Took a brief hike on the Keddie Cascades Trail this afternoon to see if spring was progressing. Not too much, actually. I could make a long list of wildflowers that were "almost" blooming. Then a couple that have been around for a while that were blooming profusely - Miner's Lettuce and Chickweed. Here I'm posting a few that I photographed for the first time this season, except for the two invertebrates. Top photo is of the Mourning Cloak butterfly. It didn't look like it was mourning. In fact, when I arrived on the scene it was spreading and closing its wings slowly, over and over again. I discovered, when approached within four feet, that I hadn't re-inserted my media card in my camera, and I had my short lens on. The butterfly waited patiently (happily?) while I fetched my SD card and changed lenses, and didn't fly away until I was finished. Along the trail we found the main apple tree in the little, formerly inhabited meadow at the half-way point was in full bloom. We also encountered Gooseberries and Sticky Currant blooming, and Oregon Grape and California Dogwood.
Remarkably, the Hellgrammite I found under a rock in a little spring was still alive. They can spend several years in the larval stage before emerging as Dobsonflies. The spring was so small that I didn't think the critter could survive there so long. Finally, the last photo of rushes emerging from a nearby lake reminded me of the art work of Andy Goldsworthy. No art here, unless my discovering and framing the scene can be called art.
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