Tryon Creek Naturalist Notes

Wapato Winter Birds

rangerchristal — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 23:03:59 +0000

This year’s annual Wapato Bird Walk on January 14th was attended by an amazing group of bird enthusiasts. Although the day started out pretty dry, we were drenched by the last half mile of the loop around Virginia Lake. We didn’t let that stop us though; stopping to admire each and every bird along the way. Once again, I’m reminded what a jewel this property is! I can’t wait for the next hike.

American Crow
American Robin

American Widgeon

Belted Kingfisher

Black-capped Chickadee

Brown Creeper

Bufflehead

Canada Goose

Common Raven

Double-crested Cormorant

Golden crowned Kinglet

Great Blue Heron

Green-winged Teal
Gull spp.

Hooded Merganser

Mallard

Northern Pintail

Northern Shoveler

Pacific Wren (aka “meatball with a tail”)

Red-winged Blackbird

Ring-necked Duck

Ruby-crowned Kinglet
Scrub Jay

Snowy Egret

Song Sparrow

Spotted Towhee

Stellar’s Jay

Frog Pelt Lichen

DebJHill — Fri, 30 Dec 2011 01:37:32 +0000

While on a nature hike with Ranger Christal recently, we spied this lichen. Christal asked us what we thought the name of this interesting lichen might be. She said things are often named by what they looked like. One child on the hike pipped up with “frog skin!” I looked it up in a plant book (Plants of the Pacific Northwest Coast by Pojar and MacKinnon) and the budding naturalist got it right: the name of this lichen is frog pelt Peltigera neopolydactyla.

Frog pelt is a leaf lichen, meaning it is a two sided lichen which a distinct under and upper side. The upper side looks similar to a frog’s skin, it is hairless, olive-green or sometimes bluish. At the edges are red-brownish tooth-like fruiting bodies. These fruiting bodies is one of the ways this lichen reproduces. The underside of the lichen is whitish and cottony with long veins.

We found this lichen growing on a log, it also likes to grow on rock, moss, and soil. You’ll find it around this area in open or shady forests at all forested elevations. I also saw it in the Columbia Gorge recently growing on some rock.

Lichens are a symbiotic relationship between algae and fungus. The fungus provides the structure of the organism and the algae provides the food through photosyntheses. This unique relationship brings more than a thousand different lichens to the Pacific Northwest. Next time you are at Tryon Creek, take a look around for the frog pelt lichen or any of the other amazing lichens growing here.

By Deb Hill

Wildlife Sightings!

rangerchristal — Thu, 22 Dec 2011 20:08:05 +0000

Date: Animal, Location sighted

5/13: Barred Owl, North Horse Loop
5/17: Barred Owl, North Horse Loop
Red Breasted Nuthatch, Nature Center
5/30: 3 Barred Owls!
6/5: Black-throated Grey Warbler, Western Tanager, and Black-headed Grosbeak, Parking Lot
Cooper’s Hawk, Lewis & Clark Trail
Cooper’s Hawk, West Horse Loop
6/6: Northern Pygmy Owl, Old Main Trail
Barred Owl Family (awww!), Cedar Trail (NW of Hemlock Trail) @ 3:00
6/7: Blooming wild ginger, Middle Creek (near Big Fir Trail)
6/12: Evening Grosbeak and Townsend’s Warbler, Parking Lot
Rufous Hummingbird, Feeder on Back Deck
6/14: Western Wood-Pewee and Hutton’s Vireo, Equestrian Lot
6/18: Coyote, crossing Terwilliger Road
6/19: Hermit Warblers, Wilson’s Warblers, Purple Finches, Black-headed Grosbeaks, Warbling Vireos, and Swanson’s Thrushes, along Cedar Trail and along creek
6/25: Pair of Pileated Woodpeckers, Lewis & Clark Trail
11 Banana Slugs, Opossum footprints
Garter Snake and Hairy Woodpecker, Lewis & Clark Bike Path
7/1: Baby Fox Squirrels, outside Nature Center
7/3: Purple Finch, parking lot
7/7: Spotted Towhee Nest, Hemlock Trail
Brown Creeper
6 Banana Slugs
2 Pileated Woodpeckers
7/20: Indian Pipes, Old Main Trail
7/21: Banana Slugs & snails
7/24: Cooper’s Hawk, Old Main Trail near Red Fox
7/27: 3 Cooper’s Hawks, Old Main Trail near Red Fox
8/3: Squirrel Kitchen (chewed Douglas Fir cone), Big Fir near Middle Creek
8/6: 2 Juvenile Great Horned Owls, Bunk Bridge
8/8: Western Redback Salamander
8/9: Coyote, Old Main Trail @ 3:00
8/21: Cooper’s Hawk, High Bridge
9/3: Black-tailed Deer, Cedar Trail
9/26: 4 Pileated Woodpeckers, West Horse Loop
3 Pileated Woodpeckers, Middle Creek Trail (near High Bridge)
9/27: Deer and 2 fawns, Meadow
10/3: Owl (possibly Great Horned Owl juvenile), Old Main Trail
10/4: Great Horned Owl, Maple Ridge Trail
Northern Pygmy Owl, Big Fir Trail
10/16: Sandhill Crane, overhead
11/6: 7 Ensatina salamanders, 2 Red-back Salamanders, Giant Pacific Salamanders (larvae), slugs, beetles, and millipedes
12/8: Great Horned Owl! Yes!
12/20: Crows chasing Barred Owl on West Horse Loop

