The Daily Bucket is a regular feature of the Backyard Science group. It is a place to note any observations you have made of the world around you. Rain, sun, wind...insects, birds, flowers...meteorites, rocks...seasonal changes...all are worthy additions to the bucket. Please let us know what is going on around you in a comment. Include, as close as is comfortable for you, where you are located. Each note is a record that we can refer to in the future as we try to understand the patterns that are quietly unwinding around us.
March 29, 2015
maritime Pacific Northwest
As a fellow Bucketeer noted yesterday, in the Pacific Northwest, March came in like a lamb and is going out like a lion. We've had a series of storm fronts lately bringing wind and spitting rain at intervals. However it has been warm throughout, unseasonably warm. Spring flowers continue to emerge, and so far the natives have been flowering pretty much as usual. Here's what I saw yesterday.
Very first Dewberry flowers (Rubus ursinus), aka Trailing Blackberry:
First Sea Thrift flowers (Armeria maritima), on schedule:
Trees are flowering too. Red Alder's (Alnus rubra) male flowers are mostly spent, but the female flowers are blooming pink nubs:
Big-leaf Maple flowers (Acer macrophyllum) before it leafs out too:
Salmonberry (Rubus spectabilis) has been blooming since the beginning of the month, but it's still going strong:
Ok, this isn't a native flower, nor a native animal, but I thought I'd share what warm temps and wet ground brings out in the maritime NW. This little fella is just a baby, growing fast, and there are thousands like it out there...
(All photos by me. In Lightbox...click to enlarge)
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All nature observations welcome in the comments. What's happening in nature in your backyard?
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