Paul D. Natkin: March 2010

Wednesday, March 31, 2010

The moon took a while to show up last night. And once it did, it kept coming and going.

Full Moon with Clouds and Trees

Tuesday, March 30, 2010

Late in the afternoon, the sun shines into the ravines in strange ways. Since these areas are on the north side of the hill, you almost don't expect to see direct sunlight there so late in the day.

Skunk Cabbages in Late Afternoon, Mar. 21, 2010

Monday, March 29, 2010

And then the rain was gone. Soon it will be full moon.

Skunk Cabbage, Sun Break, Mar. 21, 2010

Sunday, March 28, 2010

A few minutes later the rain slowed down, and the sun broke through.

Skunk Cabbage in Downpour, Mar. 21, 2010

Time, it seems, is always moving forward.

The Point, Mar. 23, 2010

Saturday, March 27, 2010

About a week ago I was taken by surprise by a heavy rain shower. Dark clouds gathered above me while I worked with my camera, and suddenly I was drenched. I was just getting started with the skunk cabbages, and I wasn't really in the mood to pack up and go. I didn't have an umbrella with me, and I was a little afraid for my camera in all that water, so I used it for about a minute and then hid it under my sweatshirt after drying it off as best I could.

Skunk Cabbages during Downpour

Friday, March 26, 2010

These aren't the first photos I've taken of this old, fungus-covered laurel stump, and they probably won't be the last.

Bracket Fungus on Dead Laurel, Mar. 21, 2010

Thursday, March 25, 2010

I haven't seen any rain today, but the streets are wet, so maybe I've missed it. I wish we'd have another afternoon like the one a couple days ago.

The Bay, Mar. 23, 2010

Wednesday, March 24, 2010

I found this lichen in an area where there are some wood chips on the ground below a cluster of fir trees.

Lichen, Mar. 21, 2010

Tuesday, March 23, 2010

The trees are full of green buds now--and the buds are about to burst.

The Lovers, Mar. 23, 2010

And the salmonberry blossoms are beginning to be eaten by the birds.

Salmonberry Blossoms, Mar. 21, 2010

It looks as though the slugs are beginning to get to these four trilliums. It's a wonder these plants survive at all, with all the ivy and other invasives they have to compete with.

Four Trilliums, Mar. 21, 2010

Monday, March 22, 2010

It always surprises me how different individual plants of a particular species can look from one another. Each plant has its own special character.

Two trilliums with Ferns, Mar. 21, 2010

There were many new trilliums to be found yesterday, including one with a genetic quirk--an extra set of petals surrounding the stamens.

Two Trilliums, Mar. 21, 2010

Sunday, March 21, 2010

Thinking back to a week ago ... I found a lichen in a mud puddle near the Louisa Boren memorial stone. With all the rain we have here, puddles are a significant element of the environment. If I see one, I feel I'm at home--or someplace like home.

Lichen in Puddle, Mar. 14, 2010

The largest building you can see from the Viewpoint is Husky Stadium. It's a unique piece of architecture.

Husky Stadium, Mar. 21, 2010

The sky didn't look too promising as I started out this afternoon. Earlier on the weather had been changeable, but by the time I made it to the Viewpoint, I figured the sky would be gray for the rest of the day.

The Bay, Mar. 21, 2010

These are young nettles. Eventually these plants will be much taller, and the leaves will be much larger.

Nettles, Mar. 13, 2010

Saturday, March 20, 2010

At this time of year the robins are very active. They're just one of the many bird species inhabiting the two-park area--Boren Park and Interlaken Park.

Robin, Mar. 13, 2010

Periwinkle flowers (Vinca minor) grow in many places in Interlaken Park. As pretty as it is, Vinca minor is an invasive species. It blooms around the same time as the skunk cabbages.

Periwinkle Flowers, Mar. 7, 2010

Sometimes the cars come around the hairpin curves pretty fast. I don't take my chances.

A Car Coming, Mar. 14, 2010

Friday, March 19, 2010

...and then it was time to go home.

On the Way Home, Mar. 19, 2010

I took a few more shots...

Three People Looking at the View

I could barely keep up with this boat. I kept getting my tripod and camera set up just the way I wanted them, only to have to move everything because the boat had moved too far to the right. I caught it here just as it was rounding the point.

Rounding the Point, Mar. 19, 2010

There were a few vessels to be seen on the water.

Sailboat on the Bay, Mar. 19, 2010

It was the perfect sunny afternoon--just right for sitting at the Viewpoint and reading a book.

Reading a Book, Mar. 19, 2010

Thursday, March 18, 2010

The heady odor of skunk cabbages has a strange effect on one's sense of time and place.

Three Skunk Cabbages, Mar. 14, 2010

The two-park area is home to a great variety of fungi. This bracket fungus is growing on what remains of a huge laurel which once grew in the tip of the space within a hairpin curve.

Bracket Fungus, Mar. 13, 2010

Here and there on the hillsides of the two parks there are seeps (small springs). These are places where water that has accumulated within the hillsides, under the force of gravity, forces its way out of the ground. There are a few places where, especially after a rainy period, water crosses the path.

