Album of Damon Point Field Trip

Selected photos by Rod Crawford and Laurel Ramseyer from our 25 June 2021 spider collecting trip to Damon Point, an island/peninsula of sand and low vegetation at the extreme end of the Ocean Shores peninsula, exposed to the ocean on one side. It seemed like a promising habitat with potential for cool species, but it didn't work out that way. We spent much of the day getting 10 species there, then after adding one species of house spider at a building, we boosted the sample to 28-29 species at forested Weatherwax Nature Preserve farther north on the peninsula. Anyway, the Point was cool-looking, and may have better spiders at another season.
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2018 aerial photo of Damon Point, Grays Harbor County, Washington welcome sign at trailhead for Damon Point, Grays Harbor County, Washington
Our sites in red on aerial photo   (Grays Hbr. Co., 2018) Trailhead for the beach walk                   © Rod Crawford
beach grass and beach pea, Damon Point, Grays Harbor County, Washington exposed south beach of Damon Point, Grays Harbor County, Washington
Beach grass, flowering beach pea     © Laurel Ramseyer Overlooking the long beach we'll walk                © Laurel Ramseyer
Rod setting off for the interior of Damon Point, Grays Harbor County, Washington remnant of washed-out road to Damon Point, Grays Harbor County, Washington
Rod sets out for the trackless interior   © Laurel Ramseyer But wait, here's a track!                 © Laurel Ramseyer
Rod Crawford pretends to thumb a ride, Damon Point, Grays Harbor County, Washington isolated alder trees on Damon Point, Grays Harbor County, Washington
No chance of a ride on road to and from nowhere © Laurel Ramseyer Our first goal, isolated alder trees                       © Rod Crawford
mystery green grass seedheads, Damon Point, Grays Harbor County, Washington meadowlike sandspit community, Damon Point, Grays Harbor County, Washington
Mysterious someone or something has painted grass seedheads green   © Rod Crawford Meadowlike habitat                 © Laurel Ramseyer
Rod Crawford sorts beat sample in alder shade, Damon Point, Grays Harbor County, Washington alder limbs, Damon Point, Grays Harbor County, Washington
Rod sorts beat sample in alder shade    © Laurel Ramseyer This alder tree may have been here for a while                © Laurel Ramseyer
Laurel Ramseyer sweeping the huge meadow, Damon Point, Grays Harbor County, Washington shrubs in alder grove, Damon Point, Grays Harbor County, Washington
Laurel sweeping the vast grassy plain    © Rod Crawford Shrubs in alder shade produced a vial of spiders that vanished!                © Rod Crawford
strange patches of blue-green integument on a Xysticus cristatus crab spider, Damon Point, Grays Harbor County, Washington foxgloves lend color to dry grass, Damon Point, Grays Harbor County, Washington
Strange patches of blue-green on a Xysticus cristatus  © Rod Crawford Foxgloves lend color to the dry grass           © Rod Crawford
dead crab on beach, Damon Point, Grays Harbor County, Washington raised area behind north beach of Damon Point, Grays Harbor County, Washington
Laurel noted numbers of dead crabs    © Laurel Ramseyer Slight elevation behind beach may become foredune in time   © Laurel Ramseyer
native Salicornia at north beach of Damon Point, Grays Harbor County, Washington driftwood at north beach, Damon Point, Grays Harbor County, Washington
Native Salicornia on north beach      © Laurel Ramseyer Lots of driftwood at north beach                        © Laurel Ramseyer
Phidippus jumping spider retreat under driftwood, Damon Point, Grays Harbor County, Washington north beach of Damon Point, Grays Harbor County, Washington
Phidippus retreat under driftwood      © Rod Crawford Protected north beach very different from ocean-front south beach!        © Rod Crawford

We had hopes for a shore pine stand in mid-island, but the bigger pines were gone, the little ones disappointing.

2016 aerial view of shore pine area at Damon Point, Grays Harbor County, Washington low shore pines in distance, stumps in foreground, Damon Point, Grays Harbor County, Washington
2016 aerial view led us to expect a good pine stand Some low pine in distance, but stumps are ominous!      © Laurel Ramseyer
small shore pine, Damon Point, Grays Harbor County, Washington small shore pines, Damon Point, Grays Harbor County, Washingtonr
The only shore pines found were little     © Rod Crawford And the little pines had only meadow spider species            © Laurel Ramseyer
c ones on a young shore pine, Damon Point, Grays Harbor County, Washington stumps of shore pine, Damon Point, Grays Harbor County, Washington
One small pine producing cones             © Rod Crawford Bigger pines have been cut: why?                         © Rod Crawford
sand with dune grass, Damon Point, Grays Harbor County, Washington route back to Ocean Shores from Damon Point, Grays Harbor County, Washington
Dune ryegrass?             © Laurel Ramseyer The road back to civilization                © Rod Crawford
Abronia latifolia, Damon Point, Grays Harbor County, Washington end of washed-out road on Damon Point, Grays Harbor County, Washington
Yellow Sand-Verbena           © Laurel Ramseyer Beyond here, winter storm waves destroyed the road             © Rod Crawford
surfer girl on the beach, Damon Point, Grays Harbor County, Washington surfer girl paddling out, Damon Point, Grays Harbor County, Washington
Surfer-gal looking for a wave        © Rod Crawford There she goes                    © Rod Crawford
surf building, Damon Point, Grays Harbor County, Washington surf as big as it got, Damon Point, Grays Harbor County, Washington
Surf gathering…          © Rod Crawford Not exactly Big Sur or Kona, but still          © Laurel Ramseyer

In the end, Weatherwax Nature Preserve saved our bacon by adding enough species for a full sample.

Theridion bimaculatum from Weatherwax Nature Preserve, Ocean Shores, Washington Weatherwax Nature Preserve, Ocean Shores, Washington
Neottiura bimaculata shows his odd twisted palps  © Laurel Ramseyer Entry to Weatherwax Preserve                 © Rod Crawford
sitka spruce foliage, Weatherwax Nature Preserve, Ocean Shores, Washington Sitka spruce, Weatherwax Nature Preserve, Ocean Shores, Washington
Sitka spruce foliage             © Rod Crawford No-trail nook completely lined with spruce            © Rod Crawford
retreat of spider Anyphaena aperta on salal leaf, Weatherwax Nature Preserve, Ocean Shores, Washington salal foliage, Weatherwax Nature Preserve, Ocean Shores, Washington
Anyphaena aperta retreat        © Laurel Ramseyer Spider-rich salal foliage                   © Rod Crawford
Anyphaena aperta female, Weatherwax Nature Preserve, Ocean Shores, Washington sun setting from south Seattle, 25 June 2021
Plump female Anyphaena aperta      © Laurel Ramseyer Sun begins to set as we reach South Seattle            © Rod Crawford
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This page last updated 6 July, 2021