Alaska, Part One

This May, my folks treated me to an Alaskan cruise.  Woo-hoo.  My sister, who lives in Washington (state), works part time in Debbie MacComber's yarn shop (yes, that's the author, Debbie MacComber), and they hosted a "Stitch -n- Sail" cruise, so my mom and I went along.  I am no longer a knitter (although seeing all the lovely yarns in the shop, I am tempted to dig out my needles again), so I was going along strictly for the opportunity to see Alaska.

I spent two and a half months in Alaska nearly 25 years ago (it was 24 years and 8 months) - I was in Ketchikan and lived on Prince of Wales Island in the booming metropolis of Craig.  Hard to believe it was so long ago.  Anywho...I wanted to see more of the state, and hopefully some great wildlife. 

We arrived in Washington two days early:  here are some highlights of our brief stay in Port Orchard.

First we went down to the bay to take in the Farmer's market.  They have a number of really cool woodcarvings by some of the shops (and one shop is an amazing candy store - GREAT fudge).

Niece, Gordon Fisherman, Sister, Mom

 Pelagic Cormorant - watched a pair catching (and eating) fish.

Skull of a wee dragon?

Bird (raven) on a bird (statue).

This just amused me.

 Apparently it was Pirate Weekend.

Next we visited Debbie MacComber's shops.

 Debbie MacComber's Tea Shop (above) and Yarn Shop (below)

Isn't this great?  It's a squash my sister made for the shop's mammogram promotion!

 From there, we headed over to Theler Wetlands, so I could take in some of the local nature.

B-i-L with a big leaf maple.  New species for me!

Great gate!

Squirrel Corn

Devil's Club

Thimbleberry

A buttercup (never did get a plant ID book)

 A raspberry past blooming and getting ready to set fruit.

Banana Slug!!!

Apparently a young grey whale washed up on the beach a few 

years ago.  The skeleton is at their visitor center.

They have some really cool art around, too.

The tide was out, so water was low in the wetland proper.

No idea what tree this is.  Interesting fruits, though.

Savanna Sparrow. 

A lesson in the language of the local native people.

Great photo of Mom.

 

Horsetails...very large and beautiful!

 

Another mystery plant/tree.  

Loved this little bumblebee with a yellow stripe on either end.

Some plants were familiar - like miterwort,

 and this bedstraw.

It was well into evening (but still light out), when we returned to my sister's home and had dinner.  The next morning we would head for the Seattle and the cruise ship.

Fireworks from Home

Here are some fireworks as seen from my house this year.  I can see, gosh, something like five or six different shows, plus hear several more.  The joys of living in the midwest where the landscape is more or less flat.  (In addition to this, Joe Q. Public can purchase and set of his own fireworks, as most of my neighbors did.  Must be a long night at the area ERs.)  

This is my first attempt at firework photography...came out better than I expected.

Hope you all had a great 4th.

Early Spring Flowers at Nan Weston

We had a spate of warm (to me "hot") weather at the end of last week - in the 70s!  This meant the woodland flowers should be popping.  So Sunday morning I headed out to Nan Weston preserve to see what might be up.  I made this trip primarily as recon for a group we are taking out there on Tuesday. 

It's been a cool spring, so things are delayed a bit...and the lack of moisture hasn't helped, I'm sure.  On the plus side, I got to see some flowers at peak (Dutchman's breeches), while most stuff was only juuuuust getting started.

These bloodroots were tightly closed when I arrived, sometime between 9:30 and 10:00 AM.  The air was cool but pleasant, and there was a good stiff breeze blowing.  A storm was on its way, so I wanted to be sure that I kept an eye on the sky and got out before it arrived.  Turns out I had plenty of time - the storm didn't arrive until late afternoon.

Most of the rue anemone were also closed when I arrived. By the time I left, most were open.

This was the most advanced trillium bud I saw.  In another week or so, the forest floor will be carpeted with these beauties.

The blue cohosh was just getting going, too.  Most were still unfurling their leaves and were holding their buds closed.  It's such a delightfully odd flower, color-wise.  

Not too many spring beauties were open yet.

These yellow-flowered sedges (?) stump me every time.  I think it might be Carex ericetorum, which is a non-native species, considered a rare spring sedge in Europe and Asia.  It's all over the place at Nan Weston, which is noted as being a haven for native plants and has hardly any non-natives. So, that ID may be wrong.  I'm sure many of these plants look very similar. All suggestions welcome.

The leatherwood was at peak bloom.  All the shrubs were completely decked out with their clusters of yellow flowers.  

Finally found some round-lobed hepatica in bloom.  The few blossoms I saw were all faced away from the sun (and my camera).

Here's my little friend the bee fly.  I love these guys, and they were all over the place.  Devilishly tricky to photograph in flight, and even when they land, they often don't stay put for long.  They are important pollinators, and boy, were they out doing their thing Sunday morning!

Another insect I was able to photograph was this beetle.  I'm in a library as I write this blog, and field guides are not their thing, so I'm at a loss to ID this critter, but off the top of my head I'd say it's one of the click beetles.  Will try to find time at work this week to get it identified better.

My other insect for the day was this lovely syrphid fly.  It landed just long enough for me to snap a shot.

 Purple cress was another flower that was just getting started.  This was a new plant for me last year, so I had to look it up on last year's blog to remind myself what it was.  Lovely.

As I mentioned earlier, the Dutchman's breeches were about at peak.  So many in bloom, and many more in buds.  I usually get to Nan Weston after these flowers are past peak and looking pretty ratty.  How wonderful to hit them when they are at their best!

I wasn't the only nature nut out yesterday morning.  There were four other cars in the little "parking area" when I arrived, and another two drove up as I left.  This fellow was a pro - he had a reflector for the light, his little tripod, a shutter release...all he had to do was battle the wind.  I had opted not to bring all my gear - just too much to schlep around all the time.  Plus my tripod is missing a vital part - somehow I lost it in the house and have no idea where it is.  May be looking at a new tripod if I cannot find a replacement part.

As I was returning to the parking area, retracing my steps down the last portion of the looped trail, the sun had started to do its thing and many of the buds were opening.  

If the rain this weekend doesn't take a toll by pummeling the plants, they should be looking nice Tuesday for our group...if the sun is out.