Album of Gibbs Lake Park Field Trip

Selected photos by Rod Crawford from my 19 November 2014 spider collecting trip with Michael Sweepe and Alex Sturbaum to Gibbs Lake County Park, Jefferson County, Washington. Our plans were sabotaged by an inaccurate weather forecast (high 53° my foot, 43 would be more like it), so many species, probably present, were too cold to move and weren't collected. However, we still managed to get 24 spider species to fill out an old one-species record. The park's forests and lake shore afforded us outstanding solitude; and the chemical hand warmers really came in handy!
READ TRIP NARRATIVE PHOTO ALBUM INDEX MAIN JOURNAL INDEX
2013 aerial photo of main spider site, south end of Gibbs Lake, Jefferson County, Washington clouds and islands from Hood Canal Floating Bridge, 19 November 2014
Our main site at edge of wetland  (Jefferson County, 2013) Looked like a great day crossing Hood Canal Bridge       © Rod Crawford
Alex Sturbaum in parking lot, Gibbs Lake County Park, Jefferson County, Washington welcome sign, Gibbs Lake County Park, Jefferson County, Washington
Alex all alone in the parking lot          © Rod Crawford Park sign decorated with a little metal bee!                  © Rod Crawford
red cedar trees Thuja plicata, Gibbs Lake County Park, Jefferson County, Washington understory, moss and litter habitats, Gibbs Lake County Park, Jefferson County, Washington
Red cedar dominates the forest       © Rod Crawford All kinds of habitats beckoned         © Rod Crawford
edge of alder swamp, south end of Gibbs Lake, Jefferson County, Washington edge of alder swamp,
Lake-end wetland was semi-frozen          © Rod Crawford We set up to collect just inside the conifer forest         © Rod Crawford
sifting alder leaf litter, south end of Gibbs Lake, Jefferson County, Washington sword fern Polystichum munitum, south end of Gibbs Lake, Jefferson County, Washington
Sifting alder litter            © Rod Crawford Fern understory was productive             © Rod Crawford
sifting cloth with ice crystals, south end of Gibbs Lake, Jefferson County, Washington Ozyptila pacifica crab spider sifted from warmed-up alder litter from south end of Gibbs Lake, Jefferson County, Washington
Notice those ice crystals on sifting cloth?  © Rod Crawford Ozyptila not sifted in the cold forest, but from warmed-up litter at home      © Rod Crawford
Alex Sturbaum beating fern understory for spiders, south end of Gibbs Lake, Jefferson County, Washington big red cedar trunk, south end of Gibbs Lake, Jefferson County, Washington
Alex beating the understory          © Rod Crawford Michael dwarfed by a giant cedar           © Rod Crawford
salal foliage Gaultheria shallon, south end of Gibbs Lake, Jefferson County, Washington moss on tree, south end of Gibbs Lake, Jefferson County, Washington
Salal foliage at main site           © Rod Crawford Moss on trees looked promising          © Rod Crawford
moss on shed roof, south end of Gibbs Lake, Jefferson County, Washington half-demolished shed, south end of Gibbs Lake, Jefferson County, Washington
Moss on roof a bit more productive        © Rod Crawford Deluxe accommodations!             © Rod Crawford
bare maple tree, south end of Gibbs Lake, Jefferson County, Washington maple leaf litter, south end of Gibbs Lake, Jefferson County, Washington
Maple tree was all bare             © Rod Crawford Maple litter produced a few different species              © Rod Crawford
clearing on E side of Gibbs Lake, Jefferson County, Washington, 2009 aerial photo clearing on E side of Gibbs Lake, Jefferson County, Washington
Second site was a little clearing   (Jefferson County, 2009) On the scenic shore of Gibbs Lake              © Rod Crawford
salal facing clearing on E side of Gibbs Lake, Jefferson County, Washington view across lake from clearing on E side of Gibbs Lake, Jefferson County, Washington
Alex beat this salal           © Rod Crawford View across the lake         © Rod Crawford
red cedar foliage, clearing on E side of Gibbs Lake, Jefferson County, Washington banks of lake, clearing on E side of Gibbs Lake, Jefferson County, Washington
Cedar foliage facing the clearing       © Rod Crawford Michael and I swept lakeshore foliage              © Rod Crawford
dusk near Gibbs Lake, Jefferson County, Washington dusk near Gibbs Lake, Jefferson County, Washington
Dusk falls as we drive out         © Rod Crawford With barely a hint of sunset                   © Rod Crawford

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This page last updated 26 November, 2014