Here are a bunch of pics and quick notes on pictures taken on our recent trip to the Tonasket cabin:
Here is the meadow view from the cabin. After 9+ years, each visit still brings a different scene and it amazes me every time.
Blue-eyed grass blooming in the meadow–they were everywhere this time and spectacular.
Another blue-eyed grass flower.
The real reason to go to the cabin! Rest and quality time with ourselves and our pooches.
Here is a wildflower I have yet to identify. I bought a new field guide, so it is only a matter of time!
Butterfly on yarrow. There were so many butterflies this trip and so many flowers for them to feast upon!
Another one.
I got close enough to this beauty to capture its green eye.
The scarlet gilias (Ipomopsis) were brilliant this year and the swallowtails rejoiced.
The gaillardias attract butterflies, as well.
Another shot of a butterfly on a blanket flower.
Indian Paintbrush blooming above the meadow.
Wild delphiniums always catch my eye. The camera captured the blue pretty well here–it is startling.
Another pic where you can really see the blue.
My first contact with Phacelia linearis–a striking, delicate wildflower. Notice that it was tough to get a flower picture without a natural pollinator.
Wild roses were bursting out all over! The fragrance near the shrub in the last picture was overwhelming–you forget what a real rose smells like!
Here is an alien that I identified on this trip–Cynoglossum offinale, the common houndstonuge. It is only found a few places along the roads on Bench Creek Ranch, and apparently is considered invasive. It has a coarse attractiveness and the seeds, especially, were pretty and interesting.
Another alien invader–henbane (Hyoscyamus niger) is found more and more along the Bench Creek roads. This poisonous, shrubby perennial has interesting flowers and attractive seed pods. You can gauge the size based on Bodhi Llasa in the second picture. Someone had used herbicide on a stand of this plant on a nearby road, but they had missed one plant, so it seemed futile!
There are cattle on the ranch and they wander onto the meadow. These are two of my favorites.
Bodhi found this adorable fawn behind a rock on one of our long hikes. The fawn could barely stand and walk and could not run away. I grabbed the dogs (not easy, as they wanted to play with it!)and left it there.
While trying to get a close-up of the Say’s Phoebe (below), this chipmunk came into view and I couldn’t resist. There were lots of them around the cabin driving Bodhi crazy! Click on the link below to see how crazy:
A pair of Say’s Phoebes were all over the property…and were nesting on a beam under the eaves. They have a constant loud whistle that is at first charming and at last annoying!
After nine years of visits, I had never seen a snake near the cabin before this trip when I actually saw two. Beautiful creatures.
I found this duckling in a small pond beyond the meadow…no parents in sight and it ducked into a pipe when the dogs got too close.