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Daisy
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BrownsBay
@brownsbay@pnw.zone
mastodon 4.7.3Retired environmental scientist/geologist. Amateur naturalist. Cycle, hike, ski. Dad/hub 36 years. Left of center. I'm the original inventor of avocado toast. I take pictures and share them (all are mine, all rights reserved).
Snohomish County, WA
430 Followers
720 Following
40 Posts
Joined December 26, 2022
My iNaturalist Observations:
Daily Kos:
Washington Trails Association:
Saturday my wife came up with a great idea to take the new light rail line (the 2 Line) into downtown Redmond. So, we did. We had coffee at Victor's, walked around, then ate lunch at Palmer Bar & Grill. On the return trip, we got off at the South Bellevue Station and walked around the Mercer Slough Nature Park. We spotted a garter snake and got eaten alive by mosquitoes. Back on the train for home. Good views of downtown Seattle. #PNW #SoundTransit #nature #photography #Seattle #Bellevue #city
A sure sign of spring here in the western Washington lowlands is when the pink blossoms of salmonberry open up. #salmonberry #nature #flowers #pink #PNW #photography
At Mount St. Helens last weekend. #photography #nature #volcano #geology #PNW #outdoors #landscape #MSHI #MountStHelens
Met friends for dinner at Ivar's in Mukilteo last Sunday. We walked around after dinner. Lots of families out walking, sitting around beach fires (they have fire rings there). Chilly and breezy. Cool light house. #lighthouse #photography #PNW #Mukilteo
Rolling through my bird photos for the month, those that show up at our bird feeders. The Steller's Jay always a favorite. They have personality. They come for the peanuts, grab one and fly away with it to hide it. #nature #birds #photography #jay #StellersJay #PNW #birdphotography
We have a bumper crop of raspberries. This is just the start. We're eating fresh and freezing the rest. #food #raspberries #homegrown #berries #fruit #photography
Friday's bicycle ride on the Mountain Loop Highway. Started from Verlot, up to Barlow Pass, and back to Verlot. Mountains, rivers, forest, and the "Red Bridge." Passed by Big Four Mountain and the dangerous Ice Caves. The road up was not busy. It's not steep, just a relentless gradual climb, especially the last five miles. #bicycling #cycling #PNW #mountains #Cascades
We had house guests last week (my BIL & SIL) from North Carolina. So, we did the obligatory Pike Place Market tour. Seems like every photo I see of the market looks cliche. But here goes anyway. #Seattle #PikePlaceMarket #PNW #market #photography
I went clamming last Thursday over at Shine Tidelands State Park on the Hood Canal. I got my limit of 40 clams in 15 minutes, 40 nice Manila clams. Other creatures were revealed during clam digging like a big pile worm. Oyster shooters with vodka and cocktail sauce. Ice cream at the Port Gamble general store on the way back. I prepared the clams in some boiling chicken broth and white wine seasoned with diced shallots and garlic. #outdoors #PNW #outdoorlife #food
I photographed this eastern cottontail rabbit in my next door neighbor's yard a couple days ago. These bunnies are not native to Washington State. They were introduced presumably for hunting. They eat plants, garden plants and leafy vegetables like lettuce in our vegetable garden. My two dogs will catch one occasionally. We have coyotes in the area, too. But they breed like rabbits. #nature #photography #mammals #rabbit
Up near Mount St. Helens. Chocolate cake and zinfandel is a pretty good combo. The third and last Certified Volcano Naturalist field trip is tomorrow then graduation. #stilllife #wine #food #cake #books #photography #mountsthelens
Walking in downtown Edmonds a couple days ago I spotted this beautiful tuxedo tabby sitting inside a window. #caturday #cats #pets #photography #Edmonds
Chilly Hilly yesterday, the ever popular opener to bicycle season. Over a thousand cyclers rode this year, a tribute to Seattle bike culture. I rode light rail down from Lynnwood Station. Not one cycler did I see riding the train. I know parking is free downtown on Sunday , but c'mon people, it's war on cars. Anyway, I had no mojo, not even for the 22 mile short route, which I did. It started raining at mile 13, so I was glad to wrap it up early. #ChillyHilly #cycling #Seattle #bike
I was out on a long neighborhood walk with my two dogs and noticed dandelions are opening up and bees are awake. #nature #photography #bee #yellow #spring #insect #dandelion #PNW
I think of flower photos as somewhat cliche, including this camellia flower. But there is more behind this flower than a simple flower. It's in the plant itself. Camellias are evergreen shrubs that bloom late winter into early spring into a variety of flower colors, white to pink to red shades. They can grow into small trees. They are strong plants, almost indestructible. They are in bloom all over the Seattle area. Everyone needs a camellia in their landscape. #flowers #photography
Today my wife and I set out to do a little hike at Dugualla State Park on Whidbey Is, an undeveloped park and the last State Park on Whidbey that we hadn't yet visited. We park at the trailhead, the only access into the park. There is an abandoned junky SUV in the lot, already tagged by the Sheriff. A guy sleeping in his car, still sleeping there 3 hrs later. Post hike we head to Langley for lunch. My wife notices my gas filler door has been jimmied. Apparently a siphon attempt. Ugh!
