Hamilton Wetlands and Forest

  Saturday saw us once again in the Hamilton Wetlands and Forest.  It was a somewhat warm day, humid, and smoky.  It's beginning to look increasingly autumnal.   The light in the forest brought foliage into brilliant relief. The young cascara seedlings have flourished this year. A nice batch of turkey tail polypores has appeared on this log. One of the most popular snags for feeding has come down near the path. We watched this hornets' nest grow to an ominous size throughout the summer.    There's no photo, but we came through on Sunday to find that it had been broken into and only the top was still suspended.  In hindsight, that bit of destruction, possibly by a woodpecker, was an event better unwitnessed.  The inhabitants almost certainly did not take kindly to having their housing project demolished.   Proximity to angry hornets is just not a desirable situation. The marsh is now mostly golden, and the hardhack and willow along its margins are drying. There is still wate

  Summer keeps its hold on the Forest and Wetlands, and indeed everywhere else. That said, there were more birds in evidence in our weekly visit than in previous weeks;  more about that to follow.  The light may have had a touch of the widespread haze from forest fires throughout the province.  Things did seem to have a slight reddish tinge.   I only learned recently that the forest was burnt when it was logged back in the 1920s.  Having learned that, I now notice that the stumps remaining from that clearcut all show signs of fire, unlike the more recent growth. A century later the diversity and resilience of the forest is evident even on a burnt stump, host to moss, dust lichen, and a young huckleberry.     Sometimes the fallen trees take on a sculptural quality. Apparently a very popular food stump among the woodpeckers has shrunk visibly in the past months. For contrast, the first photo was taken this May. And the second one (same stump)  mid-August. Some of the trees are showing a

  The "dog days" persist.  It's mostly quiet in the forest and marsh. The various berries in the forest seem to have all been harvested, presumably by birds -- bears tend to be messier in their harvests.  The salal, however, is becoming quite productive, and tasty. The mosses in the forest are flourishing.  I either have to learn more about them or bring someone along who knows mosses or more likely, both.  There are some beauties. The first two photos both show mosses and nurse stumps for other trees.    This one has a couple of tiny huckleberry bushes starting. Possibly a new alder? ...and two mosses with emerging sporophytes. The marsh remains quiet.  The bullfrog mating season must be at an end--we're not hearing them.  There are, however, smaller bullfrogs, not yet fully grown. I'm pretty sure this is a female, maybe four inches long.  The visible tympanic membrane is unique among frogs in this area.   Quite a few of them are visible just now--possibly a hatc

  As always, the forest welcomed us with its diversity of life, and with the play of light within it.  We had hoped to see the beginning of a shift toward autumn, with more bird species appearing.  That hasn't happened yet, apart from what I'd take to be a hatch of juvenile chickadees busily exploring the bushes.    The moss radiates the summer light. The first mushroom we've seen this season.  Here's hoping it's a harbinger of autumn. The Oregon grape is ripening and abundant. The forest is looking dry.   The leaves on this huckleberry bush are turning yellow--very early for the season. Bird activity continues.  A woodpecker has begun work on a new hole in this snag.  It looks like the work of a pileated woodpecker.  We've yet to see one, here, but there's plenty of evidence of their activities. Above the marsh, Mount Arrowsmith continues to shed its snowpack. The reeds and sedges in the marsh are turning golden, and the hardhack and willow around its edges