Album of Porter Bridge Field Trip

Selected photos by Rod Crawford from a 6 October 2014 spider collecting trip with Michael Sweepe (new primary field assistant for fall), Alex Sturbaum and Gene Wan. We stopped at a gravel pit on Kennedy Creek Road in western Thurston County to supplement an old sample, then went to the town of Porter (Grays Harbor County) where we visited the town saloon for house spiders, two riverside sites and a forest site. Thanks to a beautiful day, fall spider fauna and plenty of help, we now have 31 species where 6 were known before, and 40 species in the Porter area where none were known before!
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aerial photo (2012) of Kennedy Creek Road spider collecting site, Thurston County, Washington gravel pit by Kennedy Creek Road, Thurston County, Washington
Aerial view of gravel pit       (Thurston County, 2012) View east from gravel pit        © Rod Crawford
Alex Sturbaum by pond, gravel pit by Kennedy Creek Road, Thurston County, Washington Gene Wan & Michael Sweepe by pond, gravel pit by Kennedy Creek Road, Thurston County, Washington
Alex by the pond           © Rod Crawford Gene & Michael by the pond           © Rod Crawford
willow-cottonwood leaf litter, gravel pit by Kennedy Creek Road, Thurston County, Washington Wubana pacifica microspider Linyphiidae from leaf litter, gravel pit by Kennedy Creek Road, Thurston County, Washington
Willow-cottonwood litter at pond edge      © Rod Crawford Wubana pacifica from the willow litter                © Rod Crawford
stones and junk on ground, gravel pit by Kennedy Creek Road, Thurston County, Washington sedge meadow in temporarily-dry wetland, gravel pit by Kennedy Creek Road, Thurston County, Washington
Objects on ground – natural and unnatural        © Rod Crawford Sweeping sedge gave us surprise Dolomedes            © Rod Crawford
Gene Wan collecting ground fauna, gravel pit by Kennedy Creek Road, Thurston County, Washington juvenile Habronattus jumping spider from gravel pit by Kennedy Creek Road, Thurston County, Washington
Gene seeking ground-surface fauna      © Rod Crawford Alas, the Habronattus was juvenile              © Rod Crawford
rich Douglas-fir foliage, gravel pit by Kennedy Creek Road, Thurston County, Washington Michael & Gene look over fir beat samples, gravel pit by Kennedy Creek Road, Thurston County, Washington
Very rich Douglas-fir foliage           © Rod Crawford Michael & Alex look over beat samples           © Rod Crawford

Below: Four sites clustered near the town of Porter, Grays Harbor County.

town of Porter and Porter Bridge, Grays Harbor County, Washington, 2013 aerial photo spider-rich shed in saloon parking lot, Porter, Grays Harbor County, Washington
Town of Porter (upper right), Porter Bridge site (lower left)
 (Grays Harbor County, 2013)		 Spider-rich shed in saloon parking lot                 © Rod Crawford
non-native mantid on shed wall, Porter, Grays Harbor County, Washington cardboard harbored rich hobo spider colony, Porter, Grays Harbor County, Washington
Non-native mantid on shed wall       © Rod Crawford Cardboard harbored good population of hobo spiders           © Rod Crawford
invasive Himalayan blackberry at Porter Bridge WDFW site, Grays Harbor County, Washington river-shore habitats, Porter Bridge WDFW site, Grays Harbor County, Washington
Horrid blackberry hasn't completely taken over       © Rod Crawford Habitats on bank of a side channel              © Rod Crawford
cottonwood litter, Porter Bridge WDFW site, Grays Harbor County, Washington litter sifting setup, Porter Bridge WDFW site, Grays Harbor County, Washington
Cottonwood litter          © Rod Crawford Set up for sifting            © Rod Crawford
microspider Grammonota zephyra Linyphiidae, Porter Bridge WDFW site, Grays Harbor County, Washington Chelalis River, Porter Bridge WDFW site, Grays Harbor County, Washington
Grammonota zephyra          © Rod Crawford Placid Chehalis River              © Rod Crawford
tree moss by shoreline, Porter Bridge WDFW site, Grays Harbor County, Washington boat ramp, Porter Bridge WDFW site, Grays Harbor County, Washington
Moss on trees was too high to reach       © Rod Crawford The boat ramp               © Rod Crawford
2013 aerial photo of Sund Road spider site, Grays Harbor County, Washington habitats aongside Sund Road, Grays Harbor County, Washington
Sund Road site from the air     (Grays Harbor County, 2013) Roadside forest habitat             © Rod Crawford
mossy trees, Sund Road, Grays Harbor County, Washington fern-herb understory, Sund Road, Grays Harbor County, Washington
Moss-covered tree gave a rich sample      © Rod Crawford Diverse, but fern-dominated forest understory              © Rod Crawford
Araneus marmoreus, Sund Road, Grays Harbor County, Washington Douglas-fir foliage, Sund Road, Grays Harbor County, Washington
Araneus marmoreus, getting less common © Rod Crawford Roadside Douglas-firs reachable from road right-of-way         © Rod Crawford
crab spider Xysticus pretiosus from Sund Road, Grays Harbor County, Washington kleptoparasite theridiid spider Rhomphaea fictilium, Sund Road, Grays Harbor County, Washington
Xysticus pretiosus              © Rod Crawford Rhomphaea fictilium           © Rod Crawford
pockets of maple litter, Chehalis River S of Porter, Grays Harbor County, Washington Chehalis River S of Porter, Grays Harbor County, Washington
Maple litter pockets by railroad            © Rod Crawford Day's last site, along Chehalis River S of Porter                 © Rod Crawford
fall colors, Chehalis River S of Porter, Grays Harbor County, Washington fall colors, Chehalis River S of Porter, Grays Harbor County, Washington
Fall colors…        © Rod Crawford …already getting started                 © Rod Crawford
railroad track, Chehalis River S of Porter, Grays Harbor County, Washington passing train, Chehalis River S of Porter, Grays Harbor County, Washington
Only sifting spot very close to tracks         © Rod Crawford So of course a train went by under (over) our noses           © Rod Crawford
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This page last updated 29 October, 2014