Nelson Nature NW: February 2013

Sunday, February 24, 2013

Gorge Climatology: Wildflower Quest

Gorge Climatology: Wildflower Quest on February 20th

The climate of the Columbia River Gorge is unique because it telescopes several climate zones into the space of 70 miles. It extends from the arid, warm east-side near The Dalles, OR to the center of the rain forest near Cascades Locks, OR to the temperate west-side at Portland. The annual rainfall numbers are startling. Portland gets 37 inches of rain a year, while The Dalles gets 14 inches and Cascade Locks gets a whopping 76 inches!

With less rain and more sun, the east end of the Gorge tends to get warmer daytime temperatures. That’s why our pursuit of spring wildflowers begins along a region near Lyle, WA and Mosier, OR. Catherine Creek, just west of Lyle, seems to come to life first. With an open south-facing meadow, it catches the sun and gets the warmth of the river waters.

View of Catherine Creek from Memaloose Overlook

Last Wednesday, we checked on the progress of spring wildflowers in four more of our favorite places.

Map from: "Wildflowers of the Columbia Gorge", Russ Jolley

The first stop was Memaloose Overlook (part of Memaloose State Park). It is directly across the river from Catherine Creek. Like Catherine Creek it is a meadow with good sun exposure, but it is not tilted quite as favorably toward the sun and lags in flower development by a couple of weeks. Since there were only a few pitiful wind-whipped Grass Widows, we paused long enough to photograph the castle-like rocks on both sides of the Columbia.

And to take a look at the basaltic rocks along the path down to the rest area at Memaloose State Park. We saw these tiny Cladonia lichen which look like miniature golf tees.

We moved on to Tom McCall Preserve. This perpetually windy spot gets plenty of sun but is harsh for plants because of its exposure to the river winds. Before we opened the car doors we spotted this squirrel with its unique white eye ring sitting on the ground as though praying. It is a Douglas’ Squirrel. Usually he stays in the nearby Doug Fir forests.

We spotted a few hardy Grass Widows.

Then we were treated to an aerial display by a beautiful Red-tailed Hawk.

Next we drove over to the north side of the Columbia to Washington. Just east of Lyle is the trailhead for the Cherry Orchard Trail. In the parking area at the bottom of the rocks was a wild cucumber vine ( J-600). ). It had found a secluded niche in the rocks and was growing rapidly.

The first quarter mile of the trail goes through a small oak savannah. We climbed up the steep slope to the sign-in, and then out to a basaltic outcrop where the pink Columbia Gorge Parsley was blooming at the base of this giant fortress-like stone formation.

But the highlight was the discovery of a couple of Yellow Bells (J-28). These dainty lilies are harbingers of their cousins the Chocolate Lilies and Glacier Lilies. We will return here often in coming weeks looking for them.

Finally, we moved on to another rocky area, the trailhead of the Labyrinth Trail. On our way we spotted Mt Hood. Its sides were being lapped at by wispy fast-moving storm clouds. The mountain was our weather forecast.

The Labyrinth Trail starts out following the Old Highway 14. It was blasted out of a basalt cliff and is now abandoned and left for hikers to enjoy. Water tumbles over the top and seeps through cracks in the rock. During the summer Ravens and Cliff Swallows make their home here. But for now it is the quiet determination of the lichens and moss and the stonecrop (J-197ff) which are beginning to come to life.

The weather here is doing its usual dance – two steps toward the warmth and one step back to cold. Forty-eight hours after we left, this area received a dusting of snow. But we’ll be back in two weeks to check on progress.

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Monday, February 18, 2013

Wildflowers in the Columbia Gorge

Catherine Creek, east of Bingen Washington, is one of the first places that wildflowers start blooming in spring. We saw our first crocus-like Grass Widow blooming there on January 16th this year. But on February 15th we returned to the area on a sunny day, and what a difference a month made! We got photos of 11 different wildflowers in bloom either at Catherine Creek, or at a basaltic rock outcrop to the east of Major Creek Road.

Grass Widow
Sysyrinchum douglasii (RJ 47)*
Lewis & Clark called them "Satin Flowers"

Narrow-Leaved Montia
Montia linearis (RJ 102)
These are tiny: the plant is only about 2 inches tall.

Spring Whitlow-grass

Drabna verna (RJ 180)

Another tiny plant, in the Mustard Family.

Northwestern Saxifrage

Saxifraga integrifolia (RJ 219)

Leaves are eggshaped and mostly smooth.

Salt & Pepper

Lomatium piperi (RJ 397)

Very tiny--white and dark purple.

Western Buttercup

Ranunculus occidentalis (RJ 145)

Shiny yellow, growing under oaks in a moist area near a frog pond

where the bullfrogs were loudly singing their courtship songs.

Smooth Desert Parsley

Lomatium laevigatum (RJ 391)

Looks kind of like a yellow Queen Ann's Lace--in the same family.

It sprouts out of the basalt rocks.

Columbia Gorge Desert Parsley

Lomatium columbianum (RJ 388)

These pink flowers come up even beore their leaves.

This plant is found only in the Columbia Gorge.

Smooth Prairie Star

Lithophragma glabra (RJ 207)

Pink fringed petals emerge from little red bulblets.

Western Saxifrage

Saxifraga occidentalis (RJ 221)

This saxifrage has toothed leaves and was growing in the basalt rock.

Gold Star

Crocidium multicaule (RJ 696)

As bright as sunshine, soon this little flower will cover large areas.

* References in parenthesis are to the plant number in Russ Jolley's classic Wildflowers of the Columbia Gorge.

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Sunday, February 17, 2013

Macro Photos

In January Tom discovered that his telephoto lense was damaged and he took it in to be repaired, only to discover that the part had to be backordered. So, during January he took a lot of closeup pictures. He got a ring flash to take better pictures in the forest.

If there is one thing we have a lot of in Oregon in January, it is water.

You can almost feel the surface tension in this droplet of water. The drop forms a lense through which the tall trees in the background are visible, upside-down!

(To see details of these photos, click on them to make them larger.)

There also are a lot of mushrooms, large and small.

And a lot of tiny green plants that we don't look at close-up very often, but are beautiful.

Snowberry with dewdrop.

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Saturday, February 16, 2013

New Bluff Trail

The Oaks Bottom Wildlife Refuge is a 170 acre complex of meadows, woodlands and wetlands on the east bank of the Willamette River just north of the Sellwood Bridge. The refuge is the largest remaining natural area within the lower Willamette River floodplain.

Recently the 1.1 mile long trail along the bluff was regraded and 900 feet of boardwalk was added over wet areas.

The new observation deck is well-positioned to take advantage of views over the slough channels.

The boardwalk goes right under the beautiful mural painted on the back of the mausoleum. The beaver is larger than life!

To prove that beaver really do live here, they have chewed down a tree right along the trail, leaving their teethmarks for all to see.

Don't have to worry about the rains and the wet areas any more.

Beautiful stonework too.

These pictures were taken on January 2, 2013. The grand re-opening of the trail will be on Saturday, March 9th. There will be tent set up with a display of photos of animals and birds that inhabit Oaks Bottom. Nelson Nature Photography photos will be featured.

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Nelson Nature NW

Nelson Nature NW is nature photographer Tom Nelson and his wife Marianne. We would like to share our photgraphs of the beauty of nature in the Pacific Northwest.

We live in Portland ner Oaks Bottom Wildlife Refuge, and walk it almost daily. Our favorite place to hike is the Columbia Gorge, where on January 16th the little Grass Widow wildflowers were starting to bloom.

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