Mstreefrog

@mstreefrog.bsky.social

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Sandy 💙 in a red county of a blue state. Retired and enjoying hiking, photography, cooking, and crafts. Two 🐈 and a standard đŸ© Planning jaunts around the PNW.

A small hummingbird with a tiny bit of iridescence on her throat perches on the flower stalk of a bright red Lucifer Crocosmia in front of a blurred green background.
A colorful mosaic of black mussels, Giant Green Anemones (Anthopleura xanthogrammica,) and orange and red/purple Ochre Sea Stars (Pisaster ochraceus) on the rocky intertidal coast.
Jesse was one of the beautiful parrots visiting the library with Debbie Goodrich. They provided education/entertainment about the rainforest and caring for the planet through our choices such as recycling, and shopping.
Our largest puffin. Note blackish overall color, large orange bill, orange feet, and broad wingtips. A fish eater.
This crab will has a brown/purple or black carapace with green stripes. Its carapace is square and can reach 4 to 5 cm in size. The claws are red/purple with a mottled and striped pattern on the upper surface, and whitish-grayish on the lower surface, while its legs are purple and green with a similar mottled appearance.
A tide pool in the foreground, filled with bright green surfgrass (Phyllospadix sp.). The surrounding rocky shoreline is densely covered with mussels (Mytilus californianus) and other intertidal organisms.
But the tide was on its way back in, and I think this smaller lightly speckled, silvery white seal was flexing to keep above the chill waters, hoping to keep its warm place in the sun. 🌞
A streaky brown bird with variations across North America. Male Song sparrows defend their territory, mainly via song. They may sing 6 to 20 variations of their basic song and females tend to prefer a male that has a greater repertoire.
Looking like part of a discarded bristle brush, this red seaweed is exposed at low tide near a rock face and is partly buried in fine sand.
Looking through a screen door at a Long-haired June beetle. Black eyes glisten in the early morning light.
A bronze, brown, and reddish scarab beetle with lighter stripes. This was identified by iNaturalist as a Long-haired June Beetle.
A young Sharpie. Immature birds are characterized by brown streaking on the breast rather than the reddish bars of an adult. Key identification features include its small head, yellow eyes, and yellow legs.These hawks are specialized predators that commonly hunt small birds at backyard feeders.
Side view of a fuzzy yellow bumblebee enjoying my garden salvia.
Factoid I learned today— young painted turtles are basically carnivorous, but as they mature, they become mostly herbivorous.
Also called Scarlet trumpet this wildflower is known for its vibrant, trumpet–shaped red blooms. The plant is drought tolerant and a biennial which grows in western mountain meadows and on dry rocky slopes. It’s a favorite of hummingbirds.
Foxglove is native to Europe, but is naturalized widely in temperate areas of North America. Garden cultivars have been developed in a number of colors, though the original is quite lovely.
I particularly enjoyed learning about Sacajawea (who was totally amazing) and the native plants and animals discovered on the journey. Helps me to understand why so many of the Latin plant names contain reference to Meriwether Lewis.
A single simple leaf alongside two blossoms of Elegant Mariposa Lily, or Cat‘s ear blossoms.
A small plant in the Lily family, these were seen at Fields Spring State Park in Southeast Washington state.
Nothing compares to the flying disc. It must be stored high out of reach and spoken of only by spelling it out or by using descriptive phrases. Bessie is the neighbor’s dog, but she’s welcome to stay with me anytime.
A huddle of four Pacific chorus frogs on a teasel leaf
This small frog has a somewhat flattened body, narrow waist, long legs, relatively smooth skin and a pointed snout. Adults are usually less than 2 inches snout to vent length. Females attain larger sizes than males. Tips of the fingers and toes have sticky broadened circular discs called “toe-pads” that adhere well to smooth surfaces. Newly metamorphosed Pacific treefrogs range in size from approximately 0.5 to 0.7 inches snout to vent length.
I noted a pollinator climbing into the bowl of one of the flowers and dried seed pods from the previous year. These flowers were recorded by Meriwether Lewis in western Montana during his cross-country expedition.
Also known as the Pacific tree frog (Pseudacris regilla) can be shades of greens, browns, and bronzes, and have been known to change colors over a period of hours and weeks. They are quintessentially Pacific Northwest.
Pale or Pallid Swallowtail (Papilio eurymedon) found in much of Western North America. Pale yellow or cream with black stripes and a bit of orange and blue on the lower wings.
There are at least three tall poles with weathered nesting boxes out on the prairie and they all have top platforms for nesting ospreys. Just Martins this year. The Purple Martins have beautiful chatter as they fly over the prairie seeking bugs.
A European honeybee on a camas blossom, flinging pollen from its wings that have received a coating of the fine yellow pollen grains. The camas flowers range from purple to light blue to rarely white in color. The background is a blur of green grass and red sheep sorrel.
