Overcast skies with rain developing later in the day. Temperatures in the 40s.
While on a call this morning I noticed White-cheeks the junco come to the porch feeder. I didn’t have my camear beside me, so was not able to document the occasion with a photo.
I didn’t make it out until later in the afternoon, fortunately before the rain started in earnest.
I decided to visit upper Cascade Creek. I can’t remember the last time I was there. Looking at photos, it may have been since 2019. This is much is longer than I would have guessed, and a good reminder how easy it is to let even easily accessible locations go too long without a visit.
I was feeling the soreness from running around at ultimate last night as I walked up the hill with my backpack. Fortunately, it’s a short one.
Radula multifida is a species of liverwort I've not previously observed
Just before the old dam, I noticed a very minor water course coming down a rock outcrop. I decided to check it out more closely.
I saw an unfamiliar looking thallose liverwort growing in a recessed hollow. Reviewing the options this evening, I’m pretty sure it’s Riccardia multifida.
This was only the second time I've found Hookeria acutifolia so far (though I may be overlooking it)
Under a nearby overhang, I found what I think is Hookeria acutifolia, only the second time I’ve found this one. It seems to be much less common than Hookeria lucens.
Along the rock outcrops beside the dam, I found more of the large (for a leafy liverwort) purple liverwort that I’m pretty sure is the same as one I found along Blue Lake road. I found just a strand of it that time. This time it was a branched strand, so somewhat more to look at, but still not much. Despite looking closely, I could not find anymore there.
Making my way up along the river above the dam, it occurred to me that without the dam this would all be part of a steep narrow gorge, much like the creek below the dam. Instead, there’s a reach of the stream that is a bit broader and easier to walk.
I looked a few places, and skipped a few others that would have required more wading than I was up to. I didn’t find too much that caught my attention until I was on my way back and noticed little black balls growing on some dead liverworts.
Perhaps a MIcarea lichen - more work will need to be done to get a species name to it.
I had the impression they were growing on rather than out of, so I wondered if they might be a lichen. I later noticed others growing in a similar manner, though in this case more on a algae/biofilm sort of stuff than bryophytes.
Before going home, I stopped by the channel. There were only a few gulls around (so last evening’s increases were apparently short-lived). Long-tailed Ducks and scaups haven’t headed out yet.
This evening I listened to a Sitka natural history seminar series talk about recent work that’s been done to map and better understand the Queen Charlotte/Fairweather fault system that runs offshore of Sitka.
My iNaturalist Observations for Today
Where is the entrance to walk up the river?
If you go up to the end of Cascade Creek Road, there’s a trailhead for the Cross Trail. Walk up from there, and instead of turning off on the cross trail, just keep heading up stream. You’ll end up by an WWII era dam which has filled up with rock behind it to make the (relatively short) section of stream that’s easily walkable.