Selected photos by Rod
Crawford from my 18 March 2016 spider collecting trip with Ben Diehl to Delphi Pioneer Cemetery, Thurston County, Washington. We found the site easily and were able to walk onto the gated grounds; the actual cemetery is small, leaving plenty of natural riparian woodland and even a trail going south along the creek. Pickings were reasonably rich, including both Antrodiaetus and Hexura under logs, with 35 species in all. Then we spent some time in a working forest at the east edge of the Black Hills, with largely complementary spider fauna (and a bunch of gun enthusiasts bang-banging into a gravel pit), and ended the day with no less than 56 species!
READ TRIP NARRATIVE | PHOTO ALBUM INDEX | MAIN JOURNAL INDEX |
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Little cemetery in the big woods (Thurston County, 2015) | Entry gate to main graves area © Rod Crawford |
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Grave of German pioneer Fred Lehman, 1851-1900 © Rod Crawford | Main area of graves (still being added to) © Rod Crawford |
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Mossy maple trunks © Rod Crawford | Moss draping a branch © Rod Crawford |
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Moss-sifting © Rod Crawford | Oregon-grape in understory © Rod Crawford |
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Diverse understory with salal © Rod Crawford | Ben sweeping understory for spiders © Rod Crawford |
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Ben's prize Hexura © Rod Crawford | Sword ferns in understory © Rod Crawford |
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Alder trunk © Rod Crawford | Trail (to where?) heads south from cemetery © Rod Crawford |
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Maple-alder litter fills in between shrubs © Rod Crawford | Curiously, some adult Scotinella in the litter © Rod Crawford |
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Tall roadside grass added a species © Rod Crawford | Stony Creek flows beside the cemetery © Rod Crawford |
Our second site was a working forest at the west edge of the Black Hills, with clearcuts and gravel pits.
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Douglas squirrels like to pose for me © Rod Crawford | Rocks had Calymmaria under them © Rod Crawford |
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Pure maple litter, distinct spider fauna © Rod Crawford | Maple woodland in stream gully; planted clearcut above © Rod Crawford |
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Carapace of Ozyptila pacifica © Rod Crawford | Clearcut planted with Douglas-fir © Rod Crawford |
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Young Douglas-fir – with spiders © Rod Crawford | Slash piled in gravel pit © Rod Crawford |
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Epigynum of wolf spider Pardosa wyuta © Rod Crawford | Moss and lichen on talus rock © Rod Crawford |
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Shooting hours © Rod Crawford | Ben prepares to run the gantlet of 6:30 shooters © Rod Crawford |
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Mt. Rainier peeks over nearby ridge © Rod Crawford | Black Lake at dusk, still looking blue © Rod Crawford |
This page last updated 23 March, 2016