Wahkeena Nature Preserve
"… to be used for nature study and as a preserve for birds and other wildlife."- Carmen Hambleton Warner
Orchid Fever
Okay, so I tried multiple times yesterday to post this and it would go. Delays, delays, but you should still be able to catch this guy next week. Here is what I originally wrote:
Back to the orchid… we have two very nice blooms right along the trail. One is along the Casa Burro and the other is along the Shelter trail. So a couple of great options to see this one.
Also of note, the past couple of days there have been a couple of species of fly catchers calling profusely. The Great Crested and the Acadian. Oh, and the Cuckoos have been making their presence known too.
Yea Nature!
Orchids!
Puttyroot is now in bloom!
For a limited time only, you can see three orchids in one trip! Check out the Showy Orchis, Pink Lady’s Slipper, and Puttyroot with one jaunt around the Casa Burro Trail.
See you this weekend!
Pink Lady’s Slipper!
What an exciting week it’s been so far. This warmer weather has finally brought out some really cool insects. I’ve also noticed lots of galls on different plants, and it’s been great frog and turtle weather! My school groups the past two days have seen tons of Green and Bull frogs. We have another population of toads singing today. They are over by the hawk and owl.
For me there has been a very exciting event that happened just today. A Luna moth eclosed from his cocoon!
Last fall I found two mature caterpillars and they eventually spun their cocoons. Now this one appears to be a male due to the very large antenna. (He uses these to smell his mate, even if she is far away.) I have one more cocoon that I’m really hoping will be a female. (That way I can get eggs and raise the caterpillars.)
The other exciting thing happening here is a pair of Summer Tanagers visiting at the feeders! They are more visible on cooler mornings, and you can see them so closely through the windows! If I recall, I put up a picture of the male last year, but now I have pictures of both the male and female. Aren’t they just awesome!?
Also, we have two of our favorite flowers now in bloom. The Pink Lady’s Slipper and the Flame Azalea! Sadly, there are only a few blooms of the orchid this year, but there are a few next to the trail which will provide for some good photo ops.
Here are a few more flowers in bloom:
Indian Cucumber Root
Aniseroot
Sweet Cicely
Canada Mayflower
Pinxter Azalea
Pennywort
Water, Water, Everywhere…
It was really nice to be out in the sunshine today. I took some time to check on what’s in bloom, and listened to the myriad of birds singing. The Showy Orchis is still looking great, and is all over the Casa Burro Trail. There are lots of plants that can be seen from the trail. I took this pic of the Dwarf Crested Iris the other day. These guys don’t last very long, but there are still a few buds on other plants.
Without further ado…
Dwarf Crested Iris
Mountain Azalea
Creeping Phlox
Solomon’s Seal
Canada Violet
Firepink
Three-lobed Violet
Jack-in-the-pulpit
Mayapple
Geranium
Black Jetbead
Calycanthus
Swamp Buttercup
Time flies…
As per usual, spring is getting ahead of me! I have a few more blooms to share with you, but there are probably a few more. I haven’t had time to walk the trails yet this week.
There are a lot more birds back too. Rose-breasted Grosbeaks, Wood Thrushes, and Catbirds just to name a few.
Gotta run, but here are the rest of the flowers I know of!
Violet Wood Sorrel
Bluets
Foam Flower
Pink Azalea (cultivated)
Indian Strawberry
Cute, part II
These are the best I could get so far. I had to take these through the Nature Center window!
A couple additions to the flower list are Squirrel Corn, Greek Valerian, Wild Ginger, and Flowering Dogwood.
The Showy Orchis is just starting to bloom today. There are several nice plants along the Casa Burro trail. We can give you the specifics on where to look when you come out.
There are multiple species of butterflies out and about now and the warblers and other migrants are returning. Here is a short list of what has been seen/heard so far:
Rough-winged Swallow
Brown Thrasher
Yellow-throated Vireo
Prothonotary Warbler
Black-throated Green Warbler
Yellow-throated Warbler
Ovenbird
Louisiana Waterthrush
Hooded Warbler
Red-winged Blackbird
Ridiculously Cute
That is what our spring intern declared when we got our first glimpse of the brand new goose babies! There are seven of them this year, and I will post a photo as soon as I can get a good one.
Everyday there are new flowers in bloom! Here are the latest…
Wild Blue Phlox
Forget-me-not
Dog Violet
Cream Violet
Redbud
Long-spur Violet
Spring Cress
A few more blooms
Here are some more flowers you can see when you come out!
- Pussy Toes
- Marsh Marigold
- Trout Lily (just one, ask us about it)
- Large-flowered Trillium
- Celendine Poppy
- Golden Ragwort Spring Cress (okay, I haven’t actually seen it yet, but I’m sure it will bloom by this weekend.)
- Large-flowered Bellwort
It’s really finally here…
Another uplifting thing to see in spring are the early butterflies. Mourning Cloaks and Question Marks are two of the earliest. You can see the former on a warm day in later winter sometimes. Today I almost stepped on one who was resting in the middle of the trail. I took this picture of him after I had disturbed him. Can you see why I didn’t see him the first time? 
Well, on to the list! Many of these are cultivated flowers, but this early in the spring they are just as welcome as the native ones! For those of you who are new to the blog, these flowers can all be seen around the Nature Center or from the trails. A couple of these that I have listed I only found one or two today, but with the sustained warm weather more will follow quickly. 
"Oh, the weather outside is frightful.."
