It's a clear cold morning on Saturday November 21st, 2015. We begin our daylong field trip to Whidbey Island and the Skagit Delta by loading into the van convoy and driving north to the Mukilteo/Clinton Ferry terminal. The weather forecast calls for good but cold conditions in the north end so I am excited that we will be able to enjoy the scenic and natural beauty without the nuisance of clouds and rain.
The class boards the ferry and heads up to the front passenger deck for our first lesson of the day. Inside the main passenger cabin its warm and cozy, while outside, on the forward deck, the winds are blowing and the air feels frigid. Tim begins the lesson by talking about a couple of gulls that are following the ferry. He points out that the gull, which I now know to possibly be a Glaucous Gull (Larus hyperboreus), Glaucous-winged gull (Larus glaucenscens) or Western gull (Larus occidentalis) hybrid, was using the upward moving air currents created by the bow of the ship to stay aloft in the air while simultaneously keeping up with the ferry. This bird has come to recognize the ferry as a possible source of food (from passengers) which explains why he is following us out onto the waters of Possession Sound. After what seemed like only a few minutes we approached our destination but not before taking a good look at the Pelagic Cormorants (Phalacrocorax pelagicus) that were sunning themselves on the tops of the piers of the ferry terminal.
After we disembarked the ferry the van convoy continued its road trip to Ebey's Landing located on the island's western most point. As we passed through the farmlands of Ebey's Prairie and approached the coast we drove through a coastal woodland just before our destination. The class got out of the vans so that Tim could show us some amazing plant adaptations. In the background of the picture below is a stand of trees that were different than examples the class had previously seen. This stand of trees is located atop a very tall and steep bluff that towers over a rocky beach. Tim asks the class to try to identify the tree species around us. Most of the class was perplexed because these trees did not quite fit the characteristics we had learned. We could identify that there were two different tree species in the area but what they were exactly was a mystery until we found out what happened to them. We were shocked to hear that this stand of Sitka Spruce and Douglas Fir trees that have adapted to the full exposure of sun and wind it receives in it's location. Both species of trees had needles that were thicker and bigger than usual. Thicker and bigger needles allows the trees to have more surface area to both photosynthesis and take in water. In addition the trees seemed to be gnarled and bent as if they had been twisted by some unseen force. The truth is that an invisible force did gnarl the trees in the form of high winds that come through the Straights of Juan de Fuca. Although the stand is located in the Olympic rain shadow, this stand of trees receives lots of moisture in the form of fog that is generated from cold water currents moving along the coast just below the bluff. After we finished observing the species adaptations we returned to the convoy and made our way to the parking lot of Ebey's Landing.
The class made it way out on the beach where we were about to receive a geology lesson. Tim explained that the beach where we were standing is below an ancient shoreline. Looking at the shorter bluffs, some 150 to 200 feet up, where Ebey's Prairie meets Ebey's Landing is the where the beach was about 13,000 years ago. During that time this area was covered by the Puget lobe of the Cordilleran ice sheet. As the glaciers ground across the region they deposited a sediment layer known in this area as Vashon till while simultaneously sculpting the landscape which created the long drumlin hills our region is known for. In addition the glaciers left behind other features such as moraines and kettle lakes. Ebey's Prairie is special because it is the site where out wash sediments from the teriminus of the glacier were deposited thus creating the flat expanse of the prairie that led up the the ancient beach. The reason why the current shoreline is now a few hundred feet below the ancient one is because of glacial rebound. The extreme weight of the glaciers compressed the earth's surface causing a depression. After the weight was removed when the ice melted the land slowly rebounded (uplifted). This rebound stopped some seven thousand years ago which left the ancient shoreline high and dry where it is today. The three pictures above show the new beach below the ancient beach as well as the exposed sandy layers of ancient beach top-set deposits. The next set of photos is of the flora and fauna we found on our long walk along the beach towards Perego's Lagoon.
