Tired of Winter...Go Looking For Spring

Winter Blues really hit me hard this year.  It has been very uninspiring and I have languished.  I did visit the beach for Winter Beach Clean.  My favorite Thai restaurant was closed for a vacation.  The weather has been just as usual, short dark gray days.  I should not complain as so many folks suffering with these horrible snow storms and frozen beyond humanity temperatures.

I have been concerned about the lack of wet here.  The most vital missing ingredient is snow in the high mountains.  These snows feed our farms and maintain a healthy and safer habitat.  Finally some serious snow (and rain down here) hit in February and our snow pack is pretty much back on track.

The last bit of February brought a few days of dazzling blue skies.  I wanted to run from work and play hooky.  I vowed that the first day of March, Saturday, would find me up at Washington Park.  It is time to start the annual lookout at one of my favorite wildflower places.

The day dawned gray and dreary.  The forecast was for snows moving down the Frazier River valley and catching Whatcom county with some more snow.  I didn't concern myself too much, I was on the hunt for Spring.

Arriving at the park I knew the first spot to check out was the restrooms.  There a very fine Red Flowering Currant  is usually one of the first plants to bloom.  It was just getting started.

With this blooming, you can usually plan for the Rufus Hummingbirds to be arriving any day.

Along the road, all was quiet until I reached one particular rock.  A bit of Trail Magic.  Someone regularly walks this loop and leaves a handful of seeds and corn on rocks and stumps, a welcome treat.  This Douglas Squirrel made sure to tell me that my presence in this area was very unwelcome.  Dougies will also act this way in the Fall if you stop or pass to close to their mushroom larder tree.

The big rock held a handful of treat and sparrows, chickadees, Junco and a Spotted Towhee were all noisily enjoying the feast.  I think Spotted Towhee are one of the handsomest birds in our woods.  So dapper in their cut-away tailcoat and rusty vest.

Further along I dipped down onto my favorite trail.  It is here that Fawn Lily and Calypso Orchid will delight in about a month.  Today the mosses held a few leaves peaking out here and there, a promise of the bounty to come.

The Rattlesnake Plantain orchid appear to be setting up for a very fine year.  They bloom in late summer so for now we see their interesting leaves.  This one was particularly large and well marked.

Out and around the south facing Serpentine bald.  This uncommon soil is unique in this area and supports a fine array of flowers, mosses and lichens.  I see a lot of greenery right now, so the flower bounty should be great.  I found one very early Spring Gold just starting to bloom.

As I stopped to see the Olympic Mountains peeking through the clouds I was greeted by a lot of bird chatter.

Clearly these birds were expecting another handout.  There were many chattering Song Sparrows and one very quiet charmer.  A Fox Sparrow, Passerella iliaca.  These tubby, chunky sparrows are beautifully marked with neat chevrons on their chest and belly.  They are quiet and usually solitary.

It posed handsomely for me and then turned and gave me the stink-eye.  Clearly if I was not going to pay in seed, then shove off.

Around the end of the point and up and over to the road and down.  It was here that I found a pair of Barred Owls nesting a year or two ago.  I listened but did not hear any nest sounds.  I did hear a slight hissing sound, starting light then becoming a little more persistent.  It was falling from the sky.  Not rain, not hail nor grapple.

Little frozen almost flakes

Ah well.  It is a convenient, pretty bit of business.  I needed to stop by the car shop and get a service, then on to work for afternoon duty.  I headed over to Fir Island to grab a photo for my Scavenger Hunt ( topic "many" )  Many Trumpeter Swans

I had time to kill and as I was driving down the freeway I passed an airplane that I have always said I would stop and shoot.

Along this road is a nursery and I was delighted to see that the Mt Baker Orchid Society was having a show.  My friend Ron had his plants there and when I arrived he was busy judging flowers.  I took a look at his display, which was amazing as usual, and went on my way.  Ron reports on his wonderful blog that one of his plants received a Certificate of Culture Merit from the American Orchid Society.  Congrats Ron!!!  If you wish to see some amazing orchids and fabulous photography, pay a visit to Ron's blog.

 http://orchidsinbloom-ron.blogspot.com

So a fine day out helped clear out the cobwebs and renewed the spirit and has got me mentally planning on my next visit to the park to look for elusive delights.

Colorful Day

Made a quick escape to Hoypus Hill on North Whidbey Island.  Coralroot orchids were the target and one rare type, the Ozette was the desire of my hunt.  Sorry to say I did not locate the Ozette I had found there before but it was a pretty day out.  It was very unexpectedly warm and sunny.  I entered the woods to gray cloudy skies and exited to sharp blue and clear.

