Album of Sun Top Field Trip

Selected photos (by Rod Crawford, Laurel Ramseyer and Shannon Bowley) from our 6 August spider collecting trip to Sun Top, a mountain with a fire lookout 16 miles NE of Mt. Rainier, Pierce County, Washington. For best results in spider-poor August, we hit both low (2180 feet) and high (5200 feet) elevation sites within the same samping area. It works! We got 44 species, probably a new record high for an August trip. Also notable, it was the first full-fledged collecting trip for Shannon Bowley, sort of a young protégé of mine. She made some excellent finds! Even the mosquitos left us alone for most of the day. Only the scenery failed us (air was too hazy to see much). See Laurel's take on the trip here.
READ TRIP NARRATIVE PHOTO ALBUM INDEX MAIN JOURNAL INDEX
1993 aerial photo of Sun Top (mountain), Pierce County, Washington Rod Crawford and Shannon Bowley at picnic table, The Dalles Campground, Pierce County, Washington
Aerial view of Sun Top               (USGS, 1993) Rod points out spider features to Shannon     © Laurel Ramseyer
forest understory vegetation at The Dalles Campground, Pierce County, Washington Novalena intermedia web, The Dalles Campground, Pierce County, Washington
Lush understory in campground        © Rod Crawford Novalena intermedia web on outhouse              © Laurel Ramseyer
outside the fence of McCullough Seed Orchard, White River, Pierce County, Washington Shannon Bowley and Rod Crawford sweeping grass for spiders, McCullough Seed Orchard, White River, Pierce County, Washington
Outside the fence of McCullough Seed Orchard  © Laurel Ramseyer Shannon and Rod sweep grass outside the gate          © Laurel Ramseyer
subalpine parkland on summit, Sun Top (mountain), Pierce County, Washington Shannon Bowley with beating net, Sun Top (mountain), Pierce County, Washington
On top of old Sun Top: classic parkland    © Rod Crawford Shannon sets off to beat some trees               © Rod Crawford
mountain hemlock cones Tsuga mertensiana, Sun Top (mountain), Pierce County, Washington Shannon Bowley examines a tree-beat sample, Sun Top (mountain), Pierce County, Washington
Mountain hemlock cones       © Laurel Ramseyer Back from tree-beating, Shannon examines her catch       © Rod Crawford
tree form of subalpine fir Abies lasiocarpa, Sun Top (mountain), Pierce County, Washington foliage of subalpine fir Abies lasiocarpa, Sun Top (mountain), Pierce County, Washington
Typical form of subalpine fir             © Rod Crawford Foliage of subalpine fir                  © Rod Crawford
male folding-door spider Antrodiaetus occultus, Sun Top (mountain), Pierce County, Washington male folding-door spider Antrodiaetus occultus on Shannon's hand, Sun Top (mountain), Pierce County, Washington
Northernmost Antrodiaetus occultus found to date   © Rod Crawford Shannon shows off her prize Antrodiaetus catch          © Rod Crawford
mating lycaenid butterflies Plebejus anna, Sun Top (mountain), Pierce County, Washington subalpine firs and hazy air on Sun Top (mountain), Pierce County, Washington
Pair of Plebejus anna          © Laurel Ramseyer Subalpine firs and hazy air                 © Rod Crawford
Laurel Ramseyer standing on stump, Sun Top (mountain), Pierce County, Washington Mount Rainier barely visible on hazy day at Sun Top Lookout, Pierce County, Washington
Laurel trying to see beyond the next ridge      © Rod Crawford At the lookout we could barely see Mt. Rainier           © Rod Crawford
Cornus canadensis, Sun Top (mountain), Pierce County, Washington Lookout cabin on Sun Top (mountain), Pierce County, Washington
Cornus canadensis           © Rod Crawford Lookout's life can be lonely              © Rod Crawford
stump and dead wood, Sun Top (mountain), Pierce County, Washington subalpine forest understory, Sun Top (mountain), Pierce County, Washington
In subalpine forest, dead wood was productive   © Laurel Ramseyer Subalpine forest understory         © Rod Crawford
roadside verge meadow, Sun Top (mountain), Pierce County, Washington crab spider Thomisidae Xysticus montanensis, Sun Top (mountain), Pierce County, Washington
Roadside verge ready to sweep       © Laurel Ramseyer Laurel got Xysticus montanensis from pine cones            © Rod Crawford
fir needle litter in subalpine forest, Sun Top (mountain), Pierce County, Washington video capture of diplurid spider Microhexura idahoana carrying egg sac, Sun Top (mountain), Pierce County, Washington
Productive fir needle litter       © Rod Crawford Microhexura idahoana carrying egg sac       © Shannon Bowley
linyphiid microspider Lepthyphantes mercedes, Sun Top (mountain), Pierce County, Washington cones of white pine Pinus monticola, Sun Top (mountain), Pierce County, Washington
Lepthyphantes mercedes           © Rod Crawford Laurel found more pine cones to sample       © Laurel Ramseyer

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This page last updated 11 June, 2015