#saddle mountain

[sherrylephotography]

My photography @sherrylephotography

taken 7/24 posted 8/24

Hiking up Saddle Mountain, Carmel California, USA

[rebeccathenaturalist]

Thousands of butterflies released into the wild by the Oregon Zoo

Change can be hard, but these little insects are used to it.

So this is a piece of good news that I have a small stake in. The Oregon silverspot butterfly (Speryeria zerene hippolyta) once flew along the coast from San Mateo County in California to my stomping grounds up here on the Long Beach Peninsula in extreme southwest Washington. As with many herbivorous insects, the caterpillar of this species has a very limited diet--in fact, the only thing it can eat is the leaves of the early blue violet (Viola adunca). The violets grow in coastal meadows where they get plenty of sun; unfortunately, due to fire suppression and development, most of these meadows are either heavily damaged or no longer exist. And no violets means no butterflies.

Today, the last wild populations include four sites in Oregon and one in Northern California. Over the past few decades conservationists have been working to protect and restore coastal meadows, and both the Oregon Zoo in Portland and the Woodland Park Zoo in Seattle have active breeding programs for Oregon silverspots. The caterpillars are raised in captivity, and then when they pupate they are placed in suitable release sites. Some of these are in established populations, but they have also more recently been reintroduced to parts of their historic range where they had been extirpated, such as Nestucca Bay National Wildlife Refuge and Saddle Mountain in Oregon.

This latest release is the largest at Saddle Mountain, with over 2000 silverspot pupae being released there. It's also the site closest to where I am--maybe fifty miles away as the butterfly soars--and people here have been preparing for years for either a planned release or the natural dispersal of butterflies. Willapa National Wildlife Refuge has been engaged in multiple habitat restoration projects over the years, and this includes a restored meadow with a large patch of early blue violets. The farm owned by my friends that I live on also has extensive early blue violet plantings, and there's also a commercial native plant nursery on site that includes the violets as part of their seasonal offerings.

It is my hope that within my lifetime I will get to see the Oregon silverspot flying here on the peninsula. The latest Saddle Mountain release makes it that much more likely that my hope will become reality.

[autoneurotic]

celebrate the Heavens, given back to man-upon-the-earth, here i saw my saddle mountain folded on the hills and valleys. oh, god, how everything froze, and i could see for just one moment all worlds, an endless chord, a glorious pattern halfway woven!

celebrate the open plains—a broken gate and empty hands. valleys fled from cold to green and i could see the sea again. oh, god, how everything froze, and i could see for just one moment forward, an endless chord, a glorious pattern halfway woven!

[tetramodal]

Saddle Mountain Acrylic on canvas 6x8". Charles Morgenstern, 2021. The San Juan Mountains near Wolf Creek Pass, Colorado. Artwork for sale at tetramodal.com

[the-blue-rose-of-the-sea]

I have 18 5-gallon buckets of rocks in my garage and 3 5-gallon buckets in my bathroom

4 are filled with petrified wood from saddle mountain

3 are filled with quartz thunder eggs from nache valley

10 are filled with obsidian (banded,midnight lace, gold, silver, grey, tiger stripped, and mahogany) from glass butte

2 are filled with red quartz thunder eggs from lucky strike mine

1 is filled with broken quartz Crystal's from Hansen creek

1 is filled with very pretty quartz rocks and other agates from north beach in port townsend.

I'm outside almost every weekend in search of new places to mine or to explore. If you know of any others please do tell me!

P.s. if youd like more picture of certain kinds I have them in aces and spades, if your looking for the exact location I have the gps coordinates for everywhere I've been!

[annemckinnell]

What a fantastic weekend! On Saturday I celebrated 16 years with the man I love Ray Burr and we were treated to an incredibly beautiful sunset. Then on Sunday I celebrated my birthday. Ray got me a Google Pixel phone and it has an excellent camera on it!! I'm really impressed. Now I have another way to stay in photography when my medical condition prevents me from carrying my gear around. This is one of my first phone photos (I have been resisting smart phones all this time!) Thank you for all the birthday wishes!!

[adventuresandcoffeee]

W i l d & f r e e

[placeswordsdreams]

Saddle Mountain Trail, Nehalem Bay State Park, Oregon