Diario de jenstr

Lots of fascinating life out in the lower intertidal zone visible the last couple of days during the very low tides (-3.5 or more) over the last couple of days. I was able to go out with a group from my Naturalist course on Sunday at Constellation Park at Alki, and had so much fun I popped down to Golden Gardens this morning as well.

Constellation is clearly the best "bang for buck" tidal exploring due to a long rock jetty that protrudes well into the water even at very low tide, allowing for several different species to find hidden-holes and rocky areas on which to hold. I found several Lined Chitons early on, which then people were teasing me about, as I was always the one to spot them. We found the beautiful blue undershell of a deceased Mossy Chiton, something I've never seen. I also lucked into finding a Horned Nudibranch turning over a Moon Snail Egg Case - luckily Renee was right there to help me ID the nudie and share it around. I came home with a lot of questions about different types of seaweed and a strong wish to get more educated about the animals and algae that live in our intertidal zone.

I was intrigued that we found relatively few Orange Sea Cucumbers at Constellation, but lots of chiton. Whereas at Golden Gardens we found an absolute plethora of Cukes but very few chiton. Trying to consider what the differences might be. The Constellation beach faces south and there were several rocks all together in the breakwater. At GG the rocks are quite scattered and the beach faces north. I'd love to know what kinds of conditions favor each species.

Last week we had the opportunity to join several friends at what is best described as adult summer camp out on Hood Canal, near Belfair. Not many observations from there, as it was no-phone time, but a couple of great finds. One was that with Belfair State Park at the very shallow and long end of the canal, the temp of the salt water was in the upper 60s (to my feel) near shore, and over 70 at the surface. For those of us used to the Puget Sound, that's warm indeed. It was also extremely salty, and very little grew in the water or on the shore. It occurred to me that such conditions were perfect for "sea beans", so when I dried off, I walked over to a patch of green, and voila, there they were! Found in iNat as "pickleweeds" and known as Salicornia. State park, so no foraging, but I hope to find a good, accessible patch someday a bit earlier in the season to take some home.

Heading out of Belfair, I saw a terrific Virginia Tiger Moth who stayed still and let me get nice and personal for a series of photos. We drove north along the canal, through Poulsbo and Kingston and all the way to Hansville where we visited the Foulweather Bluff Nature Preserve and Point No Point. Happy to see some of my favorite mollusk shells on the beach and to observe tiny berries blooming on the native blackberry. And some absolutely gorgeous Madrone. Osprey entertained us at PNP, joining in for the start of Salmon season, and I finally learned what those yellow beach "thistles" are.

It's been a blast to explore around my own neighborhood lately - one because there are so many wonderful insects visiting my flowering herbs, and two because I've acquired a digital microscope and am learning how to start preparing specimens and exploring the micro-world. There's nothing like watching a protozoan attack something else, repeatedly, until that thing falls apart and you aren't sure what you just saw!

Nevertheless, I made some guesses in the hopes someone will correct/guide me.