We decided to spend some time on the lower section of the Swamp Park trail, so we crossed the stream (did some rock hopping a bit upriver) and slowly wandered down the hill, getting off the trail in several spots to look at the river.
An exquite Sego Lily
Doh! Occupied! Having to wait in line
The first river stop was an overlook from a cliff.
It's hard to see, but this small bird on the rock is a Water Ouzel (also called an American Dipper). In spite of how quickly the water was flowing, this energetic little bird kept jumping in! Like some other animals (including some birds, reptiles, sharks and even some mammals), this little guy has a third eyelid (called a nictitating membrane) that allows it to see underwater. It also has scales that close its nostrils when submerged.
Some interesting rocks
The second river stop
We sat on a lower rock for a while, enjoying watching the many small cascades and consuming a few snacks.
The Western Tiger Swallowtail is a large, very active butterfly.
Clover
Pearly Everlasting is a cute little flower in the sunflower family. It is a very close cousin to Pussytoes, which tends to be more common.
These are the "maple velvet erineum galls" produced by microscopic eriophyid mites. (Try saying that five times quickly!) Galls are growths in the leaves, stems or roots of live plants, and are caused by a chemical from an organism (in this case the mites, but earlier we saw wasp galls). Galls can provide protection from predators, a source of food, shelter as well as a place for eggs to hatch. The mites are worm-like, have only two pairs of legs and are spread by the wind.
Quite the chaotic web!
Another Snakefly
Our third river stop
We sat on a log for a while with our feet dangling just over the water.
These beetle trails almost look like primitive hieroglyphics.
A pair of Fritillaries on some tall mint plants
The Williams' Tiger Moth was first described in 1871.
A small Silverfish decides it wants a piece of the spotlight as well! These insects can apparently live up to a year without eating.
The clouds started move in and we felt things could easily go either way. Just to be safe, we decided to make our way back.
A group of Boisduval's Blues loiter by the water's edge.
Hopping acoss our stream. It wasn't quite as easy it is looks!
On the way back we passed a jogger, the first person we'd seen in a couple days. We also saw a small brown snake slither away quickly as we got near the tent in our meadow. We had been worried since we hadn't had our 'daily snake' yet.
The storm ended up passing us by so we took advantage of the weather and had some dinner. Again we were blessed with a mostly bug-free evening. We watched with fascination as a Thread-Waisted Wasp dug a hole in the ground. Taking one mouthful of dirt at a time, it would fly about a foot away, drop the dirt, return to the hole and repeat. The hole slowly got deeper so that the wasp's entire body almost disappeared when it crawled in. Then at some point, it stopped removing dirt and started dropping tiny stones into the hole.
Some corn chowder with potatoes and roasted peppers. It looked rather unappetizing when we first put it in the pan...
... but it got better.
A lovely evening
We crawled into the tent early to lounge about and do some word puzzles. The doors of the tent were open and a delicious breeze wafted through. Suddenly Jo motioned for me to be quiet and slowly pointed to the tree directly outside the tent. A small pine squirrel was sitting on a branch watching us! Eventually it lost interest in this strange new forest creature invading its space and returned to searching the tree for something yummy to eat. It then scampered off to continue its foraging elsewhere.
Being watched!
