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Labrador Carpet Moth (Xanthorhoe labradorensis)
At Home with Moths, the Beautiful Bellwethers
The days are hot and the nights are warm. By day I’m lucky to see two or three butterfly species. By night the moths swarm, pale shapes like prisms around the edges of my house. At my black … more
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Anatomy of a Feeding Frenzy
A commotion has been building outside. It has been building for days now. Some sort of forage fish is massing along the shoreline, and it has drawn a feeding frenzy of gulls, mergansers, cormorants, seals and eagles from miles around. more
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Vaughn Girl’s Pet is an Alligator Lizard
By now, Grace Bennett is an old hand at lizard keeping. She is 5 years old, and her pet for the last year has been a northern alligator lizard named Baraka. Grace lives on a 5-acre farm near … more
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An echo azure moth stands out in a field of green.
Naturalist’s Notebook
On the first day of spring over 60 degrees, I find a currant decked out with pink pendant blooms. It radiates a fragrance of heat, sweat and pollen. more
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“I held my breath,” said 5-year-old Mira Bothwell of Longbranch.
The Land of Swamp Lanterns
On a slanting boardwalk over a forested swamp, I pause. It’s not just Pacific wrens singing these days. Song sparrows and towhees fire off their songs. Salmonberry thickets stand with their … more
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From the Naturalist's Notebook
Bald Eagle vs. Common Goldeneye The goldeneye duck, separated from its compadres, came to the surface to suck in some oxygen. The eagle swooped. The duck frantically dove. The eagle climbed to 10 … more
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A Townsend's Warbler
Naturalist Notebook
Wildlife of the Key Peninsula more
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Listening Like Deer
I sit in a stand of trees, screened by filbert leaves, on the edge of a field in the woods. The earth is damp and the air stirs restlessly. It’s that time of year when buck black-tailed deer, normally nocturnal, move recklessly, their necks swollen and their antlers crusted with the bark of saplings. I have come to watch them. more
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When the Silver Salmon Return
Last month the silver salmon came to Glen Cove. Each year their arrival roughly coincides with the first great rainfalls of autumn, when the Pacific Ocean reminds us of its presence by sending us waves of wind and fog and darkness — and salmon. more
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An unforgettable dolphin experience.
Dolphin Pays a Rare Visit to the KP
A dolphin has been putting on a show around the southern tip of the Key Peninsula. “The acrobatics I witnessed were incredible and unlike anything else outside of Sea World,” said … more
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The Bat’s Superpowers and COVID-19
Been thinking about bats. I’ve been going out on the beach after dusk to spend time with them. As a kid, I threw rocks and watched them pick up my projectiles with their echolocation. They … more
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A Gardener’s Guide to Slugs
Using science to limit slug damage. Slugs are different things to different people: a gardener’s nightmare, a forest worker breaking down decomposing forest vegetation, … more
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Living in a Coyote’s World
Coyotes are singing on the peninsula. They wake me in the wee hours. My mind needs a good minute or two to figure out if the eerie sounds more
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A Giant Problem for Honey Bees
The Asian giant hornet, an invasive species with a craving for honey bees, has been spotted in northwestern Washington. A winged giant has found its way to Washington … more
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When a Junco Nests in the Garden
Springtime comes to the peninsula. The soil warms and bird songs light up the mornings. In the forest you no longer tramp recklessly … more
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When a Giant Pacific Octopus Washes Ashore
Walk the peninsula’s beaches this time of year and you won’t find much of a high tide line. Gone are the mounds of seaweed, the … more
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You Say Madrona, I Say Madrone
While the Key Peninsula’s hillsides collapse under rain that reveals how we’re all just sitting on a … more
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When a Giant Pacific Octopus Washes Ashore
Walk the peninsula’s beaches this time of year and you won’t find much of a high tide line. Gone are the mounds of seaweed, the … more
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A Newt's World
It is late fall. Plants have slumped and yellow-brown maple leaves rot where they land … more
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Don’t Lick the Banana Slugs
As the rain returns to accompany us through winter, so do the banana slugs. It’s not that they go somewhere else for the summer — … more
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