ferns orchids and lily love these areas.  I need to be sure to return earlier in the Spring next year to see what bounty is there

The southern half of the park is more woodsy.  There are many small narrow trails and I always enjoy the adventure of meandering around twisty trails, newly blazed.  Some of these trails go up slopes and make use of the roots of the trees themselves to form a staircase.  You can see there is not much soil covering the rocks.

The moss and ferns love this rock-face.

Once at the top of the balds you get great views out to the Salish Sea and the islands and islets of the San Juans.

The slope of grasses and mosses supports a whole new group of flowers, much like the south slope of Washington Park.  Here the Camas was just coming to bloom

What a fine way to spend a sprinkly morning.  I found a new place to enjoy and envy those who live so close and can enjoy its solitude.  On the way out I noted that a garbage can shows that this park has been adopted by a Starbucks store.  Store 468 is in Puyallup, quite a distance from here.  I assumed that it was the local store in Anacortes.  Perhaps they all work together to help make this lovely little place

Clean Clean Clean

April 20th is West Coast Beach Clean.  All along the west coast of the US groups organize beach clean up as part of Earth Day celebrations.  Last year I trekked to Shi Shi beach on our northern-,most coast.  It was a sad task as the beach was filled with tons of debris, including tsunami debris.  The two mile hike to and from the beach made hauling out garbage filled sacks quite a chore.

This year I chose soft duty and went to Long Beach.  I tried a new place to stay and it was a real treat.  Lighthouse Oceanfront Resort.   http://www.lighthouseresort.net  These rows of condos all had a complete kitchen and little view of the surf and were blissfully clean and quiet.  Just the thing for me.  It was a short walk thorough the dunes to the beach.

The dunes were filled with Coastal Strawberry , Fragaria chiliensis.  I am not sure if the bring good fruit but they are certainly pretty to see in the grasses.

I got to the beach after putting in four hours at work just in time to head to my favorite café for dinner.  On Saturday morning beach clean started at 930.  Much like my last clean at the beach, the debris was mostly small plastics and broken down pieces of bead Styrofoam.  The Styrofoam had become trapped in the dune grasses.

There were plenty of people out cleaning and no matter where you went you easily found something to pick up.  Debris blends into the sand and is often covered, making a sharp eye a good thing.  The weather was gray and thankfully there was little wind.  I found this strip of rubber that had clearly been floating at sea for some time.  It was encrusted with Gooseneck barnacles

As you filled your bags you tied them off and left them at the high water mark.  Volunteers in pick-up trucks patrolled the beach and collected what was found and might provide extra bags.  This day  I didn't find enough to fill all my bags but two bags full was good for a few hours work.

After a community soup lunch I returned to the beach with a bag to collect on my own.  I found plenty more and enjoyed the other sights as I went along.

This fortress would soon be getting its moat filled.

This couple had the CD player blasting (Johnny Cash) and were dancing and smooching

Sunday morning was threatening rain.  With it came a bit of wind so I grabbed a kite and went for a walk on the early morning beach.  There were a lot of gulls and crows sitting in one spot near the waterline and I recognized the reason.  I could clearly see a flipper sticking up.  I walked over and found a small, dead Harbor Porpoise.  It is a sad thing, but the birds would have their breakfast.  Heading down the beach I found this Bald Eagle sitting watch over the clan at the shoreline.

Yesterdays sandcastle was washed away and I noted new debris brought in by the overnight tides.  The beach was pretty quiet, though.   Only early morning surf fishermen seemed to be down this way.

Trails to the properties behind the dunes are marked so that visitors can easily find their way home.  The place next door had a little whale.

We had a lighthouse, of course

This place is perfect and I am sure I could find any old reason to return in the Fall and Winter

Mima Mounds

Well I did not get over to the dry side to cactus test my boots.  The horrible change in the weather brought two feet of snow to the passes and with that deadly avalanches which claimed two lives.

Here in the low lands weather was just as unsettled with squalls of rain and hail, thunder and lightning.

Today, after an early morning dose of "Mad Men" I chanced the weather for a run south to the Mima Mounds Nature Protection Area.  The weather held off just enough to allow a quick trip without too much drama.

For years people have floated theory on how the mounds were produced; burial grounds, gophers, earthquakes glaciation. 

The out wash of glacial melting is now felt to be the leading cause and mounded prairie is found in many regions of North America.

The Mima Mounds are well known for their flowers and butterflies as well as rare native grasses.  I am here too early for the grand flower show, but there was enough to enjoy on this quick trip. 

Broad-leaf shooting stars paved the way and are the early flowers here.

 

 

I found some Early Blue Violet that seem to be taking the heavy rains a bit hard.  The are all drooping and not presenting their best face upward.

I was surprised to find wild Woods Strawberry in bloom.  The grasses here are so thick it was a lucky find.

There was a little bit of bird action.  I could hear a Meadowlark over the way singling sadly.  Lincoln Sparrow were singing their high pitched buzzy song.  From the woods I could hear a Ruffed Grouse giving its deep "woomp wooomp woomp" call.  I even heard it drum once.

The prize of the day was a young Harrier, I think a female, sitting on a stump watching for prey.  She was kind enough to sit still for a zoom in.  I think she knew I would not venture off the path to get closer.

In the woods, Bleeding Heart was everywhere.

Trillium was up and blooming.  There were even some flowers already changing to the pink and purple of age.

I saw two butterflies this day.  Still early with the raw weather.  This Mustard White was content to sit in a patch of sun while I captured some photos.

Yet again, a place to visit a week or so from now.  I can see a lot of Camas here and there were buds just starting to show through the grass.

Driving home I hit a hail downpour and the layer on my window was quite something.  On the freeway we would slow down as we drove through one hail downpour after another.  They were not very wide, just local and spotty.  While we were having this weather, to the north, on the other side of the Convergence Zone, the freeway was at a standstill as a hail storm battered Everett.

