Sweet-scented Bedstraw
Galium triflorum
This is a fairly common plant along Indian River. I also noticed it growing abundantly along the road between Herring Cove and Bear Cove. It’s common name comes from the sweet smell it has when bruised. The smell comes from coumarins the plant produces.
Lincoln’s Sparrow
Melospiza lincolnii
I mainly notice these birds in the muskegs and in other open areas around town such Starrigavan Estuary, Swan Lake, and the airport runway. They have a nice song. I was able to get a recording of a bird singing last summer, but I’ve not yet managed to find motivation to work with sounds too much yet. Perhaps in the next year I’ll get better at that.
Hoverfly
Meliscaeva cinctella
This fly was apparently eating the pollen from the Cow Parsnip flowers. It is a species of hoverfly, but I don’t know of any more specific common name. Thanks to Martin Hauser via bugguide.net for the identification.
Beaked Sedge
Carex rostrata
I’m not absolutely confident in this identification. There are probably about two dozen species of Carex in the Sitka area. Many of them look somewhat similar, and good photos are sometimes hard to find. These particular plants were growing in a low spot near the bike path out Sawmill Creek Road. It was not an area where there was standing water, though I suspect in wetter conditions there might be.
Pearly Everlasting
Anaphalis margaritacea
I have only ever noticed this plant growing along roads, so it must not mind disturbed areas with lots of light. I am not sure where or how often it can be found in areas of non-manmade disturbance.
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