Album of Rhododendron Park Field Trip

Selected photos by Rod Crawford from my 9 April 2015, solo spider collecting trip to the south end of Rhododendron County Park, Whidbey Island, Island County, Washington. The second in a series of bus-and-ferry trips to Whidbey Island, this one took me to an area of conifer forests with varied (including Rhododendron) understory communities, large grassy fields (formerly part of a "prairie") and a few alder stands — mostly with no detectable leaf litter! Despite the lack of litter, and an interruption from fighter-jet maneuvers, I managed 31 species for the day.
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Spider collecting area, 1997 aerial view, south end Rhododendron Park, Whidbey Island, Washington blue water and sky on Possession Sound
Field area with red dots on my sites    (Island County, 1997) Blue, blue water and sky on ferry crossing           © Rod Crawford
entrance sign, south end Rhododendron Park, Whidbey Island, Washington park restroom building, south end Rhododendron Park, Whidbey Island, Washington
This must be the place            © Rod Crawford Too-clean restroom building yielded no spiders              © Rod Crawford
Rhododendron understory, south end Rhododendron Park, Whidbey Island, Washington first spider collecting site, south end Rhododendron Park, Whidbey Island, Washington
Eponymous shrub dominates much of understory     © Rod Crawford First collecting site, edge of clearing            © Rod Crawford
Douglas-fir foliage, Pseudotsuga menziesii, south end Rhododendron Park, Whidbey Island, Washington fir and Vaccinium foliage at edge of clearing, south end Rhododendron Park, Whidbey Island, Washington
Good old Douglas-fir foliage        © Rod Crawford Beatable vegetation all around the clearing             © Rod Crawford
epigynum of spider Clubiona trivialis, Clubionidae, south end Rhododendron Park, Whidbey Island, Washington habitus of spider Clubiona trivialis, Clubionidae, south end Rhododendron Park, Whidbey Island, Washington
Epigynum of Clubiona trivialis         © Rod Crawford Habitus of Clubiona trivialis             © Rod Crawford
grass in rough cleared surface, south end Rhododendron Park, Whidbey Island, Washington rough terrain in grassy clearing, south end Rhododendron Park, Whidbey Island, Washington
Grassy habitat of Pardosa vancouveri     © Rod Crawford Extensive rough grassy area on apparent earth fill              © Rod Crawford
pasted in bee fly photo resembles US Navy Growler jet, south end Rhododendron Park, Whidbey Island, Washington US Navy Growler jet over south end Rhododendron Park, Whidbey Island, Washington
Bee fly (pasted in) and similar US Navy Growler jet  © Rod Crawford There goes another one          © Rod Crawford
pile of wood chunks, south end Rhododendron Park, Whidbey Island, Washington alder grove, south end Rhododendron Park, Whidbey Island, Washington
I found Cybaeus under these wood chunks  © Rod Crawford I hoped to find leaf litter in alder grove — no such luck!      © Rod Crawford
ground, leaf-litter-free, in alder grove, south end Rhododendron Park, Whidbey Island, Washington female Dictynid spider, Dictyna sp. #1, south end Rhododendron Park, Whidbey Island, Washington
In alder grove, hardly a leaf in sight!     © Rod Crawford Fir foliage spider Dictyna sp. #1        © Rod Crawford
young white pine tree Pinus monticola, south end Rhododendron Park, Whidbey Island, Washington young Meriola spider, Corinnidae, south end Rhododendron Park, Whidbey Island, Washington
Young white pine tree (big ones existed)    © Rod Crawford Unfortunately all the Meriola were juvenile             © Rod Crawford
moss on alder trunk, south end Rhododendron Park, Whidbey Island, Washington moss on stump, south end Rhododendron Park, Whidbey Island, Washington
Much moss on alder trunks          © Rod Crawford Even more moss on stumps              © Rod Crawford
nettle moss-sifting setup on picnic table, S end of Rhododendron Park, Whidbey Island, Washington
Somebody finds nettle leaves delicious       © Rod Crawford Those pic-i-nic tables sure come in handy            © Rod Crawford
entrance sign, Patmore Pit dog park, Whidbey Island, Washington alder groves, Patmore Pit dog park, Whidbey Island, Washington
Patmore Pit Park, where pampered pooches play     © Rod Crawford In Patmore's alder groves, finally a bit of leaf litter             © Rod Crawford
attack chicken sign, Patmore Pit dog park, Whidbey Island, Washington stand of snowberry shrubs Symphoricarpos albus, pheasant management area on Patmore Road, Whidbey Island, Washington
Less-than-intimidating security sign        © Rod Crawford Stand of snowberry bushes by the big field             © Rod Crawford
edge of big grass field, pheasant management area on Patmore Road, Whidbey Island, Washington old but sweepable grass, pheasant management area on Patmore Road, Whidbey Island, Washington
Giant grassy field in "pheasant area"        © Rod Crawford Last year's grass provided the day's best sweeping        © Rod Crawford
low-flying aircraft sign, Patmore Road, Whidbey Island, Washington sunset behind Whidbey Island from Mukilteo-Clinton Ferry 9 April 2015
A traffic sign you don't see every day        © Rod Crawford The ferry leaves Clinton as the sun starts setting             © Rod Crawford
sunset reflects from clouds & mountains, Clinton-Mukiltea Ferry, 9 April 2015 sunset from Clinton-Mukilteo Ferry, 9 april 2015
Looking east, sunset reflects from clouds, mountains  © Rod Crawford Sun still setting as we arrive at Mukilteo             © Rod Crawford

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This page last updated 12 April, 2015