I went for a walk this afternoon and did not make it nearly as far as I intended. Originally I was planning to go up to the muskegs along Indian River Trail and/or the Cross Trail. In the end, I just made it to Indian River Trailhead. I spent about 4 hours wandering up Indian River from along Westwood Trail, under the new bridge, along the flume pipe, then along the river to the water treatment enclosure.
Weather: It was partly cloudy and comfortably warm. Wind was minimal.
Birds: I saw a family of Ruby-crowned Kinglets in the brush along the river. The young appeared to be getting their own food (insects) among the leaves of the salmonberries, but they were still aggressively begging from their parents. The parents seemed very harried. I saw a moth repeatedly get chased by the kinglets, but it always seemed to manage to avoid capture (though the kinglets didn’t really pursue it after an intial brief lunge).
Flora: Lots of plants growing up along the river. I noticed some arnicas growing along the river in a couple of different places where I had not noticed it previously (though it’s obviously been growing there for awhile). I’m not sure what species of arnica I was looking at, however. Other flowers blooming included Enchanter’s Nightshade (Circaea alpina), Veronica, Harebells, Monkeyflower, Mountain Sorrel (actually, I think it was done blooming), Sitka Mistmaiden, Siberian Miner’s Lettuce, Sweet-scented Bedstraw (just barely, mostly it had gone to seed), Pacific Hemlock-parsley (Conioselinum gmelinii), Willowherbs (probably more than one species), Alpine Bistort (where the flume splits off, I had not noticed it there before), buttercup species, and other things I’m sure I am forgetting.
Blueberries are ripe, and some of the salmonberries are progressing beyond ripe.
There were quite a few different mushrooms popping up.
Other Notes: There were some bear tracks in the woods beside the river just up from the riprap dam where the flume splits off. Given the recent rains, they were probably made since yesterday.
I took pictures of a couple of different ground beetles. Superficially they look pretty similar, but when you look closely they are different. One thing that is interesting to me is the different colored sheens they seem to have.