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| Brittle Prickly-Pear Cactus (Opuntia fragilis) Washington's native cactus plant found growing on the side of the bluffs in the sandy soil. |
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| Harry is holding his favorite snack he found on the beach. Lamb's-Quarters (Chenopodium album). This plant tasted like arugula. |
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| Shelby holds a Chiton (Phylum: Mollusca, Order:Polyplacophora, Class:Neoloricata) she found on the beach. We will not go into what it looks like but it was very interesting none-the-less. |
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| Unknown beach succulent |
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| Possibly Big Deervetch (Lotus crassifolius) |
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| American Glasswort (Salicornia virginica) |
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| Possibly Yellow Sand-Verbena (Abronia latifolia) |
The next three photos below are of Perego's Lagoon. This feature was formed by long-shore transport as sediments from the bluffs make their way down into the sound. Long-shore transport sends the sediment particles northward which are then deposited along the shoreline. This deposition has created a spit that protects the shallow lagoon behind it from wave action on the shoreline. The waters of the lagoon were largely motionless but bore the ripple marks of the gentle breeze we felt that day. Along with the quiescent ripples, the only other movement in the lagoon was from several birds floating on it's surface. The birds I could identify were the Surf Scoter (Melanitta perspicillata) and Bufflehead (Bucephala albeola). Thank you to Jorge for helping me figure out what they were! In addition to seeing a few other birds I was not able to identify on the lagoon, soaring up above it was a group of six or seven Bald Eagles (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) circling a potential prey target. I was not able to get photos of the ducks or eagles as they were too far away from my vantage point to get a decent picture.
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| Marsh grasses of Perego's Lagoon. |
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| The class ascends the Bluff Trail to get a better look. From this bluff-side vantage point I am able to see a couple of Red-breasted Mergansers (Mergus serrator) floating just a few hundred feet off shore. Thank you again to Jorge for helping me ID. |
As I make my way up the Bluff Trail to the very top I take a moment to look out and behold the gorgeous view. You could not have asked for a better day for such an amazing experience. Walking along the Bluff Trial you must be careful not to fall for its
a long way down to the bottom. This precarious journey on the edge of
the bluff followed another stand of adapted Sikta Spruce and Douglas Fir trees. These trees remind me of photographs of windswept trees taken by the great 20th century photographer Ansel Adams.
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| This reminds me of a giant bonsai tree. |
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| Creepy windswept snag high on the bluff. |
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| Twisting and Turning and every direction in between. |
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| Silent sentinel stands shading its face with one hand and with the other points down to the beach. |
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| Last half of the class prepares to descend the Bluff trail back to Ebey's Landing parking lot. We took a class photo with Tim, Jorge and the TA's. |
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| Beautiful view of the farms of Ebey's Prairie. |
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| Mount Baker proudly representing the North Cascades. |
As we wrapped up our visit to Ebey's Landing I thought it would be nice to get a shot of Puget Sound and the Olympic Mountain range. We live in an amazing place. The class returned to the convoy and continued our journey to the Skagit River Delta.
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| Alder Ghost Forest of Skagit Wildlife Area |
I am sure the original plan was to spend a little more time on the Skagit Delta but because we ended up taking more time at Ebey's Landing we did not get as much time in the delta as Tim and the TA's would have like. Our first stop in the delta, which is not pictured, was along a farm road in order to observe a flock of Tundra Swans (Cygnus columbianus) that had settled on the freshly plowed farm field. After spending a few minutes discussing the swans Tim and Jorge noticed that large flocks of thousands, perhaps tens of thousands of birds were on the move high in the sky. We decided to see if we could find out where they were going and ended up at the Skagit Wildlife Area. The wildlife area is a part of the delta that has been restored to allow it to function as it did before human intervention and and provide more habitat for wild birds. The four photos above are of a ghost forest created when levees were removed and the brackish waters of the sound allowed to flood back into the delta. Salt water intrusion killed this alder forest creating the stunning sunset images you see before you. As you can see by the last set of photos that we are loosing light fast and our field trip has come to and end.... or is it? At the very last moment, as we were about to load up the convoy a Great Horned Owl (Bubo virginianus) was spotted. In true Tim and Jorge fashion we used prerecorded bird calls, specifically Great Horned owl call to see if could get this large bird to come closer. After calling it the owl indeed came closer for a look. We spent almost and hour calling and watching this silent creature fly from tree to tree. At this point is dark and its getting to be dinner time so we pack up the class and head back to the city. But before we got back to Wallace Hall parking lot Tim imparts some more of his owl wisdom on this passengers. I now know that the Great Horned Owl's call can be remembered by saying, "whose awake, me too, me too" or as Sibley Field Guide to Birds says, "ho hoo hoo hoododo hooooo hoo." Thank you Tim for the tip, I plan to use it for the final exam.
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