Album of Big Rock Field Trip

Selected photos (by Rod Crawford and Laurel Ramseyer) from a spider collecting trip on 7 May 2010 to a high, bald-peaked rock (Jurassic greenstone) jutting 500 feet above the Skagit River Delta, containing forest, shrubland, parkland, and outcrop habitats just east of suburban Mount Vernon. We collected from outcrops and assorted vegetation types above "treeline" and from litter and understory just before the trail emerges from the trees. The 30 spider species taken included the tiny amaurobiid Zanomys aquilonia, a savanna species seldom met in lowland western Washington. Though not quite pristine, the site is very distinctive and well worth preserving; the Skagit Land Trust oversees it.
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2009 aerial photo of Big Rock, near Mount Vernon, Skagit County, Washngton

trail to Big Rock, E of Mount Vernon, Skagit County, Washington
Aerial view of The Rock   (Skagit County, 2009) Good trail took us up the Rock      © Rod Crawford
blue and yellow wildflowers on Big Rock, E of Mount Vernon, Skagit County, Washington emerging from the forest on the trail up Big Rock, E of Mount Vernon, Skagit County, Washington
Blue and yellow posies          © Laurel Ramseyer I emerged from the trees with Laurel way ahead of me      © Rod Crawford
moss on greenstone outcrop, Big Rock, E of Mount Vernon, Skagit County, Washington Amaurobiid spider Zanomys aquilonia sifted from moss & litter, Big Rock, E of Mount Vernon, Skagit County, Washington
Deep moss beds on the outcrops      © Rod Crawford Zanomys aquilonia (moss & litter), rare find for western Washington     © Rod Crawford
Amelanchier alnifolia, serviceberry, Big Rock, E of Mount Vernon, Skagit County, Washington lonesome pine on cliff face, Big Rock, E of Mount Vernon, Skagit County, Washington
Serviceberry bush produced a few spiders     © Laurel Ramseyer Solitary pine tantalizingly below the jumping-off place          © Rod Crawford
monkey-flower, Mimulus alsinoides, Big Rock, E of Mount Vernon, Skagit County, Washington view from Big Rock, E of Mount Vernon, Skagit County, Washington
Monkey-flowers          © Rod Crawford Oddly situated mini-pond with a great view           © Rod Crawford
glacial groove on summit of Big Rock, E of Mount Vernon, Skagit County, Washington Theridion californicum, Theridiid spider, Big Rock, E of Mount Vernon, Skagit County, Washington
Glaciers went right over the rock – groovy!      © Laurel Ramseyer Colorful Theridion californcium from salal         © Rod Crawford
face of male jumping spider Metaphidippus mannii, Big Rock, E of Mount Vernon, Skagit County, Washington salal, Gaultheria shallon, summit of Big Rock, E of Mount Vernon, Skagit County, Washington
Face of male Metaphidippus mannii    © Rod Crawford Salal stand in summit area               © Laurel Ramseyer
carapace of female jumping spider Metaphidippus mannii, Big Rock, E of Mount Vernon, Skagit County, Washington view from Big Rock, E of Mount Vernon, Skagit County, Washington
Carapace of female Metaphidippus mannii    © Rod Crawford Still admiring the view          © Rod Crawford
Rod Crawford seen from a lower level on Big Rock, E of Mount Vernon, Skagit County, Washington "Skagit Highlands" development disfiguring the view from Big Rock, E of Mount Vernon, Skagit County, Washington
Look up – you may see an arachnologist  © Laurel Ramseyer New housing tract makes western view less ideal       © Laurel Ramseyer
Laurel Ramseyer sorting beating net catch of spiders, Big Rock, E of Mount Vernon, Skagit County, Washington unknown amaurobiid spider web, Big Rock, E of Mount Vernon, Skagit County, Washington
Laurel sorting an understory sample     © Rod Crawford Mystery web – probably amaurobiid         © Laurel Ramseyer
sword fern Polystichum munitum understory just below treeline, Big Rock, E of Mount Vernon, Skagit County, Washington linyphiid spider Zygottus corvallis from leaf litter, Big Rock, E of Mount Vernon, Skagit County, Washington
Fern understory        © Laurel Ramseyer Zygottus corvallis, a common spring litter spider        © Rod Crawford

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This page last updated 29 March, 2012