Woodpeckers and Owls

rangerchristal — Sun, 18 Dec 2011 22:15:07 +0000

Yesterday morning I led a guided nature walk entitled Drummers of the Forest, where we explored the amazing adaptations of the woodpeckers of Tryon Creek. We walked Old Main and Big Fir Trails stopping along the way to check out old nesting sites and rotten snags with obvious feeding holes. Although we tried calling both Pileated woodpeckers and Northern Flickers along the way, we concluded that the woodpeckers were waiting for the morning frost to burn off before showing themselves.

We gave one last attempt at calling a Hairy Woodpecker before walking briskly back to the nature center, and got a response (much to our surprise!) As I was searching for its location, which happened to be the tip top of the tallest Douglas Fir it could find, a fluffy mound of feathers caught my eye…OWL! Well, needless to say the Great Horned owl was both closer and easier to see so we oohed and awed over it for quite some time. Once everyone had their turn with the binoculars, I realized that the little Hairy Woodpecker we had called was still at the top of that conifer calling its heart out and we had totally left it hanging. Poor little guy! We gave him one last goodbye and thanked him for giving us the incentive to stop and take a closer look around.

I didn’t have my camera during the hike but I ran into Seth and Doug Arnold a few hours later and our owl was still perched in the same tree, when they captured this shot. Thanks guys!

Taking an afternoon snooze....

Question of the Day: What does pileated mean?

rangerchristal — Mon, 28 Nov 2011 00:11:18 +0000

Last weekend a visitor by the name of Phil Lavine stopped by the Nature Center and asked the question, “What does pileated mean”? Well, if I had a nickle for all the of the times I’ve said the name Pileated Woodpecker, I’d be rich. But, I had no clue what the word pileated meant, so we agreed to go to good ole’ Google. We found that the name for this gorgeous woodpecker that calls Tryon Creek its home, comes from its flashy pileum. The Merrium-Webster site told us that the pileum is the the top of the head of a bird from the bill to the nape. Phil’s photograph of our version of “Woody The Woodpecker” is the perfect example of the Pileated Woodpecker’s red pileum.

What the Wahoo?

rangerchristal — Mon, 10 Oct 2011 23:57:12 +0000

Euonymous occidentalis or Western Wahoo

You might see a late fruiting, unfamiliar plant along the trails of Tryon Creek known as Western Wahoo. Western wahoo, also known as burning bush is a member of the Celastraceae or Staff-tree family. It’s most often noted by its opposite (deciduous), finely serrate leaves and pink/red pod-like fruit, which I happened to mistake for flowers at first glance.

You may be asking yourself, “what is the fruit all about?” I missed the wahoo flowering since the flowers tend to be hanging underneath the foliage on thin peduncles. Peduncles are a scientific term for stems occuring on flower clusters. When ripe, the seeds are covered by a reddish-orange aril (leathery capsule). Pojar describes the fruit to be similar in construction to a cashew. I may have to take a look at the next fruiting specimen I find under the dissecting scope to learn exactly what that means.

To confuse you even further, this plant is classified as a “sensitive” plant by the federal government which means it is not yet considered “rare”, “threatenend” or “endangered” but could soon be considered for one of the latter terms. What I do know, is that you would never want to say any of this in front of a Western wahoo plant, for its feelings are very easily hurt.

How wonderful that this seldom seen plant has chosen Tryon Creek as its home. Take an opportunity to stop and admire it the next time you are walking in the park.