Excavation at a development site in Lynnwood, WA shows stratigraphy from the recent past, geologically speaking. An over 3,000 foot thick ice sheet covered the area that melted away 12,000 years ago. The lower dark gray layer is till, a mix of clay, silt, sand, gravel, etc. that was smeared and packed under the ice sheet as it advanced. Very dense. Above that is some clay/silt sand/gravel, not as dense, may be weathered till or outwash. The contact is abrupt. #geology #Pleistocene #glacier
Replying to
@flipper@mastodonapp.uk The neighborhood crow gangsters show up and hog all the peanuts until I walk out and chase them away. They come right back when the coast is clear. They think they own the place.
Last night we saw Delfeayo Marsalis & the Uptown Jazz Orchestra at Edmonds Center for the Arts. Amazing show and musicians, two encores. Delfeayo introduced all the band members but I can't remember their names. Dinner was at Rory's. #music #jazz #Edmonds #ECA #photography
Well, I'm signed up for the Chilly Hilly ... again. Since showers are forecasted, I'll ride my old Roubaix and not my brand new Diverge. The Roubaix is a comfortable steed and has served me well for 6 years. If the weather is dismal, I'll do the short 21 miler. In fact, I should do the short route since we have a show in Edmonds "Delfeayo Marsalis & the Uptown Jazz Orchestra" Taking light rail from Lynnwood to International. Not parking downtown. #cycling #ChillyHilly #jazz #PNW
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@mappingsupport@m.ai6yr.org 73.2°F at 5:30pm was the max today in Edmonds, 500 feet from the shore. It felt pretty warm. I'm staying on top of watering.
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@sunumbral@beige.party There are not many better places. My whole life on the west coast.
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@TheGreatLlama@kolektiva.social The CA Scrubs don't commonly range up to SW SnohoCo where I am. Pierce Co and south King Co seems to be as far north as they get in the Puget Lowland. This photo shows both birds in lower Icehouse Cyn-San Gabriel Mtns soCal at an elevation of 5000 ft. That's right about where chaparral favored by Scrubs transitions up into coniferous forest favored by Steller's. I was down there May 2022 on a work trip, goofing off with a hike in the mountains.
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@babababa@famichiki.jp It's just leafing out now. This is what it looked like a couple days ago.
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@babababa@famichiki.jp It's a Japanese maple (Acer palmatum). The variety is likely one named "Bloodgood." But there are so many different varieties of Japanese maple created for landscape, all sizes and a range of leaf colors. We have a "Bloodgood" in our yard, just now leafing out. The leaves are dark maroon in summer but turn brilliant scarlet in the fall. In winter the branch structure is beautiful. Our tree is probably about 50 years old based on the age of our house.
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@intrepidhero It was pretty cool to tour the cave with a small group. I understand that it gets crowded in summer. The cave itself is pretty amazing, bigger inside than I expected. The last Volcano Naturalist field trip is this Saturday doing the Hummocks Trail. I'm driving down south Friday and staying Friday night at Silver Lake. On the way down on Friday I'm planning to cycle the Tenino-Yelm trail and/or the Chehalis Western Trail.
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@intrepidhero Very nice. Spring conditions. I was just up that way March 1st with MSHI on a special hike into Ape Cave as part of the Volcano Naturalist program. I drove up to Cougar Sno-Park and that was pretty much where full snow coverage began.
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@DavidM_yeg@beige.party It's all pressure-treated dimensional lumber, except the decking and fascia are TimberTech. The balcony can hold a lot of weight, not that it ever does.
Rodney Crowell was Thursday night and Neko Case was last night; Edmonds Center for the Arts. Really nice shows, both. I'll post Rodney Crowell photos later. Photos at the Neko Case show were strictly verboten. I'm off to Mount St. Helens to hike Ape Cave tomorrow as the second of three field trips with the Volcano Naturalist program - Mount St. Helens Institute.
@timhopper I signed up and aced Nearctic birds, naturally. 👍
Replying to
@JauntyArt@crispsandwi.ch You can make big bucks sculpting with Babybel cheese wax. https://www.buzzfeed.com/babybelaunz/babybel-cheese-wax-sculpture-challenge
I know I'm getting old when I don't recognize any of the acts that just dropped on the 2026 Zoo Tunes lineup except for Ani DiFranco. #zootunes #Seattle #zoo #WoodlandParkZoo
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@BenjaminHCCarr This is great. I know a couple people who are disabled from the effects of Lyme disease.
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@agatesfrommexico@mastodon.social Yes! The recovery has enhanced and changed the science of ecology, particularly on theories of disruption and recovery. Read "After the Blast" by Eric Wagner. He was one of our lecturers in the Volcano Naturalist program. Obsidian does not occur naturally at MSH as far as I know. We spent a lot of time on geology in the program. Obsidian Dome near Mammoth Lakes, CA is one of the best places to see obsidian.