Album of China Lake Park Field Trip

Selected photos by Rod Crawford from my 19 March 2015, solo spider collecting trip to China Lake Park-Nature Area, Tacoma, Pierce County, Washington. The last unsampled gridspace in the Tacoma area, I selected it when the last dry day before a rainy spell came in mid-week with no drivers available. I thereby missed out on Taxonomist Appreciation Day! But I had plenty of solitude (if not exactly peace, it's next to a freeway) on the shores of this glorified pond to get a decent, if not spectacular, 26 species sample. At the end of the day I was able to check out an unusual, unpublicized natural habitat area on the nearby east campus of Tacoma Community College, though I didn't get a lot of spiders there.
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2009 aerial photo of China Lake Park, Tacoma, Washington view of Mt. Rainier from NE 45 St transit station, Seattle, on 19 March 2015
China Lake (really more of a pond)    (Pierce County, 2009) Mt. Rainier showed surprisingly well from my home bus stop     © Rod Crawford
entrance sign, China Lake Park, Tacoma, Washington entrance area lawn, China Lake Park, Tacoma, Washington
This must be the place            © Rod Crawford This way to the round-the-lake trail               © Rod Crawford
start of lake shore trail in a blackberry thicket, China Lake Park, Tacoma, Washington horrible blackberry thicket Rubus armeniacus, China Lake Park, Tacoma, Washington
Whoa, doesn't look too promising       © Rod Crawford In fact, first impression is downright horrible            © Rod Crawford
invasive ivy Hedera helix on trees, China Lake Park, Tacoma, Washington circum-lake trail, China Lake Park, Tacoma, Washington
Not just blackberry but ivy, too        © Rod Crawford Ah, it's starting to look much better              © Rod Crawford
hard lake shore, China Lake Park, Tacoma, Washington main part of lake (pond), China Lake Park, Tacoma, Washington
Hard lake shore         © Rod Crawford Main part of the "lake"             © Rod Crawford
epigynum of spider Clubiona kastoni Clubionidae from leaf litter, China Lake Park, Tacoma, Washington sifting leaf litter, China Lake Park, Tacoma, Washington
Epigynum of Clubiona kastoni from litter   © Rod Crawford I sifted alder-willow litter from the marsh margin              © Rod Crawford
color variation in juvenile Theridion californicum spiders, Theridiidae, China Lake Park, Tacoma, Washington salal foliage, China Lake Park, Tacoma, Washington
Incredible color variation of Theridion californicum © Rod Crawford Salal, habitat of spider on left, dominated understory          © Rod Crawford
north, shallow part of lake, China Lake Park, Tacoma, Washington sedge in marsh near north section of China Lake Park, Tacoma, Washington
North, shallow pond section         © Rod Crawford Sedge marsh adjacent to my main collecting site         © Rod Crawford
Scots broom Cytisus scoparius along pond shore, China Lake Park, Tacoma, Washington female spider Phrurotimpus borealis from leaf litter, China Lake Park, Tacoma, Washington
Beating broom yielded a few species      © Rod Crawford Ant mimic spider Phrurotimpus borealis       © Rod Crawford
licorice fern on mossy trunk, China Lake Park, Tacoma, Washington mossy trunks in forest, China Lake Park, Tacoma, Washington
Licorice fern on a mossy trunk        © Rod Crawford Picturesque trunks produced some siftable moss             © Rod Crawford

At day's end, I explored a little-known natural area on the east half of the Tacoma Community College campus.

2009 aerial photo, east-campus wetland reserve, Tacoma Community College, Tacoma, Washington alder stand seen from trail, east-campus wetland reserve, Tacoma Community College, Tacoma, Washington
East half of TCC campus          (Pierce County, 2009) Typical habitat with alder grove in background              © Rod Crawford
Douglas-fir foliage, east-campus wetland reserve, Tacoma Community College, Tacoma, Washington trailside salal foliage, east-campus wetland reserve, Tacoma Community College, Tacoma, Washington
Trailside Douglas-fir foliage               © Rod Crawford Salal lined most trails            © Rod Crawford
tract of salal, east-campus wetland reserve, Tacoma Community College, Tacoma, Washington vast tract of salal, east-campus wetland reserve, Tacoma Community College, Tacoma, Washington
Lots of salal!              © Rod Crawford In fact, vast seas of salal!             © Rod Crawford
pine tree, east-campus wetland reserve, Tacoma Community College, Tacoma, Washington ant nest Formica obscuripes western thatching, east-campus wetland reserve, Tacoma Community College, Tacoma, Washington
A single pine tree far off the trail        © Rod Crawford Thatching ant nest was probably active all winter             © Rod Crawford
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This page last updated 22 March, 2015