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.

Old Man Winter

Lifting his gray beard
Displaying his handiwork
The Old Man departs

Ventured out for a quick walk in the woods.  The freeway signs warn chains are required to cross the mountain pass.

But here, little hints of Spring.

Fern spores

Grasses shooting up through last Falls Big Leaf Maple leaves.

Trailiing Yellow Violets, the first wildflowers of the woodlands.

Indian Plum, these shrubs set the first berries of Spring.

A pair of Piliated Woodpeckers noisily flew in and investigated their nest hole.  WOKKA WOKKA WOKKA... you cannot mistake the call. 

Pacific Wren males were busy on their territories, singing their merry run-on song.

Truly Meandering at Leadbetter Point

I had a Biosurvey at the Ohop Valley Land trust site on Saturday.  During a biosurvey we walk and record evidence of as many living things as we can see or identify.  Anything from seen and heard birds to prints , scat, marks and signs like fur or chewed trees.   I love the Ohop property and once again, the worst of the weather held off until we were done.

Since I was this far south, I would continue on to the beach for the long weekend.  This time I stayed at a little place called Shakti Cove.  One look at these little cabins and you are back in the motor court days.  The cabin was rustic but comfortable and it was SO quiet.

I had great hopes for getting my boat kite in the air.  My last few visits to the beach were without wind, but today with rough weather moving through I gave it a go.  This kite is more complicated that the others I have.  It went up easily enough  but I was really having a hard time keeping it stable.  Several crashes, but I only needed to manipulate the line just so and it would catch the wind and go skyward.  After about 15 minutes of mild frustration I felt the rain starting.

And then the wind picked up.

Holy Cats!!  Now, I spent many years working with horses.  The training activity of lungeing involves putting a horse through its gaits at the end of a 20 meter long line.  Round and round in a circle.  This kite pulled as fiercely as a bad acting horse.  I was glad for my high test line and my hand was soon crying for mercy.  I was able to slowly reel her in and hand land the kite.

Sunday morning I decided to get up early and visit Leadbetter Point at the north end of the peninsula.  A majority of the property is National Wildlife Refuge and it is home for a large population of nesting Snowy Plovers.  I passed through Oysterville before most were awake and vow to return for a good walk through the community.  Houses from 1880- 90 are lovingly preserved.

The refuge has only three trails.  One goes along the Willapa Bay shoreline then cuts into the pine woods, meeting up with a woodland loop.   Where the shoreline path meets the loop a trail heads out to the Pacific beach.  This was the trail I had planned on taking.

The bay shore was alive with shorebirds swooping in from their night perches in the ocean beach dunes.  They joined gulls and ducks.

In a few months these flocks will number in the many thousands as the migrating shorebirds from the south join our winter flocks.  Willapa Bay and Grays Harbor to the north are two places of international importance in shorebird migration. 

The beach was littered with clam and oyster shells.  Willapa Bay is famous for its oysters.  Gulls fly in with their catches and drop them from high up, aiming to crack the shells and get their prize.  I found this little still-life and could not resist. 

 

The intertidal area and grasses were silent.  No hunting raptors, no owls.  I was sorry to see Scots Broom present both here and in the woods.

The woods are dominated by small shore pines.  The forest floor is covered in moss, lichen and liverwort.  Kinnikinick joins in as a ground cover.  This plant was used as a smoking herb by native peoples. 

Kinnikinnick, Arctodtaphylos uva-ursi, is also known as Bearberry.  I did not see signs of bear but was surprised to see Elk sign.

I was happy to be in the woods and the footing was interesting.  All of these plants flourish on a foundation of sand, not the ltypical soil we are use to.  But wet sand soon turned into genuine , familiar mud.   Ankle-plus  deep water required a little detour.  It was easy enough to see a path through the trees.  I went along further and came to even more deeper water.  Rats, this time I tried a visible path on the north side of the trail.

It lead me to this

Well there would be not getting to the beach on this trail which probably no longer exists.  The dam logs appear quite fresh and new.

I returned to the junction with the lop trail and decided to take the trail to the beach that heads out from the state park.

At the junction I found this sign

 
Not a good sign.  Sure enough within 1/4 mile I encountered more deep, frustrating wading.  I had no desire to over top my boots so I called it a day for this adventure.

I headed for the beach via the conventional roadway routes.  I am glad I did.  I was able to watch some fishermen

This Raven amused me with some antics on the sand

and I found some bizarre Salps.  I had been alerted to their being on the beach a few days earlier.  They look like a clear plastic fried egg with a very hard yolk.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salp

I love the beach.  I hope to get back in a few weeks fto try for a viewing of a comet that is nearing.

Frozen Pond

I had to zip into work today.  With overnight temperatures well into the 20s I felt safest waiting for daylight.

The way was filled with rhyme covered grasses and trees.  Everything is frosted with a coat of white.  Thankfully, the main roads were safe driving.

One the way out of the business park I stopped at the little mitigation area.  This complex of meadow and pond has taken charge of controlling the runoff of the large business parks and easing it into the two large creeks that meet here.  Our roads no longer flood in the Winter and Spring when the rains are heavy. 

The once dirt trail is now paved and there are nice berms and a split rail fence to greet you.

Everything is frosted with crystals.

Birds are swarming the ground and blackberry bushes eating old dried fruit.  I noticed rowdy flocks of Robins up by the buildings where Cotoneaster is filled with berries.  The Robins were probably a little tipsy with fermented fruit.  This female Spotted Towhee was much more subdued with her dried blackberry.

As I walked along the path a River Otter came out of the pond, crossed the trail and went into a little runoff channel that meets the larger creek.  I waited and tried to capture a picture, but was not successful.  This shot of the frosty grasses hides a lump of otter, way out of focus.  That is its head at about 10:00 from center.

Ducks were clustered in one corner of the pond near open water.  There were some comical belly sliding icy landings and one duck even slipped, waddled then crashed through thin icy.

A lone Blue Heron found refuge in the tree.  I am sure the sunshine felt good up there.

The pond has obviously frozen and refrozen at different water levels over the last few days. Icy is jumbled in layers and pieces here and there.

 

 

 

It was just a little walk in the brisk sunny day.

 

 

The week ahead is forecast for sunny cold days.  A welcome relief from the persistent gray days.