Rivulet, Mar. 14, 2010

Embedded in the Louisa Boren Memorial stone is a tablet bearing the following inscription:

IN HONOR

OF ONE OF THE PIONEERS OF THE

STATE OF WASHINGTON,

ONE OF THE FOUNDERS OF THE

CITY OF SEATTLE,

AND THE LAST SURVIVOR OF THE HISTORIC GROUP OF MEN AND

WOMEN AT ALKI POINT NOV. 13TH 1851, THIS PARK WAS NAMED

LOUISA BOREN

BY THE CITY PARK COMMISSIONERS,

AND THIS TABLET PLACED BY THE

WASHINGTON WOMEN'S PIONEER AUXILLIARY

JUNE 1ST 1914.

Louisa Boren Tablet, Mar. 14, 2010

Within Interlaken Park there are several hairpin curves. This is the curve at the bottom of Louisa Boren Park. In the background is the Louisa Boren memorial stone.

Hairpin Curve, Mar. 14, 2010

I've wondered if anyone lives here.

The Entrance, Mar. 14, 2010

Wednesday, March 17, 2010

No, sometimes it's hard to know just who lives where. Many of the holes pileated woodpeckers make in dead trees are later occupied by birds of other species. I don't know whether this is true of flicker holes, too.

Bird Holes, Mar. 14, 2010

Tuesday, March 16, 2010

The pileated woodpecker makes large, almost rectangular holes in trees. It uses these for nesting and roosting, as well as to expose insects that live in old wood. The bird uses its sharp bill to pull bark off trees in order to expose ant colonies. The pileated woodpecker has a long, sticky tongue, which it uses to poke in holes, and drag out ants. Sometimes, when a dead tree is quite full of holes, it's hard to tell whether the holes were made by a pileated woodpecker, flicker, woodpecker or other creature, altogether. The term "long tongue" has also been applied to figures found in the art of ancient China and various cultures of the Pacific Rim and South and Central America.

Further Evidence, Mar. 14, 2010

Monday, March 15, 2010

I sometimes have trouble telling the call of the Pileated Woodpecker apart from the call of the Flicker. I do hear one or the other--or both--and I do find evidence of the presence of one or the other.

Evidence of Woodpeckers, Mar. 14, 2010

Sunday, March 14, 2010

Every season is interesting in its own way, but this time right around now may be the very most beautiful in the parks below. The trilliums, salmonberries and skunk cabbages are in bloom, and the birds are very active. There are robins, wrens, ring-tailed doves, flickers, chickadees, crows, towhees and many others. A couple times I've seen pileated woodpeckers, but that's something special. You won't see one every day.

Trillium, Mar. 14, 2010

Yesterday, You couldn't see much of the mountains--just a trace here and there.

The Bay, Mar. 13, 2010

But this morning, visibility was a lot better, even though the sky overhead wasn't free of clouds. You could see White Horse, Three Fingers and many other mountains.

The Bay, Mar. 14, 2010

Last night the yellow flowers of the Oregon Grape against the dark purplish-blue night sky somehow took me back to something it seems to me was many years ago...

Tall Oregon Grape at Night, Mar. 13, 2010

...but I can't quite put my finger on it.

Oregon Grape, Mar. 14, 2010

Maybe it will come to me later.

Out Back, Mar. 13, 2010

Saturday, March 13, 2010

It was sunny this morning and then again, for a while, in the late afternoon.

Late Afternoon, Mar. 13, 2010

At the beginning of the trail that runs upwards through Louisa Boren Park, at the side of the road, is the Louisa Boren Denny memorial stone. Louisa Boren Denny was a Seattle pioneer--a member of the Denny Party, which settled at Alki Point on Nov. 13, 1851.

Louisa Boren Memorial Stone, Mar. 7, 2010

Friday, March 12, 2010

A few years ago I took a bunch of photos of trilliums in the parks below, then hiked up the path, tripod in hand, heart and lungs pumping. Just as I got to the top, two or three guys came walking along and stopped to look at the view. As I was catching my breath, I said, "I saw trilliums down below." One of the guys said, "Aliens?"

Trilliums Today, Mar. 12, 2010

I've not yet succeeded in identifying this polypore, or shelf fungus. I found it near some skunk cabbages.

Shelf Fungus with Dead Leaves, Mar. 7, 2010

Thursday, March 11, 2010

The other day, I noticed a slug crossing the path. I was busy photographing it, when suddenly a jogger came bounding along. "Careful, I said, "look out for the slug." "Woops, did I get it?" he asked, after running across it. My photo, I presume, is the only record of its having existed--unless a slug's "rainbow trail" can be considered a record.

Slug, Mar. 7, 2010

Wednesday, March 10, 2010

I'm always astounded by the the endless variations in form within this one variety of lichen--the Antlered perfume lichen (Evernia prunastri), if I'm not mistaken. The basic structure is always the same, yet each lichen is entirely different from the next. I want to understand this better.

Lichen, Mar. 7, 2010

Tuesday, March 9, 2010

Yesterday evening there was hail, and this morning, judging by the accumulation of hail on various surfaces, there was more hail in the night. It seems strange, when so many plants are in bloom--including the cherries.

View from the Closed Road, Mar. 7, 2010

Monday, March 8, 2010

Yesterday may not have been sunny, but it was at least warmer than today. Today it's overcast, and it actually began to snow for a moment a little earlier on.

Yesterday I saw both trilliums and salmonberry blossoms for the first time.

Salmonberry Blossom, Mar. 7, 2010

Sunday, March 7, 2010

But it wasn't a boring day. I saw trilliums for the first time this year. They only grow in a few places. I've heard that if you pick one, the plant you take it from won't bloom for another ten years. I wonder if this is true.

Trilliums and Fern, Mar. 7, 2010

Paul D. Natkin