Album of Tolt-MacDonald Park Field Trip

On 4 November 2009, I collected in Tolt River–John MacDonald Memorial Park just outside Carnation, east King County, Washington. You can see why I used Carnation for the page title! With under 5 hours of daylight on site, I didn't locate really productive leaf litter, but got reasonable litter faunas from scanty cottonwood litter and litter pockets in horse chestnut crotches. Good moss and understory ferns were easy to find, but conifer foliage was not too productive. There were no spiders on the restroom buildings! Spiders were sparse in the middle of a large grass field, but a more diverse area of shorter grass and herbs that turned out to be by a pond had very good spiders. A 31-species total made for a successful day, and the temperature was positively springlike. Photos by Rod Crawford.
READ TRIP NARRATIVE PHOTO ALBUM INDEX MAIN JOURNAL INDEX
aerial photo of Tolt River John MacDonald Park, Carnation, Washington entering Tolt River John MacDonald Park, Carnation, Washington
Aerial view of park showing 4 subsites   (King County) Just coming into park: bridge, hill, cottonwoods visible      © Rod Crawford
pedestrian suspension bridge over Snoqualmie River, Tolt River John MacDonald Park, Carnation, Washington Snoqualmie River from bridge, Tolt River John MacDonald Park, Carnation, Washington
Pedestrian suspension bridge …   © Rod Crawford … over the placid Snoqualmie River           © Rod Crawford
bigleaf maple leaf litter, Tolt River John MacDonald Park, Carnation, Washington dirt road on west bank of Snoqualmie River, Tolt River John MacDonald Park, Carnation, Washington
It's leaf litter season!            © Rod Crawford Service road along the far side of the river         © Rod Crawford
thin layer of cottonwood leaf litter on sand, Tolt River John MacDonald Park, Carnation, Washington invasive Himalayan blackberry, Rubus discolor, Tolt River John MacDonald Park, Carnation, Washington
Very thin cottonwood litter layer on sand        © Rod Crawford Thrice-accursed invasive blackberry among the cottonwoods     © Rod Crawford
microspider Porrhomma terrestre Linyphiidae male from cottonwood litter, Tolt River John MacDonald Park, Carnation, Washington canopy of riparian cottonwood forest, Tolt River John MacDonald Park, Carnation, Washington
Porrhomma terrestre, rarest spider found     © Rod Crawford Canopy of riparian cottonwood forest                © Rod Crawford
microspider Lepthyphantes zibus Linyphiidae from litter, Tolt River John MacDonald Park, Carnation, Washington set up to sift leaf litter for spiders, Tolt River John MacDonald Park, Carnation, Washington
Lepthyphantes zibus from litter       © Rod Crawford An open camping cabin made a nice place to sift         © Rod Crawford
sword fern Polystichum munitum in understory, Tolt River John MacDonald Park, Carnation, Washington horse chestnut tree Aesculus sp., Tolt River John MacDonald Park, Carnation, Washington
Fern understory had plenty of spiders … and debris © Rod Crawford Horse chestnut tree with litter in crotches was not the usual species        © Rod Crawford
moss on tree, Tolt River John MacDonald Park, Carnation, Washington trail to upland part of Tolt River John MacDonald Park, Carnation, Washington
You can hardly see this tree for the moss   © Rod Crawford Trail to upland conifer forest area of park              © Rod Crawford
microspider Ceratinops inflatus female Linyphiidae from leaf litter, Tolt River John MacDonald Park, Carnation, Washington cottonwood trees Populus trichocarpa in fall color, Tolt River John MacDonald Park, Carnation, Washington
Ceratinops inflatus female from litter  © Rod Crawford Cottonwoods provided most of the fall color            © Rod Crawford
foliage of red cedar Thuja plicata, Tolt River John MacDonald Park, Carnation, Washington field layer of large grass field, Tolt River John MacDonald Park, Carnation, Washington
In the lowlands, Thuja plicata was the major conifer  © Rod Crawford Field-eye view of the day's last habitat            © Rod Crawford
diverse part of large grassy field, Tolt River John MacDonald Park, Carnation, Washington tall part of large grassy field, Tolt River John MacDonald Park, Carnation, Washington
Diverse shorter grass part of field       © Rod Crawford Taller grass had fewer spiders              © Rod Crawford
carapace of juvenile fishing spider Dolomedes triton from field, Tolt River John MacDonald Park, Carnation, Washington sunset in Carnation, Washington on 4 November 2009
Carapace of juvenile fishing spider, Dolomedes triton  © Rod Crawford Incarnadine sunset in Carnation             © Rod Crawford

A Scarabs field trip returned to the park on 26 June 2010 and added several species.

orbweaver Tetragnatha elongata swept beside pond, Tolt River John MacDonald Park, Carnation, Washington grass meadow in June, Tolt River John MacDonald Park, Carnation, Washington
Tetragnatha elongata from pond edge © Lynette Schimming Meadow looks lusher in June                    © Rod Crawford
Pardosa xerampelina wolf spider, Tolt River John MacDonald Park, Carnation, Washington Snoqualmie River in June, Tolt River John MacDonald Park, Carnation, Washington
Pardosa xerampelina carries almost-lost egg sac © Lynette Schimming Same river, but June foliage         © Rod Crawford
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This page last updated 7 July, 2010