Recently added whimsy along Herring Cove Trail
Overcast and breezy, occasional light rain mixing with snow in places.
Today’s main outing was a hike up Herring Cove and around Beaver Lake loop.
Pleurozia purpurea is a fairly distinctive mostly purple liverwort which is common found in boggy conditions in this area. It was not the one I was seeking on this particular day, but I was happy to find this nice patch.
I had been told of a liverwort species found along the trail which I was motivated to look for.
Kitty joined me and we started up just after 11am.
It was windy and light snow fell, though we were mostly protected from that in the forest.
I can’t remember the last time I went up the trail, but it was certainly no more recently than last fall.
Friendly greetings in the cut ends where a fallen tree was cleared away from the trail this einter
In the time since, it was clear at least a couple of trails had fallen across the trail and been cut back. I don’t know if it was a local trail enthusiast, or someone working for the Forest Service or Sitka trail works. In any case, they added some whimsy to the cut ends. As usual, I documented it to join my collection of trail whimsy photos.
Looking across Beaver Lake towards the upper end
Wind was blowing snow drifts across the lake, but we walked the loop anyway. It turned out to not be as windy as I would have guessed through the muskeg portion. It was still enough along with chilly temperatures and snow on the ground and in the air to discourage me from looking too hard for the liverwort I was after.
Ice is beginning to retreat from the upper shoreline of Beaver Lake
It’s easy to forget that winter takes longer to transition at Beaver Lake. Only a little bit of open water present at the upper end, otherwise it remained iced over. In some places where more had accumulated early in the winter, there was still a decent amount of snow remaining.
Malacodea pulchraria is a species that overwinters as a pupa and emerges early in the spring.
I did notice a moth fluttering under a long and was able to get some photos. Malacodea pulchraria is an early spring flyer. I’ve more typically found them in April, but on a couple of previous occasions seen them at the end of March (even in 2012, which was a cold year).
Ravens working the lawn, likely for cranefly larvae. I suspect the owl was put up in hopes of dissuading their efforts.
Back in town, I was amused to see ravens going at the lawn in front of the Pioneer Home. Someone had set up a cone with a fake owl on a stick. I’m assuming the groundskeeper was trying to discourage the ravens from ripping up the lawn. It’s the time of year when they go for cranefly larvae. My impression is they tend to focus on yards that are more mossy. They also don’t seem to hit the same yards every year. I wonder if abundance varies from lawn to lawn and year to year.
Not long after getting back home. One of my neighbors from around the corner came and knocked on my door, excited about a big bird she had seen in the trees up the street. It turned out to be an adult Northern Goshawk. It flew up to a higher perch, then moved on shortly after we got there to look at it. I was happy to get to see it. They are around, but not infrequently seen (at least by me).
We had a good turnout (12) at ultimate this evening. The gusty wind made things a little challenging at times, however.
My iNaturalist Observations for Today