Magenta

Western Coralroot (Corallorhiza maculata) orchid

Creamy yellow : a pale form of the Western Coralroot

Red  : Net-winged Beetle (Dictyopterus simplicipes) on a Douglas Fir cone

Neapolitan : Spotted Towhee (Pipilo maculatus)

Orange :  Butt view of a Bombus bee in Orange Honeysuckle( Lonicera ciliosa)

Green: Deer Fern (Blechnum spicant)

Rust : Song Sparrow ( Melospiza melodia) gathering food for nestlings.  2 small wormy bits in the bill

Purple : Purple Martins (Progne subis) nesting at the marina at Hoypus Hill.  This is the female ( male behind) at their nest box

Male Purple Martin

Tasty Color: Sweet D's Shrimp Shack is open for the season.  New this year an inside dining area and a BBQ pit.

Fresh Coon-striped Shrimp

Artfully colorful:  The Tri Dee Art Supply store in Mt Vernon.  The I-5 detour ( southbound from Anacortes) takes you past the store.

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.

Washington Park Anacortes

Sunday I returned to Washington Park in Anacortes.


It is that time of year. If you followed my blog last year you might remember the multiple visits to this gem of a park. I went to see what the status of the wildflowers is for this La Nina year. This point of land is part of the upper Puget Sound area that got hit hard several times this winter with snow and wind events.



I saw a lot of new green bits that are going to Spring into those wonderful Deer Lily and Orchids from last year. All over the south facing slope new growth of all wildflowers is poking up.


In the woods there is a lot of evidence that the wind storms of the last week kept the rangers busy clearing the road and paths. Some of the minor trails still have fallen trees to duck around. Overall it is less than I would have thought. Only the strongest live on this point of land.



Given the variety and vast views, it was also a chance to play with my camera again. When I was underway, I sadly realized that I left my glasses at home. Gaaaah!


And I got my first speeding ticket on the highway ( Gaaaaah !! ). Tricky part about being on a divided highway after coming off the freeway where you have been doing the legal 70. ( grrrrr)



Enjoy the show.


First part of the walk goes along the Guemes Channel, looking out to the San Juan Islands.





It is always possible you might see Black Oystercatchers here.

I selected some trails I have never walked. Through the woods looking for something fun.

Making my way to the wonderful south side. This Towhee greeted me. I only got two shots, he was so busy.

This bench at Burrows Channel overlooks the Rosario Strait and the confluence of the Strait of Juan de Fuca. You can sometimes spot Orca from here.

The south facing slope is mostly Serpentine soils and bare rock. Many of the rocks show evidence of glacier etching. If you go down the right trail you can find a huge glacial tube etched into the rocks.

Juniper trees are not common in this region, but here they dominate.

There is also a lot of Madrone. Madrone loves slopes and bare soils.

This will not be the last you see of this park in the coming months. I hope to get into some of the lesser areas of Skagit county as well.

10:32 am

I knew I wanted to be in a favorite place when the moment came, so I forced myself out at 7am and made for Washington Park, yet again.

There is nothing better than getting to know a place and making discoveries. My last visit was a week ago and today, there is so much change.


Arriving early, the loop road was open only to walkers. There were obviously a large number of people who live in the neighborhood out walking. Everyone seemed on friendly first name basis, which is a refreshing thing to feel.

I was so busy looking at the beautiful greenery in the woods that I failed to truly appreciate the beautiful Puget Sound vistas.

At Green Point, Shootingstars are just springing to life. I have found very few elsewhere in the park. These are right at the edge of the open area, in rocks that surely get splashed by salt water on a rough day.

I found a lot more Fairyslipper orchids in bloom, including this nice little cluster.

The new flower of the day was White Fawn Lily. They favored an area that was carpeted in moss, so the effect was quite enchanting.

I found Common Camas finally springing open and as expected, Meadow Death-Camas was intermixed.

Common Camas

Meadow Death-Camas. While you would never mistake the flowers, the bulbs are quite indistinguishable from Common Camas. Common Camas was a common staple of native diets.

Sea Blush is more common now. This well placed Douglas Fir cone shows how small these blooms are.

So many rock outcroppings support little gardens of mixed flowers , grasses and mosses. They would be the envy of anyone striving to make a rock garden at home. The Small Flowered Blue-eyed Mary really showed off.

I captured this Spotted Towhee singing, right after the change of season.

Happy Spring everyone.