Distribution map of Western wahoo from Oregon Flora Atlas

Spider Web Wonders

rangerheather — Sun, 02 Oct 2011 22:03:31 +0000

At a recent Story & Stroll focused on spiders and their webs, a group of pre-schoolers and I counted 38 spider webs along our short Trillum trail, aware that we must have missed many more. By far the stars of the show were the intricate webs of the orb weavers, a group of spiders in the Araneidae family. These are the large spiraling webs of concentric circles made famous in E.B. White’s Charlotte’s Web, and like Charlotte it is the female orb weaver who spins the big showy webs. In fact, the diminutive male is rarely seen except when he spins a smaller scale orb web into an edge of the female’s.
Orb webs contain non-sticky radiating support lines- like the spokes of a bicycle wheel- that attach the web between two trees or other surfaces, and sticky circling lines between them. These lines are often so perfectly parallel that it seems the spiders must have built in rulers. Yet as large and complex as these webs may be, they are usually rebuilt daily. Once built, some orb weavers hang motionless upside down in the center of the web like a bulls-eye, while others will lay in wait on the edge of the web. When finished with their webs for the day, these conscientious spiders may consume their used webs to conserve nutrients. Reusing and recycling at its best!
The next time you take a woodland stroll you too can look for these master architects, especially visible on drier, sun-dappled days. Fall is the best time to see these insect eaters, as you may have noticed if you too find yourself walking into spider silk regularly these days. Despite what it may seem, there aren’t more spiders around this time of year, but spring’s tiny spiderlings have been eating and growing and are finally at their largest, needing wider spaces for their larger webs. Unfortunately for those arachnophobs out there, those wider spaces often turn out to be human pathways. However if you are lucky enough to have an orb weaver who has made her home in a more spider-appropriate location such as outside a window, take some time to watch your pest-eating neighbor. You too might come to appreciate the fascinating world of the orb weaver.

Oregon’s Largest Salamander – Right Here at Tryon Creek!

rangerchristal — Tue, 30 Aug 2011 21:00:32 +0000

Pacific Giant Salamander, Dicamptodon tenebrosus

During the last week of day camp at Tryon Creek, campers and counselors found one of the most impressive examples of Pacific Giant Salamander that we have seen in years! Adults can reach over a foot long, which this guy (or gal) was close to. A good place to look for these prehistoric-looking creatures is in moist, coniferours forests near cold, clear streams ~ we have seen them in the water, under ivy and along the trail here at Tryon Creek. In fact, visitors and staff reported seeing two others last week here in the park. Check out the unique marbled tan and reddish brown pattern on this one.

We’ve heard stories of these giants vocalizing and wouldn’t you know it, we did hear a low-pitched bark from this individual when we lifted him onto his mossy rock for his photo shoot. Keep an eye out of the trail for these Oregon Giants!

Birding and more at Wapato Access Greenway!

Rhett.Wilkins — Tue, 16 Aug 2011 16:28:14 +0000

On Saturday we visited Wapato Access Greenway at Sauvie Island for a morning of birding. We heard and saw juvenile Cooper’s Hawks calling and saw a group of juvenile Evening Grosbeaks resting in a Douglas-fir. We were fortunate to find 37 bird species, including a Red-eyed Vireo, a very uncommon bird for the Portland area.

Wapato Access Greenway’s 2 ½ mile trail invites both strolling and birding, and wanders around Virginia Lake, which is an important overwintering area for waterfowl. For more information, see Audubon’s Wapato State Access Area bird list at http://www.oregonstateparks.org/images/pdf/Wapato_birds.pdf.

After our scheduled walk, park staff hung around for a bit to work on reconstructing Wapato’s observation platform. In doing so, we stumbled across both Red-legged Frog and Western Long-toed Salamander! Both of these amphibians are very secretive and are seldom seen here.

It was another wonderful outing at our Sauvie Island unit, and please stay tuned for more walks and programs at this location.

Birders viewing dozens of extremely rare and even thought-to-be-extinct species at Virginia Lake

Can you find the animal in this photo?

Bushtit Nest

Red-eyed Vireo! Great photo, Jim!

Western Long-toed Salamander!!!

A closer look at their green dorsal markings.

Species Found:

Pied-billed Grebe

Wood Duck

Mallard

Cooper’s Hawk (3+)

Red-tailed Hawk

Osprey

American Coot

Band-tailed Pigeon

Vaux’s Swift

Rufous Hummingbird

Northern Flicker

Downy Woodpecker

Western Wood-Pewee

Pacific-slope Flycatcher

RED-EYED VIREO

Steller’s Jay

Western Scrub-Jay

American Crow

Tree Swallow

Barn Swallow

Black-capped Chickadee

Chestnut-backed Chickadee

White-breasted Nuthatch

Red-breasted Nuthatch

Brown Creeper

Bewick’s Wren

Pacific Wren

American Robin

Swainson’s Thrush

Cedar Waxwing

Common Yellowthroat

Wilson’s Warbler

Black-headed Grosbeak

Spotted Towhee

Song Sparrow

EVENING GROSBEAK

American Goldfinch

Red-legged Frog

Pacific Treefrog

Western Long-toed Salamander

Good birding…and herping!

Rangers Patricia and Rhett

Naturalist Notes Summer Quiz

rangerchristal — Sat, 30 Jul 2011 23:36:29 +0000

: Licorice ferns

Take note of the licorice ferns in the photo above. You can see the fresh ferns that have begun to pop out right next to the Pacific waterleaf that has lost its springtime luster.

Answer the following question correct and you can win a prize!

Why do licorice ferns have an opposite dormant season from the other forest plants?