Album of Seeley Lake Park Field Trip

Selected photos by Rod Crawford from my 23 March 2014 spider collecting trip to Seeley Lake Park in Lakewood (reached by bus), Pierce County, Washington, and nearby sites. A very nice Sunday at the very beginning of spring found almost no one in the partly-flooded park, which despite the prevalence of invasive plants contained a very good spider fauna. A marsh and meadow habitat on state land to the north proved impenetrable, but roadside habitats added further species for a total of 39; five miles of walking gave me a good workout too!
READ TRIP NARRATIVE PHOTO ALBUM INDEX MAIN JOURNAL INDEX
topographic map of Seeley Lake Park, Lakewood, Pierce County, Washington park sign, Seeley Lake Park, Lakewood, Pierce County, Washington
It looks like a lake on the topo map…        (USGS) …and they call it a lake on the sign            © Rod Crawford
2009 aerial photo view of Seeley Lake Park, Lakewood, Pierce County, Washington bare Garry oak at beginning of spring, Seeley Lake Park, Lakewood, Pierce County, Washington
Aerial photo shows a swamp/marsh in very urban surroundings
(Pierce County, 2009)		 The oak-dominated park forest was still leafless        © Rod Crawford
deserted perimeter trail, Seeley Lake Park, Lakewood, Pierce County, Washington trail flooded, Seeley Lake Park, Lakewood, Pierce County, Washington
Nobody on the perimeter trail       © Rod Crawford High water: part of the trail takes the plunge         © Rod Crawford
swamp habitat, Seeley Lake Park, Lakewood, Pierce County, Washington looking into flooded habitat from perimeter trail, Seeley Lake Park, Lakewood, Pierce County, Washington
Alders & cottonwoods with wet feet    © Rod Crawford Looking into flooded habitat from the trail              © Rod Crawford
invasive blackberry, ivy, holly at Seeley Lake Park, Lakewood, Pierce County, Washington invasive Himalayan blackberry, Seeley Lake Park, Lakewood, Pierce County, Washington
Unholy Three: ivy, blackberry, holly         © Rod Crawford Himalayan blackberry is the worst of these             © Rod Crawford
ivy stems destroying tree, Seeley Lake Park, Lakewood, Pierce County, Washington weirdly sculptrured tree trunk, Seeley Lake Park, Lakewood, Pierce County, Washington
Python ivy strangling an oak        © Rod Crawford Weird-textured tree trunk              © Rod Crawford
English laurel in understory, Seeley Lake Park, Lakewood, Pierce County, Washington rare jumping spider Phanias harfordii, Salticidae, Seeley Lake Park, Lakewood, Pierce County, Washington
Invasive English Laurel in the understory   © Rod Crawford And yet that understory produced rare Phanias harfordii        © Rod Crawford
theridiid spider Thymoites camano from oak litter, Seeley Lake Park, Lakewood, Pierce County, Washington drift of oak litter, Seeley Lake Park, Lakewood, Pierce County, Washington
Thymoites camano from oak litter         © Rod Crawford Great drifts of oak litter in a corner of the park         © Rod Crawford
bare garry oak tree in neighborhood near Seeley Lake Park, Lakewood, Pierce County, Washington picnic table set up for sifting, Seeley Lake Park, Lakewood, Pierce County, Washington
Oak trees everywhere, even in neighborhoods       © Rod Crawford Picnic table set up for litter sifting              © Rod Crawford
trees in flooded area, middle of Seeley Lake Park, Lakewood, Pierce County, Washington trail into mid-wetland, Seeley Lake Park, Lakewood, Pierce County, Washington
All areas within the perimeter trail were flooded     © Rod Crawford Side trail penetrates the middle of the wetland               © Rod Crawford
haplogyne spider Usofila pacifica, Telemidae, from oak litter, Seeley Lake Park, Lakewood, Pierce County, Washington moss on tree trunk, Seeley Lake Park, Lakewood, Pierce County, Washington
Usofila pacifica        © Rod Crawford Siftable moss on tree trunk         © Rod Crawford

Then I tried to collect in a large marshy meadow, near Flett Creek north of the park.

aerial view of large marshy meadow on Flett Creek, Lakewood, Pierce County, Washington blackberry thicket barrier along road, Flett Creek, Lakewood, Pierce County, Washington
It looked like fine habitat from the air (Pierce County, 2009) Horrid blackberry thicket stood between me and the habitat      © Rod Crawford
thatching ant nest Formica obscuripes in peripheral field, Flett Creek, Lakewood, Pierce County, Washington Mattress Ranch business north of Seeley Lake Park, Lakewood, Pierce County, Washington
Thatching ant nest in a peripheral field      © Rod Crawford Seen along the way: Ride that mattress, cowboy!              © Rod Crawford
Douglas-fir tree along highway, Flett Creek, Lakewood, Pierce County, Washington moss in a roadside grove near Flett Creek, Lakewood, Pierce County, Washington
Roadside trees added a bit of habitat       © Rod Crawford Moss in a little roadside grove              © Rod Crawford
daffodils in a roadside grove, near Flett Creek, Lakewood, Pierce County, Washington Micaria pulicaria, gnaphosid ant mimic spider, sifted from moss near Flett Creek, Lakewood, Pierce County, Washington
Daffodils in the roadside grove       © Rod Crawford Micaria pulicaria sifted from the moss above          © Rod Crawford
Mount Rainier from Seeley Lake Park, Lakewood, Pierce County, Washington sunset on 23 March 2014 from Seeley Lake Park, Lakewood, Pierce County, Washington
Mt. Rainier from Seeley Lake Park    © Rod Crawford Spring sunset from Seeley Lake Park           © Rod Crawford
[Native Wildlife Gardening Home]     [Bug Information from The Scarabs]     [Bugs of the Month Home]

This page last updated 23 May, 2014