Album of Big Pond Trail Field Trip

Selected photos by Rod Crawford from my 17 February 2015 spider collecting trip with Jessi Bishopp to Big Pond Trail, central Kitsap County, Washington. The trail loops around a one-mile-long pond adjacent to misnamed McCormick Woods, a new suburb that's no longer the tract of woods it once was. The trail, presumably part of the developer mitigation, is very nice, well-built and hits a good array of natural habitats. While hiking the loop we sampled 5 sites and got about 33 species. Jessi demonstrated her beginner's luck by getting a half-grown fishing spider at the pond margin!
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2012 aerial photo of Big Pond, McCormick Woods, Kitsap County, Washington Big Pond, McCormick Woods, Kitsap County, Washington
The biggest pond is Big Pond      (Kitsap County, 2012) Upper end of the pond       © Rod Crawford
shore of Big Pond, McCormick Woods, Kitsap County, Washington shore of Big Pond, McCormick Woods, Kitsap County, Washington
Zone of sedge around the pond's edge     © Rod Crawford But the pond was too full for sedge-sweeping!               © Rod Crawford
salal along Big Pond Trail, McCormick Woods, Kitsap County, Washington Jessi Bishopp beating spiders from salal understory, Big Pond Trail, McCormick Woods, Kitsap County, Washington
Salal dominated the understory       © Rod Crawford Jessi busily beating understory shrubs         © Rod Crawford
alder grove in mainly-hemlock forest, Big Pond Trail, McCormick Woods, Kitsap County, Washington sifting alder litter on a boulder, Big Pond Trail, McCormick Woods, Kitsap County, Washington
First-encountered alder grove         © Rod Crawford Sifting alder litter on a boulder         © Rod Crawford
bent hemlock trunk along spur trail, Big Pond Trail, McCormick Woods, Kitsap County, Washington Ozyptila pacifica crab spider from alder litter, Big Pond Trail, McCormick Woods, Kitsap County, Washington
This tree must have leaned in times past  © Rod Crawford Ozyptila pacifica from alder litter             © Rod Crawford
Jessi Bishopp on shore, Big Pond Trail, McCormick Woods, Kitsap County, Washington Big Pond Trail, McCormick Woods, Kitsap County, Washington
Jessi gazing at the placid pond            © Rod Crawford Heading on down the well-built trail          © Rod Crawford
spur trail sign, Big Pond Trail, McCormick Woods, Kitsap County, Washington snags in water indicate surface rise, Big Pond, McCormick Woods, Kitsap County, Washington
This way to the dead wood habitat          © Rod Crawford Water level has risen enough to kill trees           © Rod Crawford
one of the east-side inflows of Big Pond, McCormick Woods, Kitsap County, Washington larger alder stand, Big Pond Trail, McCormick Woods, Kitsap County, Washington
One of the pond inflows           © Rod Crawford One of the larger alder stands          © Rod Crawford
moss on trunk in biggest alder stand, Big Pond Trail, McCormick Woods, Kitsap County, Washington leaf litter in biggest alder stand, Big Pond Trail, McCormick Woods, Kitsap County, Washington
Biggest alder stand had good moss…        © Rod Crawford …also good leaf litter             © Rod Crawford
Cybaeota shastae sifted from moss, Big Pond Trail, McCormick Woods, Kitsap County, Washington largest alder grove, Big Pond Trail, McCormick Woods, Kitsap County, Washington
Cybaeota shastae sifted from moss        © Rod Crawford Trail passes through the biggest alder grove              © Rod Crawford
mis-named Ledum Loop, Big Pond Trail, McCormick Woods, Kitsap County, Washington blue water, Big Pond, McCormick Woods, Kitsap County, Washington
Mis-named side trail, not a sprig of Ledum seen!   © Rod Crawford Blue, blue water              © Rod Crawford
Douglas-firs at trailhead at dusk, Big Pond Trail, McCormick Woods, Kitsap County, Washington Tacoma Narrows Bridge at sunset, 17 Feb. 2015
End-of-day habitat, Douglas-firs at trailhead    © Rod Crawford Tacoma Narrows Bridge in sunset light         © Rod Crawford
Mount Rainier from Tacoma Narrows Bridge, 17 Feb. 2015 sunset from Tacoma, Washington on 17 Feb. 2015
Mt. Rainier from east end of bridge        © Rod Crawford Sun just setting as we pass through Tacoma                  © Rod Crawford

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This page last updated 27 February, 2015