Album of Hartstene Island Field Trip

Selected photos by Rod Crawford and Laurel Ramseyer from our 9 May 2017 spider collecting trip to Hartstene Island, Mason County, Washington. The Wilkes Expedition named this island after Lt. Henry Hartstene; if somebody considered "Harstine" the "preferred" spelling, so what? I'm still going to spell it right! Even though reached by a bridge, the island has a remarkably low population density and much of its area is still working forest. The first place we stopped was so productive we got 44 spider species from a clearcut and adjacent forest (alder and conifer). However, the most unusual single specimen (a mystery cobweb weaver) was from a beach bluff across the bridge from the island, at Latimer's Landing County Park. Laurel's account of the day is posted here.
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spider collecting site on South Island Drive, Hartstene Island, Mason County, Washington shore of Hartstene Island viewed from across Pickering Passage, near bridge
South Island Drive (left)–clearcut–varied forests (Mason County, 2015) Shore of island from across Pickering Passage              © Rod Crawford
Douglas-fir cones, South Island Drive, Hartstene Island, Mason County, Washington South Island Drive, Hartstene Island, Mason County, Washington
Productive Douglas-fir cones       © Laurel Ramseyer Roadside verge along South Island Drive              © Rod Crawford
fallen Douglas-fir bark pieces, South Island Drive, Hartstene Island, Mason County, Washington male amaurobiid spider Callobius deces, South Island Drive, Hartstene Island, Mason County, Washington
Bark pieces hid some good spiders     © Laurel Ramseyer Male of uncommon Callobius deces from bark             © Laurel Ramseyer
female spider Cicurina pusilla from South Island Drive, Hartstene Island, Mason County, Washington unusually dark crab spider Xysticus montanensis from South Island Drive, Hartstene Island, Mason County, Washington
Cicurina pusilla from bark            © Laurel Ramseyer Unusually dark Xysticus montanensis from cones           © Laurel Ramseyer
red cedar Thuja plicata seedling from clearcut, South Island Drive, Hartstene Island, Mason County, Washington looking across clearcut at alder grove, South Island Drive, Hartstene Island, Mason County, Washington
Many red-cedar seedlings just planted   © Laurel Ramseyer I made my way across clearcut to an alder grove         © Rod Crawford
evergreen huckleberry Vaccinium ovatum in alder understory, South Island Drive, Hartstene Island, Mason County, Washington salal Gaultheria shallon understory, South Island Drive, Hartstene Island, Mason County, Washington
Vaccinium ovatum understory              © Rod Crawford Salal was the commonest understory             © Rod Crawford
Trogloneta sp. spider from understory, South Island Drive, Hartstene Island, Mason County, Washington grove of young alder Alnus rubra, South Island Drive, Hartstene Island, Mason County, Washington
We got adults of tiny Trogloneta from understory    © Rod Crawford Inside younger stand of alders with fern understory          © Rod Crawford
sedge understory in old forest road, South Island Drive, Hartstene Island, Mason County, Washington alder leaf litter, South Island Drive, Hartstene Island, Mason County, Washington
Sedge understory in old overgrown road    © Rod Crawford I sifted 8 species from alder leaf litter            © Rod Crawford
road through tree aggregate in clearcut, South Island Drive, Hartstene Island, Mason County, Washington Laurel Ramseyer in clearcut, tree aggregate in background, South Island Drive, Hartstene Island, Mason County, Washington
Logging road through tree aggregate   © Laurel Ramseyer Laurel in clearcut; aggregate in background          © Rod Crawford
Douglas-fir foliage, South Island Drive, Hartstene Island, Mason County, Washington male theridiid spider Theridion californicum, South Island Drive, Hartstene Island, Mason County, Washington
Abundant Douglas-fir foliage        © Rod Crawford Theridion californicum male from salal foliage                © Rod Crawford
standing dead tree with loose bark, South Island Drive, Hartstene Island, Mason County, Washington crab spider Bassaniana utahensis from bark of dead tree, South Island Drive, Hartstene Island, Mason County, Washington
Bark of standing dead tree…         © Laurel Ramseyer …produced Bassaniana utahensis             © Laurel Ramseyer
Latimer's Landing county park, Pickering Passage, Mason County, Washington dock at Latimer's Landing county park, Pickering Passage, Mason County, Washington
Our last site, just off the island            © Rod Crawford The boat dock at Latimer's Landing                  © Rod Crawford
hollow in beach bluff with spider web, Latimer's Landing county park, Pickering Passage, Mason County, Washington beach and beach bluff, Latimer's Landing county park, Pickering Passage, Mason County, Washington
Hollow in bluff, a nice spider niche       © Rod Crawford I got some nice spiders from the beach bluff               © Rod Crawford
Rod Crawford collecting spiders from beach bluff, Latimer's Landing county park, Pickering Passage, Mason County, Washington Zygiella x-notata in retreat under ledge on dock, Latimer's Landing county park, Pickering Passage, Mason County, Washington
Rod collecting from the beach bluff       © Laurel Ramseyer The Lurking Zygiella (in her retreat on the dock)      © Laurel Ramseyer

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This page last updated 16 May, 2017