Fidalgo Island Crossings

...when the Heermann's Gulls stop by at West Beach in Deception Pass State Park.  There are four in the photo.  They are the gray-brown gulls with red beaks.  Click or right-click the image to open it full size. Heermann's Gulls have a unique migration habit.  After the breeding season, they come north as far as British Columbia.  In December, they will start back south to reach their breeding grounds in Mexico.  Their breeding season there occurs between March and July. While I watched the gulls, this Song Sparrow perched nearby to watch me watching the gulls. A gang of about a dozen juvie gulls was hanging out in the West Beach parking lot.  They reminded me of high schoolers at the drive-in.  Does that date me?  These are park birds, accustomed to cars and people.  One was so at ease, he decided to take a nap right next to my truck.  It was a cool, overcast morning.  I am guessing the gulls were enjoyi...

I was at the Kukutali Preserve today.  One of the interesting things I spotted was this blooming  Nootka Rose (Rosa nutkana) .  It is a bit out of season for this native shrub.  May, June and July are the peak times for blooming, not September.  Right now they should be displaying their hips.  The shrubs at Kukutali are no exception: Nootka Rose is an outstanding choice for the native wildlife garden.  Their flowers. fruits and leaves attract a number of insects, birds and mammals.  Thickets provide cover and nesting sites for birds and small mammals.  They are also excellent plants for stabilizing slopes . As an ornamental, they are every bit as attractive as their cultivated counterparts.  They are especially effective in thickets and hedgerows.  Because they are natives, they are also hardier and less demanding than other roses.  Their only drawback is a tendency to spread aggressively, so give them a spot where...

Last Sunday, August 10th, I took part in a unique event at Deception Pass State Park.  I joined a group assembling at the Pass Lake Parking Lot.  We would hike to the top of Ginnett Hill with Washington State  Poet Laureate Elizabeth Austen .  Park Manager Jack Hartt would be our host. This was a writing workshop that incorporated a three mile hike in the woods.  The Ginnett Hill trail is one of my favorite places in the park so the event was irresistible.  I have the hiking part nailed.  It was the writing part, with a celebrity no less, that I wasn't sure about.  I have become comfortable writing for my blogs.  Writing for schoolwork, however, was always difficult and stressful for me.  I wondered how much like schoolwork this would be. As we got started, my anxieties were quickly put to rest.  Her instructions were "Don't worry about results.  Focus on engaging with your surroundings, and finding words tha...

Just five minutes from my home, Pass Lake on Fidalgo Island sits next to Highway 20 on the way to Deception Pass.  It's the first major feature in the State Park that southbound travelers will encounter.  The highway drops low and edges right up against the lakeshore.  It feels like driving at the same level as the water surface.  The lake is a popular catch and release fishing hole, but most travelers pass right by it.  In my opinion, they are missing one of the special places to explore in Deception Pass State Park. Last winter I hiked the Pass Lake Loop Trail  for the first time.  I discovered a rain forest along the Ginnett Hill Trail which branches north off the Loop Trail.  I decided to return and see what they look like in the summer.  I arrived early in the morning and found Pass Lake veiled in fog.  The rising sun created an incandescent glow above the water. First a little geography:  From the summit of Mou...

Last week, I returned to Ginnett Hill in the Pass Lake area of Deception Pass State Park.  Recall when I visited back in January  I discovered a Kingdom of Moss .  That was the middle of winter.  Now I was curious to see what I would find there in the middle of summer. Back in January I noticed a plant I didn't recognize.  It was attractive, rich green and healthy looking with shiny leaves.  It was an evergreen that really stood out among all the wintering forest vegetation around it.  I looked through my books but couldn't find it.  This trip I was curious to see if I would catch it blooming.  Maybe that would help ID it. Again, there were no flowers on this visit and I was still not able to identify it.  I didn't have enough to narrow down an internet search either.  I tweeted a photo to Washington State Parks ( @WAStatePks ) to see if they knew what it was. The response I got from State Parks was both quick and h...