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
