Folks — This was inadvertently published Monday, so we pulled it back and we’re rolling it out today (Wednesday). Attribute to operator error.
This is a bucket variety pack from a short walk. Last week was my birthday, kind of a milestone birthday. I usually go for a hike on my birthday. My older son and I share the same birthday and we usually take a ski trip together this time of year. This year, circumstances changed the usual routines.
So, I loaded my two dogs into the back of mein wagen and drove north to the Skagit Valley. No plan, no destination, just driving, looking at the fields of daffodils; tulips not yet blooming. Just happened to drive by the Padilla Bay Shore Trail parking lot and pulled in. The trail is two miles in length, along a dike that separates Padilla Bay and its mudflats from farm fields. We walked a there-and-back for a total of four miles of easy strolling on a wide crushed gravel path.
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The mudflats, at least nearshore, are literally paved with these horn snail shells. They are the Japanese mud snail (Batillaria attramentaria), an invasive species introduced into North America in the 1920s to 1930s. They feast on benthic diatoms and they host a parasite; a trematode, which is a fluke or flatworm. An example of a trematode parasite you probably don’t want in your body is the liver fluke.
Here’s what the Global Invasive Species Database says about the Japanese mud snail (I deleted the references):
Batillaria attramentaria, since its arrival to North America, has reduced native biodiversity. It is known to have decreased populations of the California hornsnail (Cerithidea californica). Batillaria attramentaria is a superior competitor for shared food resources (benthic diatoms). Also, there are many trematode parasites that infect the California hornsnail, but only one trematode species (itself a non-native species) that infects B. attramentaria. This contributes to decreases in populations of the California hornsnail because these parasites can affect the snail at higher rates. These parasites have obligate multi-host life cycles, so that the loss of Cerithidea, which is a necessary host in their life cycles, will result in the local loss of most of the parasite fauna as well. The most important mechanism for B. attramentaria’s gradual displacement of the native hornsnail (C. californica) where they are sympatric is B. attramentaria’s lower mortality rate compared to the native. Contributing to this lower mortality rate is the fact that the invader is not as susceptible to hypoxia as the native.
Scattered among the Japanese mud snail shells were shells of the Japanese littleneck clam ; in your supermarket seafood section called a Manila clam. It’s non-native, having been introduced accidentally or intentionally. It’s grown intentionally in some bays along the Pacific coast.
Further beachcombing revealed the carapace of a helmet crab (Telmessus cheiragonus). These crabs live among the eelgrass beds out in Padilla Bay.
There was this lonely tree out on the edge of a farm field near the dike. It was for sure some type of juniper. It had characteristic juniper berries and leaf structure. The only native juniper growing in this area is the seaside juniper (Juniperus maritima), which grows on the rocky bluffs above Anacortes and out on the San Juan Islands. It’s growing on what many years ago, before the dike, was likely tidal mudflat. My conclusion is that the tree was clearly planted here and looks to be quite old, probably more than 50 years old is my guess. The seaside juniper was originally classified as a Rocky Mountain juniper (Juniperus scopulorum) but was separated as its own species in 2007 based on genetic analysis.
The dike is protected on the Padilla Bay side by riprap, consisting of big chunks of quarried rock placed to prevent the dike from eroding by wave action. Growing on the rock are various sorts of moss and lichens. These small lifeforms are easily unnoticed but worthy of our attention for their exquisite beauty.
Near the trailhead parking lot, green-winged teal (Anas crecca) were dabbling in the tide gate outflow. They are among the smallest of our dabbling ducks. I see them mostly on marshy mudflats.
We can’t leave the Skagit Valley without a token picture of the daffodils. Tulips will soon be blooming and that brings in hoards of people. This year I hope people will be careful.
Be safe everyone!
What are you seeing in your natural world?
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