Album of Roy BioBlitz Field Trip

Selected photos from the annual Pierce County BioBlitz (24-hour biological recording marathon), now operated by the Pierce County Biodiversity Alliance. Headquartered in Roy, Washington, this year's event focused on the southern part of the county's prairie belt. Laurel and I, assisted by two BioBlitz volunteers, sampled three sites with different vegetation in the course of Saturday 16 May 2009, and caught the astounding total of 70 spider species (not all identifiable). Two jumping spiders were the first western Washington records of their species. Photos by Laurel Ramseyer and Rod Crawford. Note, I'm experimenting this year with larger photos — if you have a slow connection, let me know how it's working.
READ TRIP NARRATIVE PHOTO ALBUM INDEX MAIN JOURNAL INDEX

Our first site was a reclaimed former pasture just west of Roy at the north end of Denton Marsh:

Aerial photo of Denton Marsh spider collecting site west of Roy, Washington (2002) Large grassy field west of Roy, Washington
Aerial photo of site (marsh in center) (USGS, 2002) Large grassy field, presumably a former pasture       © Laurel Ramseyer
maple leaf litter in a grassy field W of Roy, Washington Bigleaf maple Acer macrophyllum trunk and litter in grassy field west of Roy, Washington
Maple litter in the grass  © Rod Crawford In the shade of the old maple tree      © Rod Crawford
snowberry Symphoricarpos albus thicket, grassy field west of Roy, Washington Laurel Ramseyer and eastern redcedar trees in grassy field west of Roy, Washington
Snowberry thicket produced lots of spiders    © Rod Crawford Laurel approaches a planted grove of Eastern Redcedar      © Rod Crawford
Rod Crawford in big grassy field west of Roy, Washington Lodgepole pine Pinus contorta in big grassy field west of Roy, Washington
Rod getting ready to sweep the grass    © Laurel Ramseyer Lodgepole pine occurs naturally in the area         © Rod Crawford
spider Tetragnatha laboriosa with parasitoide wasp larva Colpomeria kincaidi, grassy field west of Roy, Washington marshy area in big grassy field west of Roy, Washington (north end of Denton Marsh)
Tetragnatha laboriosa with parasitoid wasp larva, Colpomeria kincaidi
© Laurel Ramseyer		 Northernmost outlier of Denton Marsh          © Rod Crawford
water tower, Roy, Washington cowgirl and cowboy restrooms, Roy Rodeo Hall, Roy, Washington
Here's how you'll know you're in Roy      © Rod Crawford

 If you see these, you'll know you're in the Roy Rodeo Hall     © Rod Crawford

Our second site was a mile south of Roy at a housing development where some prairie land has been set aside for protection of the Roy Pocket Gopher, Thomomys mazama glacialis, a State Sensitive subspecies.

Railroad track dividing two areas of gopher habitat south of Roy, Washington lush grass in shade at "gopher prairie" 1 mile S of Roy, Wasnington
The tracks (far too clean for good spider habitat)
divide two prairie patches             © Rod Crawford		 Grass was lush and tall in the shade           © Rod Crawford
Viola arvensis, field pansy, non-native flower in "gopher prairie" 1 mile S of Roy, Washington ground surface in natural prairie remnant 1 mile S of Roy, Washington
Viola arvensis, field pansy: pretty but invasive      © Laurel Ramseyer Natural prairie ground surface           © Rod Crawford
western serviceberry Amelanchier alnifolia at "gopher prairie" 1 mile S of Roy, Washington area invaded by Scots broom Cytisus scoparius, "gopher prairie" 1 mile S of Roy, Washington
Amelanchier alnifolia at prairie edge       © Rod Crawford Parts of the prairie are severely invaded by Scots broom          © Rod Crawford
common vetch Vicia sativa at "gopher prairie" 1 mile S of Roy, Washington early season thatching ant nest Formica obscoripes, "gopher prairie" 1 mile S of Roy, Washington
Non-native common vetch, Vicia sativa   © Laurel Ramseyer Thatching ant nest on prairie               © Rod Crawford
web retreat of orbweaving spider Metepeira sp., "gopher prairie" 1 mile S of Roy, Washington rare ant-mimic jumping spider Synageles occidentalis, "gopher prairie" 1 mile S of Roy, Washington
Web retreat of rare Metepeira          © Laurel Ramseyer The day's best catch: first Synageles occidentalis (an ant mimic) from western Washington
© Rod Crawford

Our last site was a county-owned forest tract with varied understory flora and an alder swamp, 2.8 miles south of Roy.

snag in seral forest 2.8 miles S of Roy, Washington seral coniferous forest 2.8 miles S of Roy, Washington
Snag overlooking the alder swamp          © Rod Crawford Open seral Douglas-fir and hemlock forest        © Rod Crawford
vine maple Acer circinatum in understory of forest 2.8 miles S of Roy, Washington forest understory vegetation 2.8 miles S of Roy, Washington
Vine maple in understory          © Rod Crawford Rich and varied understory flora         © Rod Crawford
western thatching ant Formica obscuripes nesting in a forest root hole 2.8 miles S of Roy, Washington slope from forest down to alder swamp, 2.8 miles S of Roy, Washington
Thatching ants in a forest root hole      © Laurel Ramseyer Slope down from the forest habitat to an alder swamp         © Rod Crawford
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This page last updated 31 August, 2010