I will be revising these collections when I am able to get photographs of new subjects or better images of previous subjects. To make it easier to find the revisions without searching through the entire collections, I will keep a running list of updates on this page as well as adding the new images to the original collections.
7/30/24
Although the birds are continuing to be elusive, I was able to capture a few new species: Pine Siskin, Mourning Dove, Tree Swallow, Bewick's Wren. Western Tanager, Swainson's Thrush and Rock Pigeon. I also added new images of a House Finch, Common Yellow Throat, Pelagic Cormorant, female Black-headed Grosbeak and Hairy Woodpeckers.
Pine Siskin
Mourning Dove
Tree Swallow
Bewick's Wren
Bewick's Wren
Western Tanager
Swainson's Throush
Rock Pigeon
House Finch
Common Yellowthroat
Pelagic Cormorant
Black-headed Grosbeak (f)
Hairy Woodpecker
Hairy Woodpecker
With the scarcity of birds I have been paying more attention to insects. Although we have an abundance of paper wasps and yellow jackets which like to nest on our buildings I finally photographed and identified them. I also started to take notice of the many dragonflies which are especially present at the Hummel Lake dock. I did capture images of a couple of butterflies in our garden but hope to see a lot more.
Aerial Yellowjacket
European Paper Wasp
Dot-tailed Whiteface
Blue Dasher
Eight-spotted Skimmer
Cabbage Butterfly
Lorquin's Admiral
While going out almost daily in search of birds I often encounter new specimens in the other categories. This month I found an immense "The Prince" mushroom at the Richardson Marsh. I also added images of a Moon Jelly fish, Yerba Buena flower, nicely arranged Ocean Spray leaves, Coralroot seed heads and a double trunked Douglas Fir.
The Prince
Moon Jelly
Yerba Buena
Ocean Spray
Coralrrot
Douglas Fir
6/30/24
The birds have continued to play hard to get but that makes it all that much more exciting when I am able to photograph something new. This month I was able to add Anna's Hummingbird, Wilson's Snipe, Olive-sided Flycatcher, House Wren, Western Wood-Pewee, Purple Martins, Purple Finch, Rough-winged Swallow, Barred Owl and Common Yellowthroat Warbler. I also added better images of an Orange-crowned Warbler, Bushtit and House Finch.
Anna's Hummingbird
Wilson's Snipe
Olive-sided Flycatcher
House Wren
Western Wood-Pewee
Purple Martins
Rough-winged Swallow
Barred Owl
Common Yellowthroat
Orange-crowned Warbler
House Finch
Purple Finch
Bushtit
While walking at Iceberg Point during the super low tides I had a close encounter with a mink who was kind enough to pose for photos. Coincidentally, I had encountered a raccoon the same morning while birding. Clearly they were feeling neglected so I have added a new category, Other Wildlife, which will include mammals, amphibians and any other creatures that don't fit in the other categories. I was able to add images of our local rabbit and deer around our garden and I encountered a nest of young chipmunks while birding at Richardson Marsh.
Raccoon
Mink
Townsend's Chipmunk
European Rabbit
Columbian Black-tailed deer
Pacific Chorus Frog
Although I have been focusing (pun intended) on birds I did add a few images in other categories, including a Blood star embracing a whelk shell, some sleeping Harbor Seals, a cockle shell in the Marine Life album and a Pacific Forktail in the Insects album.
Blood star
Harbor seals
Nuttall's cockle
Pacific Forktail
6/1/24
Although it has continued to be much easier for Merlin to hear new birds than for me to see them, I have been able to add several new species: Townsends Solitaire, Caspian Tern, Osprey, Chipping Sparrow, Red Crossbill, Brown-headed Cowbird, Barn Swallow, Cedar Waxwing, Orange-crowned Warbler, Black-headed Grosbeak, Willow Flycatcher and Wilson's Warbler. I have also added new images of birds that were previously included: Rufous Hummingbird, Yellow-rumped Warbler, Killdeer chick, Fledging Red-wing Blackbirds, female Red-winged Blackbird, Downy Woodpecker, Hairy Woodpecker, Song Sparrow, White-crowned Sparrow with worm, Dunlin and a Great Blue Heron in flight.
In the May wildflower album I added Stinging Nettles and Yellow Pond Lily. In the Fungi album I added an Amianta and a cup mushroom. Madrona Murphy kindly reviewed my wildflower collections and made several corrections to the identifications and to the native/non-native classifications.
Greater White-fronted Geese
Townsend's Solitaire
Caspian Tern
Caspian Tern
Osprey
Chipping Sparrow
Red Crossbill
Brown-headed Cowbird
Barn Swallows
Cedar Waxwing
Orange-crowned Warbler
Black-headed Grosbeak
Willow Flycatcher
Wilson's Warbler
Rufous Hummingbird
Rufous Hummingbird
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Killdeer chick
Fledging Red-winged Blackbirds
Female Red-winged Blackbird
Hairy Woodpecker
Hairy Woodpecker
Song Sparrow
White-crowned Sparrow
Dunlin
Great Blue Heron
Cup fungus
Amianta
Yellow Pond Lily
Stinning Nettles
4/24/24
I have been gradually adding images to almost all of the categories as well as adding a new collection of Ferns.
Although there are many new birds showing up for Spring I am finding them to be very illusive. The Sound ID on the Merlin app is discovering so many more species than I can find with my camera. I have been able to add Rufous Hummingbird, Wood Ducks, Yellow-rumped warbler, Violet-green swallow, Eurasion Collared-dove and both a Common Loon and a pair of Horned Grebes in breeding plumage. I also included new images of a singing Savannah Sparrow and Dark-eyed Junco.
I have decided to include wildflower images in each month that they appear so a species may show up in more than one month.
Wood Ducks
Common Loon
Horned Grebes
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Violet-green Swallow
Rufous Hummingbird
Eurasian Collared-dove
Dark-eyed Junco
Savannah Sparrow
Common Goldeneyes
2/28/24
Since making this website public on 2/17/24 I have been immersed in the amazing and confusing world of lichens. On the site I have now separated the Mosses and Lichens into their own collections and added many new lichen photos. I also added fivemoss images and three new fungi species to those photo grids.
We had a small flock of bushtits stop by our property and I captured an image of one hanging from rose hips which I added to the Passerine collection.
Bushtit
Pine Bracket
Lichen Agaric
Red-belt Conk
Hair-cap Moss
Menzie's Tree Moss
Cattail Moss
