Album of Lummi Island Field Trip

Selected photos by Rod Crawford and Laurel Ramseyer from our 30 March 2016 spider collecting trip with Jessi Bishopp to sites on Lummi Island, Whatcom County, Washington. First we collected at a meadow (pasture?) on the Blizard Road alignment, NW quarter of the island, to complete an old 11-species sample; the fauna there was so good we had 23 species before we knew it. For the rest of the day we inventoried the spiders of Curry Preserve (NE side of the island, next gridspace over), managed by the Lummi Island Heritage Trust, ending with an impressive 43 species (rich in non-natives, as befits property that was recently a working farm). Best catch was Laurel's male Trochosa ruricola, 3rd record of the species in Washington. Lumme! Don't miss Laurel's account here also!

The first 16 photos below are from the Blizard Road meadow site.
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Burnett property, Blizard Road, NW Lummi Island, Whatcom County, Washington mainland dock for Lummi Island Ferry, Whatcom County, Washington
The meadow along Blizard Road     (USDA, 2011) Lummi Island viewed across Hale Passage from ferry dock      © Rod Crawford
Leslie Dempsey & friend of Lummi Island Heritage Trust at big meadow at Burnett Property, Blizard Road, NW Lummi Island, Whatcom County, Washington
Leslie Dempsey & friend of the Heritage Trust     © Rod Crawford Meadow, fir, spruce, alder, snowberry: fine site!            © Laurel Ramseyer
tombstone at Blizard family plot, Lummi Congregational Church cemetery, Lummi Island, Washington grass meadow habitat at Burnett Property, Blizard Road, NW Lummi Island, Whatcom County, Washington
Blizard family plot at local cemetery     © Laurel Ramseyer Grass habitat had Pardosa and Xysticus           © Rod Crawford
Laurel Ramseyer collecting spiders from snowberry, Burnett Property, Blizard Road, NW Lummi Island, Whatcom County, Washington Sitka spruce tree in mid-meadow, Burnett Property, Blizard Road, NW Lummi Island, Whatcom County, Washington
Laurel beating snowberry foliage            © Rod Crawford Isolated spruce tree in mid-meadow            © Rod Crawford
unusual coloration Theridion simile spider from Symphoricarpos, Burnett Property, Blizard Road, NW Lummi Island, Whatcom County, Washington Sitka spruce foliage, Burnett Property, Blizard Road, NW Lummi Island, Whatcom County, Washington
Theridion simile with unusual red folium © Laurel Ramseyer Sitka spruce foliage            © Laurel Ramseyer
Sitka spruce cone, Burnett Property, Blizard Road, NW Lummi Island, Whatcom County, Washington Clark Island from NW coast of Lummi Island, Whatcom County, Washington
Spruce cone with tiny web           © Laurel Ramseyer The 11 prior records were from Clark Island                © Rod Crawford
porcellionid isopods & polyxenid millipede from spruce cones, Burnett Property, Blizard Road, NW Lummi Island, Whatcom County, Washington solitary bee colony in sandy path, Burnett Property, Blizard Road, NW Lummi Island, Whatcom County, Washington
Porcellionid isopods, polyxenid milliped  © Laurel Ramseyer Solitary bee colony in a sandy path             © Rod Crawford
solitary bee provisioning nest, Burnett Property, Blizard Road, NW Lummi Island, Whatcom County, Washington bee fly (Bombylius?) parasitizing solitary bee, Burnett Property, Blizard Road, NW Lummi Island, Whatcom County, Washington
Mama bee provisioning her nest     © Laurel Ramseyer But here lurks a bee-fly, up to no good!           © Laurel Ramseyer

After quickly getting a sample at this fine site, we worked hard to inventory spiders at the Heritage Trust's Curry Preserve.

