Album of "Mosquito Mountain" Field Trip

Selected photos from a spider collecting field trip to an unnamed mountain, nicknamed Little Deer Creek Mountain or even more appropriately Mosquito Mountain, King County, Washington (in the Cedar River Watershed) on 1 August 2007 with Laurel Ramseyer, Rod Crawford, and Tom Van Buren who manges data for the watershed's Habitat Conservation Plan. Photos by Laurel and Rod, as credited. Not far west of the Cascade Crest and north of the South Fork Cedar River, this is quite a nice mountain to have no name. Accessed by a clearcut on the south slope, it has old growth on the north and west, a 5130-foot summit, diverse subalpine meadows (one with small ponds), and talus. Despite the late season and no prior records, we came away with 26 species including some novelties and rarities.
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1998 aerial photo of summit area, Little Deer Creek Mountain, Cedar River Watershed, Washington Tom Van Buren on Little Deer Creek Mountain, Cedar River Watershed, Washington
Clearcut, summit ridge, & meadows (USGS, 1998) Tom starts up the clearcut         © Laurel Ramseyer
steep clearcut looking toward summit, Little Deer Creek Mountain, Cedar River Watershed, Washington summit ridge just inside forest, Little Deer Creek Mountain, Cedar River Watershed, Washington
Going up!       © Laurel Ramseyer Summit ridge, just into forest from the clearcut    © Rod Crawford
Goat Mountain from Little Deer Creek Mountain, Cedar River Watershed, Washington summit meadow, Little Deer Creek Mountain, Cedar River Watershed, Washington
Looking across at Goat Mountain    © L. Ramseyer The summit meadow               © Laurel Ramseyer
tiger lily Lilium columbianum in summit meadow, Little Deer Creek Mountain, Cedar River Watershed, Washington summit meadow, Little Deer Creek Mountain, Cedar River Watershed, Washington
Tiger lily in meadow     © Laurel Ramseyer Looking up the summit meadow            © Rod Crawford
micromoth Crambus sp. Crambidae on flower in summit meadow, Little Deer Creek Mountain, Cedar River Watershed, Washington Spiraea densiflora among beargrass in summit meadow,  Little Deer Creek Mountain, Cedar River Watershed, Washington
Crambid moth in meadow  © Laurel Ramseyer Spiraea densiflora in meadow               © Rod Crawford
summit meadow surface, Little Deer Creek Mountain, Cedar River Watershed, Washington beargrass Xerophyllum tenax in summit meadow, Little Deer Creek Mountain, Cedar River Watershed, Washington
Meadow surface      © Rod Crawford Beargrass dominates much of the meadow         © Rod Crawford
hump-winged katydid juvenile Cyphoderris monstrosa Prophalangopsinae, Little Deer Creek Mountain, Cedar River Watershed, Washington conifer forest litter near summit of Little Deer Creek Mountain, Cedar River Watershed, Washington
Cyphoderris monstrosa juvenile   © Laurel Ramseyer Litter in summit forest                    © Rod Crawford
old growth Abies - Tsuga mertensiana, summit of Little Deer Creek Mountain, Cedar River Watershed, Washington snag and woody debris near summit of Little Deer Creek Mountain, Cedar River Watershed, Washington
Actual summit is in this copse     © Rod Crawford Woody debris from snags: richest spider habitat    © Rod Crawford
pacific tree frog Hyla regilla swims in pond, north bench of Little Deer Creek Mountain, Cedar River Watershed, Washington meadow and tiny pond, north bench of Little Deer Creek Mountain, Cedar River Watershed, Washington
Tree frog swims with its shadow     © L. Ramseyer Mini-pond on lower bench meadow        © Laurel Ramseyer
oddly regular talus block, north slope of Little Deer Creek Mountain, Cedar River Watershed, Washington talus, meadow and pond, north slope of Little Deer Creek Mountain, Cedar River Watershed, Washington
Talus block: nature's stonemasonry  © L. Ramseyer Talus above lower bench meadow        © Laurel Ramseyer
soil creep in forest, north slope of Little Deer Creek Mountain, Cedar River Watershed, Washington early evening shadows in clearcut, Little Deer Creek Mountain, Cedar River Watershed, Washington
Trees give evidence of soil creep  © L. Ramseyer When the shadows start to creep         © Rod Crawford
spider orb web Tetragnatha laboriosa Tetragnathidae, Little Deer Creek Mountain, Cedar River Watershed, Washington Laurel Ramseyer collecting spiders in clearcut, Little Deer Creek Mountain, Cedar River Watershed, Washington
Tetragnatha laboriosa web  © Laurel Ramseyer Laurel ponders a beat sample and the vast distances   © R. Crawford


This page last updated 9 October, 2007