Pictures from a couple of different trips to and through Totem Park.
invertebrates
Starrigavan and Sea Mart
Made a brief trip out the road today. Highlights include 4 Trumpeter Swans swimming up to the river’s edge at Starrigavan to see if we had any handouts. Also noticed 5 or more Gadwall – a fairly high number for Sitka in any season, but especially winter.
The view from Sea Mart’s parking lot can be pretty stunning – though it was fairly muted today. I suspect most people primarily think of the view to the west out over the sound with Mt. Edgecumbe rising above the lowlands of a distant Kruzof Island. While that is no doubt the more striking view, a look inland reveals Harbor Mountain looming above in a view that isn’t too shabby either.
This evening I took a photo of one of the moths we accumulated last summer/fall.
Gallery: 20101126 Operophtera bruceata
Update: After taxonomic revisions, these are better known as Operophtera occidentalis Rowan pointed out a moth on the side of a house and then we noticed there were several more. I was able to get these pictures of two different individuals. With help from bugguide.net they have been identified as the Winter Moth (Operophtera bruceata) … Read more
Bored Alder
While helping with environmental survey work at Blue Lake a couple of summers ago, this alder branch broke along where we had cut a trail through an avalanche path brush field adjacent to Blue Lake Creek. I am not sure what created the bore hole, but my guess is a beetle of some sort. It … Read more
Gold Beetle (Lioligus nitidus)
This photo is from a hike up Indian River in 2006. I noticed a metallic gold beetle crawling on the zipper of my backpack while stopped for a break. Only recently did I get around to posting it on bugguide.net, where it was quickly identified as Lioligus nitidus by v belov, who noted it was … Read more
Thallophaga hyperborea
In May Connor found and brought me this Thallophaga hyperborea which had been crawling up a stake he had pounded in the ground. It seemed a strange place to find a moth, but upon learning its identity (via bugguide.net) and reading a little about the life history, it made more sense. Larvae of this species … Read more