Album of (almost) Little Hanks Lake Field Trip

Selected photos by Rod Crawford and Ron Austin from our 19 June 2016 spider collecting trip to Mason County, Washington. First we returned to the Deckerville Swamp site hoping to bag several more specimens of the new Briggsus harvestman I got there last year. After much effort I got one. Next we hoped to get a new sample at Little Hanks Lake, north of Shelton-Matlock Road and east of Lake Nahwatzel where I got such a great sample last year. Thanks to a navigational error on my part, we never found the lake; hard work in the young regrowth site where we ended up, finally brought me an adequate 26-species sample. Oh well, limited success is much better than total failure! And Ron got some footage and photos for his planned documentary.

First six photos are from the Deckerville Swamp site:
READ TRIP NARRATIVE PHOTO ALBUM INDEX MAIN JOURNAL INDEX
Road to Deckerville Swamp, Mason County, Washington Ron Austin at edge of Deckerville Swamp, Mason County, Washington
Road to the site has grown flowers        © Rod Crawford Ron with his gear in the swampy forest          © Rod Crawford
leaf litter in hollow stump, edge of Deckerville Swamp, Mason County, Washington Rod Crawford scanning a sift sample, edge of Deckerville Swamp, Mason County, Washington
Leaf litter inside a hollow stump   © Rod Crawford Rod scans litter-sift sample for specimens              © Ron Austin
Ron Austin with mask, edge of Deckerville Swamp, Mason County, Washington old stump in forest, edge of Deckerville Swamp, Mason County, Washington
Ron Austin, the Masked Marvel      © Rod Crawford Old stump in forest            © Rod Crawford

Remaining photos are from our attempt to collect at Little Hanks Lake, plus the trip home.

Little Hanks Lake and vicinity, Mason County, Washington, 2011 aerial photo Green Diamond gate to Little Hanks Lake area, Mason County, Washington
Little Hanks Lake at top; red dots mark sites we actually reached       (Mason County, 2011) We hiked in from the Green Diamond gate                © Rod Crawford
microspider Linyphiidae Meioneta fillmorana, dark color phase, south of Little Hanks Lake, Mason County, Washington overgrown logging road, south of Little Hanks Lake, Mason County, Washington
Meioneta fillmorana, patternless color form   © Rod Crawford The Wrong Road                   © Rod Crawford
Ron Austin on abandoned logging road, south of Little Hanks Lake, Mason County, Washington fallen trees barrier on old road, south of Little Hanks Lake, Mason County, Washington
So, which way do we go now?          © Rod Crawford Not this way, that's for sure!            © Rod Crawford
Rod Crawford examines sweep sample for spiders, south of Little Hanks Lake, Mason County, Washington Ron Austin's hat appears above grass tops, south of Little Hanks Lake, Mason County, Washington
Rod sorts a sweep sample in road-bed field  © Ron Austin Ron relaxes; you can just see his hat above the grass           © Rod Crawford
Theridion differens Theridiidae cobweb weaver spider from broom, south of Little Hanks Lake, Mason County, Washington stand of Scots Broom Cytisus scoparius, south of Little Hanks Lake, Mason County, Washington
Theridion differens, very uncommon in the area   © Rod Crawford Oddly enough, uncommon spider beaten from invasive broom!  © Rod Crawford
needles of lodgepole pine, south of Little Hanks Lake, Mason County, Washington microspider Linyphiidae Linyphantes victoria from conifer foliage, south of Little Hanks Lake, Mason County, Washington
Lodgepole pine surprisingly common        © Rod Crawford Linyphantes victoria from conifer foliage              © Rod Crawford
lodgepole pine cones, south of Little Hanks Lake, Mason County, Washington lodgepole pine cones on tree, south of Little Hanks Lake, Mason County, Washington
Pine cones, spider-free or nearly so         © Rod Crawford Lots more pine cones where those came from          © Rod Crawford
Mount Rainier from Interstate 5 near Nisqually, Washington sunset from Interstate 5 near Tacoma, Washington on 19 June 2016
We pass Mt. Rainier along the way     © Rod Crawford Sunset near Tacoma                © Rod Crawford
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This page last updated 2 April, 2017