Album of Field Trip SE of Lagoon Point

Selected photos by Rod Crawford from my 16 April 2015, solo spider collecting trip to a forest area SE of Lagoon Point, Whidbey Island, Island County, Washington. The side road I intended to hike up didn't seem to exist, so I ended up in a nameless alder forest farther up the bus route, and also collected along the main roadside. I finally manged to find some substantial leaf litter on this island, but the spiders in it were far from diverse. However, litter plus moss plus 2 kinds of understory plus roadside verge, and one bonus species under a board, got me about 28 species in this section of Whidbey Island where bus-accessible collecting sites were in short supply.
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topographic map, Lagoon Point area, Whidbey Island, Washington Clinton Ferry Dock from ferry, Whidbey Island, Washington
Lagoon Point area on topo map           (USGS) Approaching the Clinton ferry dock          © Rod Crawford
forest trail, SE of Lagoon Point, Whidbey Island, Washington alder forest, SE of Lagoon Point, Whidbey Island, Washington
On a forest trail            © Rod Crawford Main locality in alder forest               © Rod Crawford
base of windfall tree, SE of Lagoon Point, Whidbey Island, Washington nettles
Base of an old windfall tree       © Rod Crawford Better not wear shorts in nettle understory            © Rod Crawford
alder leaf litter, SE of Lagoon Point, Whidbey Island, Washington alder leaf litter, SE of Lagoon Point, Whidbey Island, Washington
Pockets of alder leaf litter…        © Rod Crawford …were frequent and substantial              © Rod Crawford
moss creeping around an alder trunk, SE of Lagoon Point, Whidbey Island, Washington sifting leaf litter in forest, SE of Lagoon Point, Whidbey Island, Washington
Moss creeping around an alder trunk        © Rod Crawford Sifting on smooth forest floor was fairly comfortable             © Rod Crawford
moss carpeting alder trunk, SE of Lagoon Point, Whidbey Island, Washington moss on leaning alder trunk, SE of Lagoon Point, Whidbey Island, Washington
Moss carpeting alder trunk            © Rod Crawford Moss carpeting raised root              © Rod Crawford
sword ferns Polystichum munitum in understory, SE of Lagoon Point, Whidbey Island, Washington sword ferns Polystichum munitum in understory, SE of Lagoon Point, Whidbey Island, Washington
Sword ferns predominated in understory     © Rod Crawford Most ferns were in good configuration for beating          © Rod Crawford
salmonberry flower Rubus spectabilis, SE of Lagoon Point, Whidbey Island, Washington canopy of alder forest, SE of Lagoon Point, Whidbey Island, Washington
Salmonberry in bloom          © Rod Crawford Canopy of alder forest on blue, clear day         © Rod Crawford
trailside grass in forest, SE of Lagoon Point, Whidbey Island, Washington spider Bathyphantes keenii Linyphiidae from forest understory, SE of Lagoon Point, Whidbey Island, Washington
Trailside grass in forest      © Rod Crawford Moss yielded several Bathyphantes keenii       © Rod Crawford
microspider Tiso vagans Linyphiidae from trailside grass, SE of Lagoon Point, Whidbey Island, Washington grassy old forest road, SE of Lagoon Point, Whidbey Island, Washington
Tiso vagans from trailside grass        © Rod Crawford Grassy old forest road             © Rod Crawford
big Douglas-fir trunk in forest, SE of Lagoon Point, Whidbey Island, Washington big Douglas-fir & western hemlock trunks in forest, SE of Lagoon Point, Whidbey Island, Washington
Big trunk, not quite old growth          © Rod Crawford More big trunks farther along the trail              © Rod Crawford
salal and Vaccinium in understory of mature conifer forest, SE of Lagoon Point, Whidbey Island, Washington grassy roadside verge, Smugglers Cove Road, SE of Lagoon Point, Whidbey Island, Washington
One short stretch of salal-Vaccinium         © Rod Crawford Roadside verge grass            © Rod Crawford
marsh vegetation including Lysichiton in roadside ditch, Smugglers Cove Road, SE of Lagoon Point, Whidbey Island, Washington Callobius severus spider, female, Amaurobiidae, South Whidbey State Park hq buildings, Whidbey Island, Washington
Wetland flora in ditch, but no spiders to correspond!   © Rod Crawford An especially impressive Callobius severus             © Rod Crawford
Mount Pilchuck viewed from Clinton Ferry Terminal, Whidbey Island, Washington on 16 April 2015 northern Cascades seen from a ferry at Clinton Ferry Terminal, Whidbey Island, Washington
Mt. Pilchuck now has snow traces        © Rod Crawford North Cascades seen from the homeward ferry             © Rod Crawford

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This page last updated 19 April, 2015