Hooray! I have a few contributions now, so I can put one up today. These photos are from ecologist and UC Davis professor Susan Harrison, who gives us mostly plants instead of birds—though there’s a bird or four in there. Her comments and IDs are indented, and you can enlarge the photos by clicking on them.
Second Spring 2023
One of the best parts of having a home-away-from-home in mountainous southern Oregon, as my spouse and I are fortunate to have, is getting to partake of the best part of the year twice. In early June, as lowland California was turning brown and the birding was slowing down, I started wandering around the various 5,000-7,000’ peaks surrounding Ashland. Here are a few of the abundant wildflowers that were just starting to bloom and birds that were just starting to breed.
Calypso Orchid or Fairy Slipper (Calypso bulbosa):
Henderson’s Fawn Lily (Erythronium hendersoni):
Klamath Fawn Lily (Erythronium klamathese):
Dwarf Hesperochiron (Hesperochiron pumilus):
Trillium, also called Wake Robin (Trillium ovatum):
Great Polemonium, also called Royal Jacob’s Ladder (Polemonium carneum):
Balsamroot (Balsamorhiza deltoidea):
Thicket Hairstreak (Callophrys spinetorum) on Lamb’s-tongue Groundsel (Senecio integerrimus):
Green-Tailed Towhee (Pipilo chlorurus):
Cassin’s Finch (Haemorhous cassinii) gathering material for her nest:
Nashville Warbler (Leiothlypis ruficapilla), an abundant but elusive singer in oak woodlands:
Hermit Warbler (Setophaga occidentalis), an abundant but elusive singer in conifer forests:
A very interesting set!
Thank you so much, these are lovely!
Gorgeous photos! I especially love seeing the plants and birds of that area in the west since they are quite different from those here in south central PA.
Beautiful!
I’m especially impressed with the warbler pics, because these are very difficult-to-photograph species! Lovely wildflower photos too.
The Calypso orchid is one of the prettiest in North America. Lovely photo.
Thanks, Lou (and others)! I didn’t say this in time yesterday, but I learned a lot from your eloquent comment on eponymns. It always seemed a little anachronistic to me to “award” an animal or plant’s name to a human, but if naming is a resource that helps conservation, especially in disadvantaged parts of the world — yes, it is way worth it.