Birds, Butterflies, and Wildflowers

One disadvantage to birding on San Juan Island is that a lot of migrant species pass over the islands for some reason. For instance, while I've been hearing orange-crowned warblers singing around every bend in the trail, I have yet to spot any other type of warbler here, including the newly re-split yellow-rumped warbler (more on that in a future post). The same goes for species that are otherwise residents of the region; chestnut-backed chickadees are abundant on the island but black-capped species are absent. Still, there are birds out there to be found, and while Dave has temporarily crept ahead in the year bird race I picked up two more for my list in the last two days. Yesterday I saw violet-green swallows (137) - a good three weeks behind most people but there the first ones I've found! Then today, a pair of northern rough-winged swallows (138).

There are two types of butterflies that I've noticed flying about. One is a little black and white speckled job that has yet to settle down for me to get a close look at it, let alone a photo. The other is this spring azure (Celastrina argiolus), shown here perched on a western red cedar branch:

I also have quite a few wildflower shots to share, so I thought I would do them a few at a time. Last year was the first spring I really got into identifying wildflowers. This year, spotting a now-familiar flower species is just as exciting as seeing the summer bird species return. Here are three such species that I learned last year:

Spotted coralroot (Corallorhiza maculata maculata), a parasitic orchid that feeds off of fungi.

Fairyslipper (Calypso bulbosa), another orchid species that is widespread but listed as threatened due to being especially susceptible to disturbance

Sea-pink, also known as thrift or sea-thrift (Armeria maritima), a common flower found in coastal habitats across the northern hemisphere and in parts of South America