The Daily Bucket is a regular feature of the Backyard Science group. It is a place to note any observations you have made of the world around you. Snails, fish, insects, weather, meteorites, climate, birds and/or flowers. All are worthy additions to the bucket. Each note is a record that we can refer to in the future as we try to understand the patterns that are quietly unwinding around us. Please let us know what is going on around you in a comment. Include, as close as is comfortable for you, where you are located.
Hurricane Lily, Erythronium montanum, abundant and showy
By now regular bucketeers should be familiar with Hurricane Ridge in Olympic National Park. Milly Watt has posted several diaries on the phenology of the wildflowers and, at her encouragement and that of other Washington bucketeers, I visited HR on July 1. I have diaried about the rather spectacular mammal activities already and am now following up with my own wildflower observations.
This is what Hurricane Ridge looks like
The species I saw were similar to those seen by Milly on her last visit which was 20 days earlier on June 11. In fact, conveniently, I was able to identify almost every flower I photographed using her diary. Her advance heavy lifting on the ID end made this an easy diary to prepare.
This is the main mystery flower. Milly has come up with several possibilities which can be discussed in the comments.
Unfortunately I can't claim that this was a complete list. Due to a rather serious road accident involving a chemical spill on a two lane highway our arrival at the trail head was delayed until late in the day. Although with the long hours of daylight we still had time for the hike I didn't linger and photograph quite as much as I would have otherwise. As a result I probably missed some of the less common species along the way.
Anyway here is the rest of what I documented. Please let me know if I have messed up any IDs.
Areas of the slope could be fairly barren as in this image or more lush as you will see in other photos. This photo documents two common flowers that I otherwise failed to photograph: Broadleaf lupine, Lupinus latifolius and the low growing white flower that wasn't photographed well. All three of these were extremely common
Less common was this Rockslide larkspur, Delphinium glareosum.
Also relatively uncommon was Showy Jacob's ladder, Polemonium californicum.
Perhaps my favorite flower on the ridge was Smooth Douglasia, Douglasia laevigata. It was relatively common in steep rocky areas.
This is Western wallflower, Erysimum capitatum, I think. It was not very common.
A field of avalanche lilies. Although they occurred in small numbers elsewhere the great bulk of them were in this one area which was more wooded than the rest of the trail.
Another favorite. Silky Phacelia, Phacelia sericea. Not the most common flower on the ridge but not rare.
Spreading phlox, Phlox diffusa and Martindale's desert parsley, Lomatium martindalei. The phlox vied with the lupine as perhaps the most abundant flower on the ridge.
Another field of flowers on a more lush slope.
A close up. Again I neglected to photograph this yellow flower properly. Anyone know what it is? Also some Indian Paintbrush, Castilleja sp. also quite common.
Let's finish with a few animal photos for balance.
Bumblebee pollinating Phacelia. It seems to among the more popular flowers with the bees
Non-native Mountain Goat. This was an odd experience for me. I'd never seen a mountain goat before and I'd always imagined getting a distance view of one on a far slope. Not a highly acclimated to humans 'pest' individual like this one. It was not afraid of people and actually seemed inclined to be somewhat aggressive. The signage encouraged hikers to scare them away.
Chipmunk. Based on the info here and here it could either be a Yellow Pine Chipmunk or a Townsend's Chipmunk.
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