Album of Lower Elwha Bluff Field Trip

On the second day (30 April 2008) of the Elwha River Biological Survey's 6th spider collecting trip, our main new site was a high bluff on the west side of the Lower Elwha, just above the mouth and reached by a branch of the Elwha Dike beach trail. The cliff face is stratified glacial sand and silt studded with large rounded cobbles, which when they fall off, form cobble talus at the base. Pardosa lowriei was as abundant here as I've ever seen it, and other interesting spiders were taken. Vegetation in the nearby woods was also productive, and a few more species were taken on the beach. Photos by Laurel Ramseyer, Rod Crawford, and Ted Pietsch.
READ TRIP NARRATIVE PHOTO ALBUM INDEX MAIN JOURNAL INDEX

West side of Elwha River mouth (1990 aerial photo) Lower Elwha bluffs seen from downstream gravel bar
Bluff site marked on 1990 aerial photo (USGS) Approaching the bluff from downriver    © Laurel Ramseyer
Cybaeus morosus (Cybaeidae) with egg sac under beach wood, Elwha Dike Trail, Clallam County, Washington Lower Elwha Bluffs, Clallam County, Washington
Cybaeus morosus with egg sac   © Laurel Ramseyer Tiny figures of Rod & Ted (below center) show scale of cliff
© Laurel Ramseyer
talus at Lower Elwha Bluffs, Clallam County, Washington cliff face, Lower Elwha Bluffs, Clallam County, Washington
Talus cones of cobbles & gravel  © Rod Crawford Cobble-studded cliff face       © Rod Crawford
wolf spider female Pardosa lowriei with egg sac, Lower Elwha Bluffs, Clallam County, Washington cobble talus spider habitat, Lower Elwha Bluffs, Clallam County, Washington
Pardosa lowriei was abundant     © Laurel Ramseyer Prime wolf spider habitat           © Rod Crawford
Ted Pietsch at Lower Elwha Bluffs, Clallam County, Washington Elwha River from Lower Elwha Bluffs, Clallam County, Washington
Ted Pietsch among cobbles     © Laurel Ramseyer Looking across the Elwha from the bluffs     © Rod Crawford
Rod Crawford at Lower Elwha Bluffs, Clallam County, Washington gravel bar near Lower Elwha Bluffs, Clallam County, Washington
Rod poses in sandy clearing    © Ted Pietsch A bit of the vast delta gravel bar      © Laurel Ramseyer
Douglas-fir Pseudotsuga menziesii, Lower Elwha Bluffs, Clallam County, Washington Douglas-fir foliage Pseudotsuga menziesii, Lower Elwha Bluffs, Clallam County, Washington
Douglas-fir tree near the bluffs  © Rod Crawford Fir foliage, always rich in spiders      © Laurel Ramseyer

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This page last updated 4 February, 2009