AW put her marmot movie up on youtube. Our marmot on Sunday right by the road. Don't read another word until you have watched it. Really. Go now.
On Wednesday after work I went back up the mountain to try to figure out the flaming bushes we took pictures of on Sunday. Bounced on out the Obstruction Point Road to just before the halfway point, to the very patch we took the pictures of. It had to be one of the huckleberries
most likely blue leaf (Vaccinium deliciosum) because that is the one which grows in big patches that turn red in the fall, except every single book says that Vaccinium deliciosum is at most 12" tall and a lot of the ones along the road were way taller than that. Tim McNulty says it is so, and a ranger identified it for PG & me a couple of Octobers ago— BUT from a distance. I've never looked up close at the red patches painting the mountainsides and thought, 'This is what grows in a red patch, this is the stuff.'
In the books it is shown with very fine teeth around the leaves. You think they are smooth until you look closely. Check. Turned bright red. Check. A few very partial dried up huckleberry-ish berries left on them. Check. Ma-a-a-ybe it's a different huckleberry, but it's gotta be almost right. Until corrected, Vaccinium deliciosum.
As to Monday, we have done much research about pelicans, put in interlibrary loan requests for articles about their range and behavior, etc etc., and will report as information arrives. This morning we discovered that Sam Beebe's Ecotrust aerial photos of the Coast are available for use. Oh my. Thank you Mr. Beebe, thank you Creative Commons.
1 comment:
what a nice perspective of that glorious coastline! have never seen it as such.
love the reds across the mts. hope to see more of that this weekend in the cascades. wish we had more maples in the pacific nw. those quaking aspens are a thrill along the skykomish river road.
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