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Author Archives: Teri J Pieper

Early Spring at Big Valley

The girls and I went to Big Valley this afternoon for a walk in the woods. The snow has melted as fast as it arrived. Remember – we were walking all through January and part of February before the big snows finally fell on us and now the trail is dry and the cottonwoods are beginning to leaf out. No flowers up there yet but there will be soon. Big Valley was a good choice because I strained my lower back last Friday and only feel comfortable walking on level ground. Any hills or rough terrain are really challenging. The dogs and I need some exercise and Big Valley is good for all of us with easy access to the river for them to swim and birds for me to see and hear.

A walk in the woods
Another day another stick
Sky took Luna’s stick and then a game of chase was started
Here they come
Look out, she’s dangerous with a stick.
And back again
Through the trees
Tug of war.
The river is rising
Water birch log underwater with reflections. You probably had to be there.
A giant puffball from last year?
She could be on a magazine cover someday.
Texture of the puffball
What is on these aspens?
Fungi on a dead cottonwood
Another fungi
No trail sweep here, or so they say. Don’t worry, I picked up all of her sticks and tossed them off the trail.
That is not one of Sky’s sticks.
Through the pine forest
At home the serviceberry is starting to bloom.
The first balsamroot blooming at home

Clouds Backlit by the Moon

Sadly on the night of the 14th, clouds obscured the lunar eclipse at my house. I had hoped to watch and make some nice images. Oh well.

Last night I was out with the dogs and noticed that clouds were once again obscuring the moon but the moonlight was shining behind them, highlighting the edges and the sky that was not cloud-covered. Stars and planets adorned the dark sky too. The tripod was still handy from the night before so I went out in the cold to see what I could get.

These images represent the changing light as the clouds, the moon and the earth moved.

I am lucky to live in a place where light pollution has not yet overcome our night skies and seeing the stars and planets is a normal occurrence.

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Sky Goes Swimming

Sky swam a little bit in the river late this winter but just for short distances and not very much. On a warm day this week I took her and Luna to one of the few thawed lakes to see if she really liked swimming. She’s a labrador puppy and indeed she likes swimming and took to it naturally as we expected. She is nearly eight months old and weighs sixty pounds. I had hoped for dog that weighed no more than fifty. So much for that idea. She is all muscle and a beauty of a dog. And a natural swimmer.

Sky splashed a lot in the beginning til she figured out that did not have to work that hard
There were two toys but they always seemed to want the same one
Luna leads the way
Sky is catching her already
There are easier ways to carry the toy
Luna is looking for the toy
Got it.
Sky wants it.
Ironically, Luna did this to Sam for years. It wasn’t til Sam was older that Luna could get the toys from her.
Like everything she does, Sky approached swimming with enthusiasm.
Wagging while swimming.
I can’t find it.
That’s easier
I’m bringing it to you.
On the shore she quivered with excitement.
I had to make the dog wait, throw the toy AND I had to get the picture.
Fun times ahead.

 

Wildflower Watchers

You’ve no doubt heard of bird watchers who enjoy birding but do you know that there are folks who botanize? Folks that will spend hours kneeling on the ground, looking at tiny plants and referring to big books with small print in hopes of keying the individual plant out to its species? I took a botany class sponsored by the Methow Conservancy this winter in hopes of at least being able to figure out the genus of plants I find in the wild. For me to determine the species on my own is often too much to expect. Making it even more difficult is the ‘powers that be’ in the botany world recently reorganized the plant families, moving them around in a manner that doesn’t even seem to make much sense to the local experts in the field. So any field guides that are now in hand are out of date with the current information. This happens in the bird world also. Whenever a new birding field guide comes out, the species are in a different order and some species are split and some are lumped. With flowers, there are so many more species to learn that it becomes an even greater challenge.

All that being said, our botany class went on a field trip this past weekend to the lower Grand Coulee area. It’s a little warmer down there although it did not feel like it on Saturday and it gets less snow so the flowers are ahead of what we are seeing here in the Methow Valley. It is an area of dramatic basalt coulees dotted with many lakes and seeps. The habitat is primarily shrub-steppe with sagebrush being the dominant plant. We stopped first at Dry Falls to look at plants of the lithosol (thin rocky soil) habitat. Then we went to Lake Lenore Caves and also Sun Lakes State Park to see a dry vernal pond and to observe the Hooker’s Balsamroot.

I have named these plants to the best of my abilities. There may be errors in spelling and species.

A small yellow desert-parsley, maybe Lomatium triternatum
Nodding onion? Alium sp. I could not find this in my field guide.
Sagebrush violet, Viola trinervata
One of the wild onions, alium sp.
Dry Falls
The rugged landscape of the lower Grand Coulee
Wooly-pod locoweed or milkvetch, Astragalus purshii
Chocolate tips, Lomatium dissectum
Basin giant rye in front of a basalt cliff
How many lichen species are on this rock face?
Wildflower watchers often do not get very far up the trail
Leahe examines a wax currant flower
This was interesting. A plant not in bloom but the dried seed pods were present from last year and then we found this one with new leaves. It is a paintbrush, desert or Thompson’s? Castilleja sp.
An insect gall on big sagebrush, Artemesia tridentata.
Wax currant, previously referred to as squaw currant, Ribes cereum.
Serviceberry, Amelanchier alnifolia
Serviceberry blooming in the coulee
Purple sage, Salvia dorrii. It is in the mint family.
Close-up of purple sage
Poison ivy
One of the famous Lake Lenore Caves. They are more like basalt overhangs or shelters.
A comparison of golden currant and wax currant
Currants growing at the base of a basalt cliff
Mock orange, not yet blooming. Philadelphus lewisii
I think this is Dwarf hesperochiron, Hesperochiron pumilus
Dry salt grass indicates a very alkaline soil. This location was a dried vernal pond.
Death camas, Zygadenus venenosus
I am not sure what this is. Its leaves resemble columbine and also meadowrue but the habitat did not seem right for either one to me.
Goldenweed, Haplopapus sp
Hooker’s Balsamroot, Balsamorhiza hookeri
This balsamroot differs from the one we see here with a more delicate flower and the divided leaves
Hooker’s Balsamroot, Balsamorhiza hookeri

Random Images

There was a nice morning walk with the dogs. I saw quite a few bird species – the most so far this spring. Here is the list:

Canada Goose
Mallard
Dusky Grouse
Northern Harrier
Red-tailed Hawk
Mourning Dove
Rufous Hummingbird
Hairy Woodpecker
Northern Flicker
Pileated Woodpecker
Say’s Phoebe
Black-billed Magpie
Clark’s Nutcracker
Common Raven
Tree Swallow
Violet-green Swallow
Black-capped Chickadee
Mountain Chickadee
Pygmy Nuthatch
Western Bluebird
American Robin
European Starling
Spotted Towhee
Brewer’s Sparrow
Dark-eyed Junco
Red-winged Blackbird
Western Meadowlark
Cassin’s Finch
Red Crossbill
American Goldfinch

Then a brief stop at a yard sale and a walk through Winthrop looking for images.

A good morning
The currants are leafing out
Ponderosa pines in the morning sun
A true garage sale find. I did not buy this.
Violets in bloom in a Winthrop alley