Life on the Outer Coast

The mystery Scroph was Lagotis glauca, definitely in the Anderson's Flora of Alaska. According to Anderson it occurs most places in the state except southeast. Could be a good excuse for not recognizing it...

I think that it might have been almost two weeks ago that I found a kid's butterfly net at Ben Franklin's. It finally was used for its original purpose yesterday, the capture of a bluet. Not a surprise, but it is alot easier to catch one with a net than a jar. Jeff captured one between segments of the refresher lessons on power tool use that he has been giving me. The bluet went into the refrigerator for 3 hours. Took it out and put it under the dissecting scope. I used side lamp instead of the scope light in an attempt to have it warm up slowly (or not cook it). Within two minutes it was attempting to fly, thinking that it needed a longer chill, we re-captured it and refrigerated overnight. This morning it was equally quick to warm up. Not really a surprise, but I had hope. The drawing in the book was much clearer than the actual insect (again no surprise) but I believe that the appendages match those of the Northern better than those of the Boreal. The bluet got away from me in the house so I'll probably get another look at it when I find it in a few days on the window sill.

The Vaccinium parvifolium berries are just turning red in the area of the garden where the waxwing and thrushes were hanging out. I'm surprised that the berries with the northwestern exposure are the first here to ripen.

Finally noticed the earliest of the Amanitas along the boardwalk. There are two individuals of the species I've been calling A. vaginata. It it a light grey-brown on the cap with pronounced striations at the margin. There isn't an annulus. The volva is saccate and not attached along the stipe. It's rather easy to miss without digging into the soil around the base. This species is probably part of a species complex that needs some study.

The hummingbirds are still thick in the garden. They continue their disinterest in the feeder, but spend alot of time in the flowers. One individual sits on a stem of an ornamental grass and visits the few remaining flowers of the columbines that are within reach.

The marbled murrelet count has varied between 8 and 14 individuals the last two days. The phalaropes seem to have disappeared from my path again.