Comments for Connecting with Nature

Comment on Update from Nine Mile Ranch (Okanogan Highlands) by Julie Ashmore

Julie Ashmore — Thu, 08 Mar 2012 16:11:24 +0000

Yesterday, on March 7, 2012, We saw the first Mountain Bluebird and the first White-Breasted Nuthatch of the year. Madeline, 5 years old, spotted them, and came running into the house. “MOM! It’s a female bluebird! You won’t believe it! And another one with white on its face!”

Comment on Keeping an Eye on Nature in NCW by Julie Ashmore

Julie Ashmore — Fri, 04 Mar 2011 18:43:17 +0000

Wax currant (Ribes cereum Douglas) plants in the Okanogan Highlands are braving the snow and starting to leaf out!

Comment on Keeping an Eye on Nature in NCW by Debbie Lhamon

Debbie Lhamon — Sat, 12 Feb 2011 04:41:43 +0000

We have had Anna’s Hummingbirds here in Wenatchee all winter! We set up a heat light over a feeder and enjoy frequent visits. We often see one perched in one of three spots in the garden. We have lived here for 12 years and this is the first time we have had winter hummers.
Yesterday I saw a varied thrush for the first time (on this side of the mountains)eating Mt Ash berries.

Comment on Tracking Nature in NCW by Clara Field

Clara Field — Fri, 07 Jan 2011 21:45:05 +0000

Today, January 7, about 15 juncos are feeding on whatever they can find, mostly on the ground. Since it’s about the same number as the other day, I wonder if it’s the same flock?! It’s warmer today- 31 degrees- and a lot of ground is showing through the snow so the juncos can stratch the ground for food. Oh, by the way, this is on Okanogan Ave.

Comment on Tracking Nature in NCW by Clara Field

Clara Field — Fri, 07 Jan 2011 17:49:36 +0000

On Tuesday, January 4, 2011, at about 11:15 am, 8 dark eyed juncos were in my garden feeding on dried sunflower seeds from flowers I had grown this past summer. I thought the seeds had been finished off earlier in the season, but I hadn’t pulled out the dead stalks yet and apparently the juncos were still finding some seeds! One or two checked out the small bird feeder I had hung in a tree, but they were more interested in scratching around on the ground and in the old sunflower stalks. It was about 18 degrees F and cloudy. About 8 more juncos were in the neighbors yard, also eating sunflower seeds. They were there for about 25 minutes. They are so fun to watch.

Comment on Tracking Nature in NCW by David St. George

David St. George — Wed, 05 Jan 2011 03:06:15 +0000

On January 4, 2011, at 3:30pm, I observed 12 American Robins feeding on cherries in the trees in front of the Wenatchee Post Office. Interestingly, I did not observe any robins while birding for 8 hours in the same area during the Wenatchee Christmas Bird Count on Sunday, January 2nd.

Comment on Keeping an Eye on Nature in NCW by Julie Ashmore

Julie Ashmore — Sun, 02 Jan 2011 17:57:47 +0000

On December 21st, 2010, on Nine Mile Ranch outside of Oroville, WA, in the Okanogan Highlands, a curious creature emerged. My daughter Madeline and I were making a snowman when we noticed the tiny black insects, larger than a flea, but related and similar-looking. After posting photos on facebook, it was confirmed to be Boreus sp., a snow scorpion fly, family Boreidae. They were everywhere on the first day, plentiful the next day, and then dwindling steadily. Now (Jan 2, 2011), I don’t see any.

To get around, they jump, but usually only once, and then struggle in the snow. Apparently the adults are active only in the winter. I can post close-up pictures if/when that becomes possible on this site. Has anyone else seen these snow scorpion flies on the snow this winter?

Comment on Keeping an Eye on Nature in NCW by Nancy Warner

Nancy Warner — Sat, 25 Dec 2010 00:12:53 +0000

December 24, 2010 2:00 Saw 16 great blue herons perched in the big cottonwood trees at the confluence of the Wenatchee and Columbia rivers – Confluence State Park. The weather was quiet – no wind – with temperatures about 35 degrees. Something spooked the herons – possibly a rough-legged hawk – and most flew off squawking or croaking as they went. About half of them returned to the tree a short time later even though the hawk was still perched there. Then they got spooked again – perhaps by the immature bald eagle – and flew off to the shrubby area near the river where they landed and simply disappeared into the shadows.

Comment on Keeping an Eye on Nature in NCW by Julie Ashmore

Julie Ashmore — Wed, 10 Nov 2010 18:26:37 +0000

It turns out that yarrow gets white at least twice a year — once in the spring, when it blooms, and again after it has dried in place and the first snow falls. It is looking quite wintery in the Okanogan Highlands today.

On a strange year like this one, yarrow might get white three times. Just last week, a number of plants displayed a late fall second bloom of the year, from invasives such as knapweed, mullen and St. John’s Wort, to native plants like yarrow. Purples and yellows dotted the dried grass landscape, but now the hills are white. Most perennials showed new growth right up to this first snow. It has been a year of unusual weather phenomena, and it seems like this trend may continue through the winter…

Comment on Keeping an Eye on Nature in NCW by Julie Ashmore

Julie Ashmore — Tue, 05 Oct 2010 16:54:18 +0000

Certain nooks of the Okanogan Highlands are ablaze with autumn colors. Stands of aspen near Sitzmark have developed the most delectable peachy orange color — a real treat for the eyes.

Below are some observations from the end of August… and to date the Lindley’s Aster are STILL blooming! We’ll enter some more current observations soon.

8/29: Snow in the mountains around Mt. Chopaka!

Week of 8/29: The nighthawks are gone, as are the robins

8/31: Lindley’s aster (Aster ciliolatus) is blooming… it’s amazing to see so late in the season, when all the other wildflowers are done (as apparently it is known to do). The leaves have sharp, toothed edges at the base, and a lot of blooms can be found together (composite heads); also several rows of overlapping bracts.

8/31: Collected lupine seeds from a plant we had marked during this year’s bloom — the flowers were white! A lot of the seed pods had already popped and dropped their seed.

8/31: Madeline and I collected seed from a brown-eyed Susan (Gaillardia aristata).