I made the lucky choice to head south today.

Walking in the Rain

A rainy Spring weekend.  In high contrast with last weekends sunny and 70, it is low clouds and barely 50.  In the mountains, snow is once again falling so I must stick to the wet side.

Yesterday was Biosurvey at Ohop.  My love for this place cannot even be diminished by the rain.

Newly arrived swallows; Violet-green, Tree, Barn and Rough-wing were found swooping all over the fields.  The Rough-wing traced its way up and down the creek, while the others took higher to the sky.

The creek is flowing deep.  During salmon runs it is fairly shallow.  If you look closely at the creek you will see a line across.  This is a device that counts salmon that have microchips.

We rambled the fields for a soggy 2 1/2 hours looking for signs, sounds and sights of living things.  It was slow going.  I am happy to say my waterproof pants boots and coat really do the trick.  Even they, however, could not keep my electronic data recording device from seizing up.

Another two months and this field will be alive with greenery and, no doubt, bugs galore.  The birds eventually will find great feeding in the hundreds of young trees.

The trees and shrubs planted over the last few years are thriving.

Today with rain coming down in buckets I revisited Washington Park to see my flowers.  The rain was really coming down as I neared Anacortes, but by the time I parked it was a more sedate rain.  I figure as I was going to be in the woods most of the way, it really didn't matter that much.  There were only a few souls out.  All were well protected from the rain by a wide variety of foul-weather gear.

And I got my prize.

White Fawn Lily are abundant in the mossy glades. 

The Calypso Orchids are going strong. 

 

 

I even found a large number of Coralroot Orchid starting to spike.  Right now they look like red asparagus breaking through the forest floor litter.  I found them all along my route and I don't remember seeing this many in the past.

On the south slope the Serpintine soil supports a wide array of unusual flowers.  Yellow Monkey Flower decorate the rock faces

Spring Gold, Sea Blush, Blue-eyed Mary and buttercup carpet the open slopes.

The rare Puget Sound Juniper thrives on these slopes.

A Banana Slug slips easily along the glacier gouged Serpentine rocks.

That is the front of my size 11 Ahnu boot so you can appreciate how big this fat fellow is.

I officially love my boots.  I got a gel insert and now they fit perfectly!  They are comfy and waterproof too!

Perhaps next weekend we will see how the comfy boots face the threat of cactus

Ring The Bells!

The start of the wildflower season!

My friend Ron sent me a note the other day asking about flower stops along the way east to Spokane.  He wanted to find Yellow Bell , Fritillaria pudica.  I suggested some Central Washington spots, like Moses Lake south to White Cliffs at Hanford.  As an afterthought I threw in the area burned by last years fires from Cle Elum to Ellensburg. Ron said said he was itching to start the season and I have to agree; it has been a long Winter.

I have already visited Washington Park to check out early signs of Fawn Lily and Calypso.   The only flowers out and about were the Blue-eyed Mary and Prairie Stars.

When I saw the glory that today's weather was going to be I made mental plans to run over to the burn area and see what was going on.

I traveled Hwy 97 east from Cle Elum through the area that was devastated by fire last summer.  This fire burned from the junction of 97 and Hwy 10 east to the edge of Ellensburg.  It sparked other fires to the north and lightning fires near Wenatchee came south to meet them.   

Along the Hwy 97  there is little in the way of developed land.  An old farm shows what this area once was.

Most of the area is now range land with pockets of small hay farms.  The fire scorched trees show that the land all around this place was burned and these old buildings spared.  In the upper reaches there is little but scorched rabbit brush and pines, but on the ground, greenery carpeted with Gold Star, the first flowers of the season.

All around leaves are pushing up through the burned ground showing that there will be a bounty of Lupine  Balsamroot and Desert Parsley before long.

I decided to pay a visit up Reecer Creek Road.  I know this road from bird-watching days and it is always good on the upper slopes for wildflowers.

This area north of Ellensburg has been slow to support houses.  Old abandoned tracts of land, filled with sage and Rabbit Brush use to dominate.  Now there are small ranchettes with hay and horses.  It is big open view country.  

As I reached the upper half of Reecer Creek Road, I was reminded that the fire burned all the way over to this area.

But all around the ground was lush and green.  The fire probably revitalized this ground.  I slowed way down and rolled down the windows.  Meadowlark singing; that lovely, lonesome, wandering song.  Killdeer, Snipe, Brewers and Red-wing Blackbird.  I heard them all.  Overhead pairs of Rough-legged Hawk, pair after pair in flight, reminded me that these birds love this open country.

Soon a glimpse of yellow that was not Gold Star.  YELLOW BELL I shouted.  One of the reason I favor the "early bird in the middle of no-where" approach to nature study is that you can make those sudden stops along the roadside and not block traffic.

This three blossomed beauty was a real prize!

The area to the west of this roadside is fenced of and well marked to not trespass.  One can clearly see, however, the whole field is a carpet of leaves coming up of goodness knows how many flower species.

Before long it will be glorious.

I drove up to the first parking for Table Mountain and here at elevation snow persists in the shaded areas.  The ground is dry and dull, as if the blanket of snow was pulled off but the Earth does not wish to wake up yet.  It did yield a wonderful view away to the tip top of Mt Rainier.

Dagger-pod and Sagebrush Violets completed the days flower inventory.

I didn't drive Hwy 10 back to Cle Elum to complete the fire circle.  I am sure in two weeks it will be prime.

When I arrived home, I sent a note to Ron, hoping that he and Nancy might be able to catch this route on their way home.

I am content.  It is about 70 degrees out and the Ice Cream Man is across the street at the park playing music.

Next weekend the Spring Fling continues.