From a high point on the wind-swept prairie of Ebey’s Landing you can see two mountain ranges, two volcanoes, and a broad sweep of saltwater from a single vantage point and always one of those features in view no matter where you stand. Ebey’s Landing is on the west side of Whidbey Island. The layers of sands and gravels of Whidbey Island’s bluffs mark the recent glacial history of the Puget Sound region.
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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Ebey’s Landing National Historical Reserve was established to preserve historical, agricultural, cultural, and natural features. Land ownership is a combination of National park Service, Washington State Parks, and the Nature Conservancy. Most of the land is owned by the Nature Conservancy as part of the 544 acre Robert Y. Pratt Preserve. A focus of preserve management is restoration of the rare golden paintbrush (Castilleja levisecta) and other prairie plant species. Unfortunately for us, our December visit was not primetime for wildflowers.
It was on an unusually warm, clear, breezy day in early December that we explored the preserves’ forests, bluff top, lagoon, and beach. These can all be strung together in a loop trail. We began with the forest portion along a trail that skirts and weaves through the edge of a dense Douglas fir forest.
On the forest floor, our mild fall has made for good mushroom conditions. My amateur naturalist challenge is working on my mushroom identification skills. I can tell you that all three of the following mushrooms are gilled mushrooms or euagarics (order Agaricales). That’s about as far as I can go. Agaricales are the stereotypical mushrooms.
The trail emerges from the forest with a wide open view southeast across Ebeys Prairie all the way to the Cascade Range about 50 miles distant. A red-tailed hawk soars above the prairie using the strong breeze to kite in place. It kept one leg curiously outstretched.
The bluff trail climbs out of the prairie for some spectacular views that look out across Admiralty Inlet to the Olympic Mountains and down the Strait of Juan de Fuca.
The gently rolling trail follows along the bluff crest, rising up to about 240 feet above the sea. The grassy bluff face underlain by loose sands and gravels is at the angle of repose. I expect in spring that we would see wildflowers on the bluff face along with abundant insect life. But not on this December day. If the grass were removed, the bluff face would reveal a layered mix of sand and gravel, known as the Partridge Gravel, a kame-delta complex in which glacial outwash sand and gravel were deposited in a marine environment adjacent to the receding ice margin about 14,000 years ago. At that time, sea level was higher in a relative sense. During the last glacial advance (Vashon stade), the area was covered by about 4,000 feet of ice, whose mass depressed the land surface. When the ice melted, the land rebounded (isostatic rebound) and now the Partridge Gravel is exposed above sea level as in the bluff face.
Looking down from the bluff, we see Perego’s Lagoon (Perego’s Lake on some maps). According to some, it is one of the least disturbed coastal wetlands in Washington state. Perego’s Lagoon is closed in by a narrow barrier beach known as a looped barrier or a closed spit. Barrier beaches are created by sand transported by longshore currents, in this case current movement is from north to south. You can see several places where the barrier beach was overtopped by storm waves depositing overwash fans into the lagoon.
Wind blowing against the bluff face creates perfect soaring conditions for raptors and gulls.
The bluff trail eventually switchbacks down to beach level. From there you can either return along the beach or along the edge of Perego’s Lagoon. We chose the lagoon trail because it would peter out eventually and we would then be walking on the beach. The chance to see some waterfowl on the lagoon made the lagoon trail an easy choice. We saw only buffleheads, hooded mergansers, and then a greater yellowlegs soared in.
Eventually the lagoon trail did peter out and we were on the beach for the final leg. The coarser material, pebbles and cobbles, are found at the upper part of the beach where higher energy waves, like storm waves, reach farther up the beach, wash out the finer sand, and leave the cobbles.
The Northern Harrier Fan Club was not disappointed on this walk. We saw one harrier coursing low over the bluff face with its classic canting flight.
There is history here, too, European colonizers and conflict with the indigenous peoples. But that is a subject best covered in another diary.
"SPOTLIGHT ON GREEN NEWS & VIEWS" IS POSTED EVERY SATURDAY AT 3:00 PM PACIFIC TIME ON THE DAILY KOS FRONT PAGE. IT'S A GREAT WAY TO CATCH UP ON DIARIES YOU MIGHT HAVE MISSED. BE SURE TO RECOMMEND AND COMMENT IN THE DIARY. |
Now It's Your Turn
What have you noted happening in your area or travels? As usual post your observations as well as their general location in the comments.