Kalaloch

We're on our usual spring road trip. After the painless border crossing on the Coho ferry from Victoria to Port Angeles, one of our usual stops is at Kalaloch campground on the west coast of the Olympic peninsula. The campground itself is a fairly standard government campground, but it has a nice beach and a nature trail, and a lodge within walking distance with a nice restaurant overlooking the beach and sunset.

Lily of the Valley was carpeting the forest floor in places.

And the Seaside Pea was a splash of color along the beach.

Unlike the trees reflected in the water.

And the waves stacked up in front of the beach.

In the morning the sun was shining through the fog.

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Silver-spotted Tiger Moth

I found this caterpillar on my doorstep and brought it inside for a photo shoot. I don't think it was impressed by being herded around under a bright light but it didn't last long and I returned it to the outdoors good as new. I don't think I've ever seen an adult moth, but the caterpillars are fairly common. I was careful not to handle it since the hairs can irritate the skin. The hairs serve as a defence mechanism and they also use them to reinforce their cocoons.

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Flowers

If you look closely, you can see some of the Horse Chestnut flowers are yellow, and some are pink/red. Apparently, they start out yellow and turn pink/red after they have been pollinated (or are no longer fertile). This helps the pollinating bees to visit the right flowers.

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Camas

I'm gradually getting to know the progression of spring flowers here - Hellebores, Snow Drops, Daffodils, Fawn Lilies, Tulips, and now the Camas. The walkway along the water near us goes by the Matson Conservation Area where there are many Camas in the spring. I enjoy seeing them.

Camas are in the asparagus family and the unopend flower buds look a little bit like asparagus.

It's interesting how the flowers open from the bottom up.

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Macro

A short walk with my camera and macro lens.

It's ironic how we hate weeds and invasives when we are the most invasive and weediest of all. I like the little tiny deadnettle flowers.

This year's crop of Cross Orbweavers are still small. Their eggs hatch in the spring and they grow over the summer until mating and laying a new batch in the fall. The large females are more noticeable in the fall.

According to iNaturalist, this is a little known genus of hoverflies (Melanostoma) that feed on tiny insects in leaf litter.

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Birds

The most common birds around here are Hooded Mergansers (above) and Buffleheads (below)

The females are much less flashy. Here's a pair of Buffleheads lost in the reflections.

This female Hooded Merganser was catching crabs. The crabs put up a fight, so it takes some work before they can swallow it.

There are also Common Mergansers around. From a distance they can look like the female Hooded, but up closer they're different.

Of course, there are also gulls, and Black Oystercatchers, Canada Geese, and Anna's Hummingbirds

I've also been seeing a Cooper's Hawk around. I wonder if it's one of the ones that was around last summer. At one point it looked like it was building a nest, but maybe it gave up as I haven't seen it back at that spot.

It might be spring here in Victoria, but there's still snow on the Olympic mountains.

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