Pale Snaketail

Erika and I returned to the area near the mouth of the Black River south of Olympia in Grays Harbor County on 29 July 2020. Snaketails were our quarry. We began at the Oakville # 2 Chehalis River Boat Launch. We vowed to turn around if there were other people, but we had the parking-lot to ourselves. We got out of the car and this snaketail flew up and landed a few feet in front of us. Never has a target species been so easy to find!

Snaketails are found near rivers. Males perch on sand, rocks, or on twigs over their streams. They often prefer riffles. They spend more time perched than they do in flight (Paulson 2019). Thus our parking-lot visitor was somewhat out of normal habitat.

American Crow

These images (upper = 21 Mar 2020 at Capitol Lake in Olympia, lower =21 July 2020 at the Nisqually national wildlife refuge) are of the bird formerly known as the Northwestern Crow. Ten years ago, I would have identified these birds as Northwestern Crows, a distinct, small version of the closely related American Crow. Now both these crows are considered to be American Crows. My list of birds seen is down one species. The American Ornithological Society, the group that decides such matters, wrote succinctly that the two former species are to be merged “based on genomic data that indicate a lack of reproductive isolation..., [no] clinal variation, and a lack of consistent differences in size, ecology, and vocalizations.”

DNA research studied DNA from 259 crows across western North America. American and Northwestern crow populations became isolated by late Pleistocene glaciers. During their isolation, coastal populations became smaller than interior ones. When the ice sheets retreated, crow populations again came into contact. Although the populations had changed, they still freely interbred. Today, along their 900 km area of overlap, from Washington across British Columbia, researchers can find no pure American or Northwestern crows. Furthermore, these crows have been hybridizing for a long time, well before modern regional habitat changes. Researchers found pure American Crows in Oregon and pure Northwestern Crows in Juneau, Alaska. All the crows in-between are mixtures between the two.

Mylitta Crescent

Erika and I photographed this Mylitta Crescent along a logging road along Kennedy Flats west of Olympia in Mason County on 25 July 2020. Although common in western North America, from southwestern Canada well into Mexico, this sighting is our first for this species. They are ubiquitous in the Pacific Northwest in disturbed habitats. They breed and feed in thistles, so their larvae help regulate thistle populations. Mylitta was an ancient Babylonian goddess of fertility and is a good name for this multiple-brooded butterfly (Kelly Brenner).

Banded Alder Borer

Along a woodland trail, on 23 July 2020 at the Nisqually wildlife Refuge just east of Olympia, Erika and I found a Banded Alder Borer, Rosalia funebris. Actually we discovered this longhorn beetle because two other visitors were taking pictures of it. These beetles are found from Alaska to California and New Mexico, often on alder tree bark. These insects are not thought of as pests, since their larvae generally bore into downed wood. The adults usually feed on flowers (Wikipedia).

Cabbage White

We found this Cabbage White in our backyard on 15 July 2020. You can tell it is a female because it has four black wing spots. These butterflies are abundant around the world. They probably originated in the Eastern Mediterranean, and spread across Europe and Asia. They were accidentally introduced to North Africa, North America, New Zealand and Australia. Almost all types of habitat attract these butterlfies—weedy areas, gardens, roadsides, cities and suburbs (Butterflies and Moths).

Cabbage White larvae devour cabbage, kale, broccoli, radishes, and mustard crops. The English tried applying DDT to their fields, but the larvae became reisistant to the pesticide.  Bacillus bacteria have also been applied to gardens to try to beat back larvae—a bad idea since the bacteria also kill other butterflies. Pyle (2002) writes, “Better to pluck off the larvae [and] accept a little steamed protein in the broccoli…” As far as I am concerned, the Cabbage Whites can have the kale.

Four-spotted Skimmer

This Four-spotted Skimmer has been languishing in my blog queue since 22 June 2020 when I took this photo in Olympia. This species is found across much of North America, from Alaska and the Yukon south to Arizona and New Mexico. This dragonfly is cirumboreal—also being found from Europe to Africa east to Asia and Japan. Mating takes place in the air. Females lay eggs on floating vegetation. The larvae take two years to develop (there are a few dragonflies that take more than five years to mature). Adults consume small flying insects. Larvae feed on aquatic insect larvae and on tadpoles. 

Brown Pelican

On 21 July 2020, Erika and I, feeling house-bound, drove over to nearby Grass Lake. The tiny parking lot there was full. So we serendipitously  decided to head east to see if anything was at Schneider Creek, where it enters West Bay near Olympia. Here sits a small viewing stand overlooking Puget Sound. “What is that big bird?” asked Erika. “A Brown Pelican,” I replied. We knew these pelicans are occasionally reported in the Sound, but this one was our first. We saw them last year at the Pacific Ocean, where these birds can be common. 

This pelican bathed in the Sound. It swam back and forth some distance from the shore. As it swam, it showered by splashing the water with its wings, reminding us of an old paddle-wheeled steam ship. Then it rolled and dunked its head completely under water. Finally it flew over to the creek’s entrance to the bay. Here the pelican climbed out of the water and preened, surrounded by large flocks of gulls and crows. Truly one of the joys of birding is to be at the right place at exactly the right time.

Striped Meadowhawk

Striped Meadowhawks breed across most of the American west and are very common in the Pacific Northwest lowlands. Temperatures have been high and rain nonexistent—my flood control dragonfly haunt, which I visited on 15 July 2020, is becoming fairly murky. Males defend territories near water. Often females lay eggs onto dry ground, which hopefully will flood in the spring. Males sometimes dip their abdomens, perhaps showing females good places to lay (or drop) their eggs (Paulson 2019).

Chalk-fronted Corporal

On 17 July 2020, Erika found a Chalk-fronted Corporal along the shores of Lake Lucinda in the Darlin Creek Preserve south of Olympia. This dragonfly enjoys a strange range. It occurs across most of northeastern North America. The range becomes narrower across the upper midwest, and then very narrow across central Canada. (We saw many in Minnesota.)  Finally, the range dips south through southwest Canada and northwestern United States, south trough central California. The species is common in Washington, yet Erika’s record is one of relatively few from the western part of the state listed in Odonata Central.

These dragonflies get their name from the two bars on the top of their thorax These bars look like a corporal’s insignia. According to Paulson (2019), Chalk-fronted Corporals often perch on the ground and on lakeshore vegetation. They also land on trees facing the sun. They are aggressive towards each other. They tend to feed away from the water.

River Jewelwing

Yesterday, 18 July 2020, Erika and I drove 40 minutes to the Black River, southwest of Olympia in Grays Harbor County. Dennis Paulson wrote us that this location was good for River Jewelwings and snaketails. We did not stay long along this gorgeous river—way too many maskless people tubing in the creek. Although we missed snaketails, we easily found a few male River Jewelwings. These elegant damselflies cavorted along the river’s edge. They occasionally fluttered their wings--apparently a territorial display directed toward other males, since we saw no females. When females are around, males will drop to the water and float past them, apparently communicating the habitat conditions (quality and current) of their territories. (Paulson 2009, 2019).