January 2018
maritime Pacific Northwest woods
We’ve had a few weeks of unseasonably warm winter weather in the Northwest, kind of a surprise since this is still technically a La Niña year. Often we do get cold weather later on, in February and March, so this La Niña may still pan out. Mountain snowpack is not bad in the North Cascades and Olympics, but it is way below normal in the Southern Cascades of Washington right down into Oregon and California.
The woodsy scene above looks quite damp, and it is, with spongey saturated ground and decomposing leaves. You might be surprised to know our total annual precipitation right here is 22”. But virtually all of that falls between October and April, and stays in the ground. All our vascular plants are dormant, so they aren’t drawing groundwater up into foliage to be used or transpired. It just gets wetter and wetter until spring wakes up the vegetation. Spring wakeup for plants is driven mostly by photoperiod: they need enough light to power photosynthesis, and that means both hours between sunrise to sunset and also how high up the sun is during the day. In those terms it’s still winter here at 48° latitude North.
Animals are starting to move about though. I’ve been seeing newts, slugs and insects, all a bit early. After our surprising white Xmas, it’s been warmer than usual in January.
Pleasant weather to be out walking when the wind isn’t blowing too hard. In the woods, there’s nice protection so long as big branches don’t fall on you.
The Daily Bucket is a nature refuge.
We amicably discuss animals, weather, climate, soil, plants, waters and note life’s patterns.
We invite you to note what you are seeing around you in your own part of the world, and to share your observations in the comments below.
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Amidst the downed leaves and bare branches of deciduous vegetation, even dormant foliage is colorful in the maritime Northwest and of course this weather is perfect for fungi, which have been active lately in this warm wet weather.
Fungi:
Lichens:
Lichens, that mutualistic life form composed of a fungus and an alga, persist throughout the year, but are more evident in the absence of deciduous foliage, especially if they are displaying reproductive structures.
Mosses and Ferns:
Vegetation says it’s still winter in the Northwest regardless of the balmy temperatures. Animals shows signs of anticipating spring already, such as brightening plumage in the finches. But that can be a future Bucket.
What’s the nature news in your neighborhood?
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