Signs of Summer

You wouldn't know it from the weather, which continues to be cool and gray the vast majority of the time, but we are quickly approaching summer. There are other signs of the season, however, like this parent Pacific wren tending to its begging fledgling yesterday at Mt. Finlayson:

Amazing how well they blend in except for the yellow "lips" of the fledgling

The Nootka rose (Rosa nutkana) is also starting to bloom all over the island:

The baby foxes at the south end are starting to grow bigger and roam wider. The last few times I've been down there they haven't been around, but one of them was resting near the den when I took a look yesterday. They've grown so much!

Prints of this photo available here; check out my whole gallery of baby fox photos here

My other interesting find yesterday was this beetle - there seemed to be quite a few of them around, with more than one smashed on the trail by passers-by. This one was still alive and well, though. I think it may be a flightless tiger beetle (Omus audouini), which I photographed once before in 2009, or perhaps the European ground beetle (Carabus nemoralis) - see comments.

It's always delightful to watch the changing of the seasons, but it would sure be nice to do it in some sunshine....please?

A Myriad of Mushrooms

The other day I went for a hike on the trails near Mt. Finlayson and Jakle's lagoon, and as I walked downhill through the woods I couldn't believe how many mushrooms lined the trail. It was almost like something out of a dream, as there were so many of them in all shapes and sizes. I counted easily over 30 species of mushroom, and have been back several times since then with my camera. Here is just a small sampling of what I've seen there....

Black elfin saddle, Helvella lacunosa

Probably candy cap, Lactarius spp.

Pholiota spp.

One of my favorites. Never seen anything like it before - does anyone have any identification ideas?

Shaggy mane, Coprinus comatus

South End Scavengers

Yesterday summer gave us one last hurrah - a welcome break from what has been a dreary September. With sunshine, blue skies, and temperatures in the 70s (!!!) I made sure to spend a few hours outside, soaking up some Vitamin D while it's still possible.

The wildlife highlight of the day was during a walk I took down at Mt. Finlayson. I was making my way along the hillside when all of a sudden seven turkey vultures erupted into the sky. I thought I might have startled them (they sure startled me!), but as I looked closer at where they took off from I saw a fox had scampered up to the deer carcass they were feeding on, and that was what probably flushed them.

I'm kind of surprised to still see so many vultures hanging around - I saw several others throughout the day, too. Surely they'll be departing soon for more southerly regions....if I was migratory the cold, wet, windy weather of this month would have been encouragement enough to depart early!

 

 I really shouldn't complain about the weather. Most of the rain has been coming at night (last night it was awesome to listen to what was a pretty spectacular downpour), making it nicer to get out and about during the daylight hours.  This afternoon I took a short walk down at South Beach, where a few rafts of birds were just visible on the edge of the fog that never quite dispersed today. Most abundant were the surf scoters. There are a few Heermann's gulls mixed in to this flock, too.

The main other bird sighting of note was a respectable three grebe species! Horned grebes and red-necked grebes have returned for the winter, and I also spotted a western grebe - a nice find.

Mt. Finlayson Creepers and Crawlers

Despite the beautiful vistas from Mt. Finlayson, for my hike today my eyes were mostly focused towards the ground. I didn't set out specifically looking for creepy crawly animals, but that's pretty much the extent of what I ended up photographing. Here are some highlights.

These grasshoppers were hopping around everywhere and could be heard calling all over the hillside. I'm going to have to borrow my dad's new field guide before I can make an attempt at identifying the species, but I did see it fly (it has blue wings) which should help with the eventual ID. Look at that amazing camouflage!

I saw three garter snakes (Tamnophis sp.), and the first one I came across was obliging enough to sit still for several photographs. I really like the close-up:

These small, orangey-gray butterflies were very abundant, but quick. They flitted about so much and rarely sat still for more than second or two, presenting a real challenge to this photographer. This is the only halfway-decent shot I got, which was enough for me to come home and identify them as common ringlets (Coenonympha tullia):

Much more cooperative was this larger and slower cabbage white (Pieris rapae), of which I only saw one:

After climbing up through the meadows, I looped back through the woods, where Pacific banana slugs (Ariolimax columbianus) were crawling all over the place in the cool shade:

Vistas

As I've been focusing so much on flowers lately, I have to remember to look up from my feet sometimes and take in the great views all around me. Here are some of my favorite photos from the last week or so.

Cloud and the lone tree, Mt. Finlayson, south end of San Juan Island.

British Camp in the spring

Late afternoon lighting at the Land Bank Westside Preserve

Rainy afternoon in the woods near the Friday Harbor Labs