A deep orange butterfly with wings outlined in black and adorned with white spots. It is feeding on what looks to be a thistle blossom.
A view of Smith Rock State Park from the perimeter trail with the Three Sisters of the Cascade Range in the background.
Panoramic view of Mount Rainier from the Mount Fremont Lookout Trail on the Sunrise side of Mount Rainier National Park on a blue sky day.
Four large red tulip blossoms in the garden, with black throats outlined in yellow. Green leaves and stems complete the picture.
Lena Lake hike with Madeline. A rocky outcrop overlooking a beautiful lake on the Olympic Peninsula. Madeline is a standard apricot poodle.
Likely a Hoary Comma butterfly that flitted around our sunny lunch stop, landing on people and poodle đŸ© Photo credit to my nephew.
The glossy blue of a tree swallow’s head with white chin and breast peeking out of a tree cavity. The edge of the tree glows green with moss and the background is a blur of blue sky and forest behind.
A juvenile sharp-shinned hawk on a metal structure that holds my birdfeeders. You can tell it’s a youngster by the brown color and streaking on the breast. Beautiful, intense, golden eyes. Smaller than a Cooper’s.
Trillium – it has to mean three doesn’t it? Three leaves, three sepals, three petals.
This trillium was opening its leaves in a dramatic fashion, and the bud was plump, promising to be a large blossom. Green leaves with white flower bud, against the browns of the forest floor litter and green fern fronds.
A Black Phoebe perching briefly on a branch over the water between flights for insects. This is a black and white, medium-sized flycatcher. The branch is covered with moss and lichen and the background is pinkish red from red duckweed covering the water.
The mottled leaves of the Fawn-lily may be how it got its common name. Beautiful to see a large patch of them in light woods right at trail side today.
The Oregon Fawn Lily is native to western North America, where it grows in the Pacific Coast Ranges from southwestern British Columbia to northern California. It is reminiscent of an Avalanche Lily, but is taller and has mottled leaves.
I believe this is a female pied hoverfly, feeding on a pear blossom. It’s always interesting to learn more about the different pollinators I find with my camera.
A honeybee approaches a pear tree blossom, highlighted against a blue sky. The blossoms are white with green stems and the honeybee has pockets of pollen on its back legs to take back to the hive.
The dark-edged bee-fly is a bumblebee mimic. They were flitting about the wildflowers in the oak tree woods near the Columbia Gorge and giving chase to one another.
So often I hear the call of the common yellow throat, but they are hidden and down in the brush where I cannot see them. This little guy was going all out making his appeal a female. I could not tell if she was impressed or not.
Native to the Western United States, this Larkspur grows in meadows and in forests, such as the Oregon White Oaks along the Columbia Gorge.
A basalt pinnacle at the start of the Lyle Cherry Orchard hike
 Trail seen at bottom left.
This would be a checkered pattern on this Rock Pigeon, they were quite unbothered by my stopping the car to photograph them at a close distance.
The Poet's Shooting Star is my best guess at the species, based on the maps in WA Wildflowers. Quite widespread among the Oregon White Oak trees at the moment.
Foothill Death Camas (Toxicoscordion paniculatum) is toxic to livestock, but generally avoided as they don’t find it palatable. Accidental poisoning in humans have occurred when the bulbs are dug in the error.
Not certain which species of Paintbrush I've got here, any ID help would be greatly appreciated. Castilleja sp.
A medium sized grey and dark brown butterfly with light and dark markings; dorsal forewing mostly grey with dark rimmed hyaline spots forming the transverse lines; those in the postmedial line are triangular; spots are larger on females; dorsal hindwing dark brown with darker smudges; males have a slight costal bulge holding pheromone producing scales.
A Wilson's Snipe having a grooming session with those rusty tail feathers. What a long bill they have! Hanging out at the edge of the marsh. It's nutria that keep the grass trimmed in this photo, btw.
A wonderful sunny day in April — hiking when the flowers are almost at their peak and each new gorgeous display brings a hit of endorphins. My best guess at the balsamroot species.
A common garter snakes, coiled artistically over a mound of dried marsh reeds. This one is rather small but there is a larger one just to the right.
Dramatic clouds in a blue sky reflected in a waterway at Ridgefield National Wildlife Refuge.
An eagle daubed with mud from hunting the mud flats for ducks and shorebirds near the Padilla Bay trail.
This Yellow Bells Fritillary is in the Lilly family. It grows along the Columbia Gorge, oak forests and grassy meadows in springtime.
A Trumpeter Swan flying in for a landing at Ridgefield National Wildlife Refuge, southwest Washington state. A large white bird with black feet and bill and if you look very closely, you’ll see a red ‘lipstick’ line on the lower beak. The background is green conifer trees with bare branched deciduous trees.
Another view of the American Bittern giving me the side eye. He looks a bit haughty, in his striped finery, and is highlighted against a backdrop of the marsh with sparkles of sunshine and bokeh.