Mid June on Yellow Island

The meadows are looking very brown with just scattered splotches of color Other than two large pink patches of fireweed (Chamerion angustifolium) above the east spit and in the glade, small purple groupings of harvest Brodiaea (Brodiaea coronaria), pink nodding onion (Allium cernuum), and yellow Puget Sound gumweed (Grindelia integrifolia) provide color here and there. A few (<20) cactus (Opuntia fragilis) did their 24 hour pale yellow bloom thing before withering. Seaside rein-orchid (Piperia elegans) adds its white flowers to the flower mix scattered across the island.

Rufous hummingbird nectaring on fireweed

Harvest Brodiaea

Nodding onion

Puget Sound gumweed

Seaside Rein-orchid (photo from a previous year)

fMost days on Yellow I upload a bird list to eBird and there are now more than 3000 Yellow Island daily checklists online. Recently eBird allowed uploading audio files with the checklists and the audio will become part of the Macaulay Library of natural sounds. This inspired me to get serious about recording bird songs and calls. I upgraded my recorder and signed up for Cornell’s Bird Recording Workshop held at San Francisco University Field Station located at an elevation of 6000’ in the Sierras June 11-18. The director of the Macaulay Library, Greg Budney, was the lead instructor for the class. For seven days we got up at 0430 and went out to various sites to record birds. It was a fabulous vacation!

The following are some of the recordings of Yellow Island birds that I wake up to every morning. Enjoy! (One of the recordings is from San Juan Island. Can you guess which one?)

Western tanager and orange-crowned warbler: https://soundcloud.com/user-444804177/ocwaand-weta

White-crowned sparrow: https://soundcloud.com/user-444804177/wcsp 

Olive-sided flycatcher: https://soundcloud.com/user-444804177/osfl-06202016 

House wren:  https://soundcloud.com/user-444804177/house-wren

Black oystercatcher:  https://soundcloud.com/user-444804177/bloy-06052016

Bald eagle:  https://soundcloud.com/user-444804177/baea05302016 

 

Yellow Island’s third ‘peak bloom’

Early May saw the rapid disappearance of camas across the island but even as the camas was fading new species were blooming across the meadows and rocky balds.

Oregon sunshine, aka wooly sunflower, (Eriophyllum lanatum) finally came into its own after a couple false starts in mid March and mid April. There are now large patches of what may be the brightest yellow flower Yellow Island has to offer.

Eriophyllum lanatum, wooly sunflower

Broadleaf stonecrop (Sedum spathulifolium) is about tied with the Eriophyllum for brightest yellow flower. My absolute favorite place on the island is the rocky area atop Hummingbird Hill that is covered with frilly reindeer lichen that forms a nice bed for the stonecrop. The combination of colors and textures cannot be beat.

Sedum spathulifolium, broadleaf stonecrop

A third bright yellow flower is Puget Sound gumweed. It appears across the meadows and rocky outcrops but is particularly thick on the south side of Hummingbird Hill.

Grindelia integrifolia, Puget Sound gumweed

Three non-yellow species that occur individually or in small groups are California broomrape (Orobanche californica), Hooker’s onion (Allium acuminatum) and harvest Brodiaea (Brodiaea coronaria). These cheery spots of color brighten a  meadow that is rapidly turning to brown (or some would say yellow as seen from a distance).

Orobanche californica, clustered broomrape

Allium acuminatum, Hooker’s onion

Brodiaea coronaria, Harvest Brodiaea

When all these species start fading, there are at least four species that have will bloom in June into July. Can you name them?

(This blog was written May 15 but never posted. Amazingly all species mentioned are still blooming nicely, plus a couple of the last four mentioned above.)