Album of Swantown Lake Marsh Field Trip

Selected photos by Rod Crawford from my 24 May 2019 spider collecting trip (with Jerry Austin and Della Scott) to the Swantown Lake marsh habitat preserve and vicinity, on the NW coast of Whidbey Island, Washington. A seemingly favorable weather report translated to distinctly lousy conditions in most of western Washington, but with 3 participants from different places to coordinate, it was hard to cancel, so we soldiered on and were pleasantly surprised: the place I wanted to sample was the only fairly dry place to be found! Even though I couldn't penetrate far into the marsh, the edges and nearby forest edge habitats along Crosby Road brought in a 33-species sample including some very nice records.
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aerial photo of Swantown Lake and vicinity beach access north of Swantown Lake, Whidbey Island, Washington
Swantown Lake and vicinity       (Island County) We parked at county beach access site                   © Rod Crawford
beach at county access point, north of Swantown Lake, Whidbey Island, Washington low tide on beach at county access point north of Swantown Lake, Whidbey Island, Washington
Gravel beach, driftwood and meadow   © Rod Crawford Low tide on the beach                © Rod Crawford
Della Scott at Joseph Whidbey State Park, north of Swantown Lake, Whidbey Island, Washington Della Scott and Jerry Austin preparing to picnic at Joseph Whidbey State Park, north of Swantown Lake, Whidbey Island, Washington
Della at the state park               © Rod Crawford Della and Jerry prepare to picnic               © Rod Crawford
rabbit at Joseph Whidbey State Park, north of Swantown Lake, Whidbey Island, Washington large shrub at marsh edge, north of Swantown Lake, Whidbey Island, Washington
Here comes Peter Cottontail            © Rod Crawford Giant shrub at marsh edge; sweepable roadside grass    © Rod Crawford
leaf litter under shrub at edge of marsh, north of Swantown Lake, Whidbey Island, Washington sifting shrub litter at edge of marsh, north of Swantown Lake, Whidbey Island, Washington
Leaf litter of the big shrub                © Rod Crawford Sifting the shrub litter                       © Rod Crawford
Nootka rose, Rosa nutkana, at Joseph Whidbey State Park, north of Swantown Lake, Whidbey Island, Washington ventral view of juvenile crab spider Ozyptila praticola, marsh north of Swantown Lake, Whidbey Island, Washington
Nootka rose            © Rod Crawford Juvenile Ozyptila praticola from marsh edge                     © Rod Crawford
cattail stand in marsh north of Swantown Lake, Whidbey Island, Washington shrub barrier between road and marsh north of Swantown Lake, Whidbey Island, Washington
Cattails too stiff to sweep           © Rod Crawford Shrub & vine barrier between road & marsh                  © Rod Crawford
redwing blackbird on signpost beside marsh north of Swantown Lake, Whidbey Island, Washington marsh & lake with bird on signpost, north of Swantown Lake, Whidbey Island, Washington
Redwing on a signpost…               © Rod Crawford …surveying its marshy domain               © Rod Crawford
marsh north of Swantown Lake, Whidbey Island, Washington high tide at beach north of Swantown Lake, Whidbey Island, Washington
Potentially productive marsh tract, unreachable!  © Rod Crawford After a few hours, the tide was high                © Rod Crawford
Smith Island seen from beach, north of Swantown Lake, Whidbey Island, Washington San Juan Island and Vancouver Isand seen from beach, north of Swantown Lake, Whidbey Island, Washington
Smith Island seen from beach          © Rod Crawford San Juan Island in foreground, Vancouver Island behind   © Rod Crawford
theridiid spider Theridion varians from conifers on Crosby Road, north of Swantown Lake, Whidbey Island, Washington salal in bloom on Crosby Road, north of Swantown Lake, Whidbey Island, Washington
Theridion varians from conifers         © Rod Crawford Salal in bloom                            © Rod Crawford
theridiid spider Theridion agrifoliae from conifers, Crosby Road north of Swantown Lake, Whidbey Island, Washington forest-edge conifer foliage, Crosby Road north of Swantown Lake, Whidbey Island, Washington
Theridion agrifoliae from conifers        © Rod Crawford Abundant beatable conifer foliage                          © Rod Crawford
dense conifer foliage along Crosby Road, north of Swantown Lake, Whidbey Island, Washington conifer foliage at top of road bank, north of Swantown Lake, Whidbey Island, Washington
Dense and spider-rich            © Rod Crawford Forest edge at top of grassy road-bank                    © Rod Crawford
Jerry Austin along Crosby Road north of Swantown Lake, Whidbey Island, Washington alder forest at bend in Crosby Road north of Swantown Lake, Whidbey Island, Washington
Jerry walks along the roadside verge   © Rod Crawford Alder woodland farther up the road                      © Rod Crawford
alder leaf litter along Crosby Road north of Swantown Lake, Whidbey Island, Washington sunset from county beach access north of Swantown Lake, Whidbey Island, Washington
Alder litter had some good stuff        © Rod Crawford Sun preparing to set, from county beach access            © Rod Crawford

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This page last updated 7 August, 2019