2011 aerial photo, central part of Curry Preserve, Lummi Island, Whatcom County, Washington Jessi Bishopp at Tuttle Lane trailhead, Curry Preserve, Lummi Island, Whatcom County, Washington
We sampled mainly around oval West Field   (USDA, 2011) Jessi at the Tuttle Lane trailhead       © Rod Crawford
Mount Baker from West Field, central part of Curry Preserve, Lummi Island, Whatcom County, Washington West Field, central part of Curry Preserve, Lummi Island, Whatcom County, Washington
Nice view of Mt. Baker from the preserve    © Rod Crawford Grassy West Field and varied forest around edge          © Rod Crawford
retreat of Aculepeira sp. in marshy part of West Field, central part of Curry Preserve, Lummi Island, Whatcom County, Washington Juncus rushes in marshy part of West Field, central part of Curry Preserve, Lummi Island, Whatcom County, Washington
Retreat of Aculepeira orbweaver   © Laurel Ramseyer Marshy part of West Field             © Laurel Ramseyer
Aculepeira sp. orbweavers, penultimate male, from marshy field in central part of Curry Preserve, Lummi Island, Whatcom County, Washington Theridion neomexicanum cobweb-weaving spider from central part of Curry Preserve, Lummi Island, Whatcom County, Washington
Aculepeira from marshy area           © Laurel Ramseyer Theridion saanichum, unusual record            © Rod Crawford
Thanatus crab spider, probably T. striatus, from West Field, central part of Curry Preserve, Lummi Island, Whatcom County, Washington Red cedar foliage Thuja plicata, central part of Curry Preserve, Lummi Island, Whatcom County, Washington
Thanatus (striatus?) surprisingly common   © Rod Crawford Red cedar foliage           © Rod Crawford
bigleaf maple trunk, central part of Curry Preserve, Lummi Island, Whatcom County, Washington bigleaf maple tree, central part of Curry Preserve, Lummi Island, Whatcom County, Washington
Bigleaf maple trunk       © Rod Crawford Maple tree had surprisingly sparse litter             © Rod Crawford
maple litter and birch-like fallen bark, central part of Curry Preserve, Lummi Island, Whatcom County, Washington setup for leaf-litter sifting on stump, central part of Curry Preserve, Lummi Island, Whatcom County, Washington
Leaf litter & thin bark both productive      © Rod Crawford I set up for sifting on a handy stump            © Rod Crawford
Cyclosa sp. orbweaver in web, central part of Curry Preserve, Lummi Island, Whatcom County, Washington male linyphiid spider Neriene digna in web on fence, central part of Curry Preserve, Lummi Island, Whatcom County, Washington
Juvenile Cyclosa sp. in web        © Laurel Ramseyer Male Neriene digna in web on fence              © Laurel Ramseyer
jumping spider Salticus scenicus on wooden fence, central part of Curry Preserve, Lummi Island, Whatcom County, Washington Jessi Bishopp sweeping SE field, central part of Curry Preserve, Lummi Island, Whatcom County, Washington
Salticus scenicus on wooden fence       © Laurel Ramseyer Jessi sweeping the Nugent Road field            © Laurel Ramseyer
Laurel Ramseyer holds 3-point deer antler, central part of Curry Preserve, Lummi Island, Whatcom County, Washington Symphoricarpos snowberry in forest understory, central part of Curry Preserve, Lummi Island, Whatcom County, Washington
Laurel gets 3 points for this find        © Laurel Ramseyer Symphoricarpos in understory           © Laurel Ramseyer
Retreat of Zygiella x-notata orbweaving spider under shelter in public garden, central part of Curry Preserve, Lummi Island, Whatcom County, Washington public garden, E side of Curry Preserve, Lummi Island, Whatcom County, Washington
Zygiella in her retreat in…        © Laurel Ramseyer …the preserve's public garden area             © Laurel Ramseyer
male wolf spider Trochosa ruricola from under board, public garden, Curry Preserve, Lummi Island, Whatcom County, Washington paper wasp Polistes dominulus, public garden, Curry Preserve, Lummi Island, Whatcom County, Washington
Laurel's prize Trochosa ruricola        © Rod Crawford Lurker in the Crevice: introduced Polistes dominula         © Laurel Ramseyer
Mount Baker from Lummi Island ferry, 30 March 2016 sunset from Interstate 5 near Skagit-Whatcom county line, 30 March 2016
Mt. Baker from the homeward ferry      © Rod Crawford Dazzling sunset illuminated our drive home            © Rod Crawford
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This page last updated 17 February, 2017