Category Archives: Uncategorized

The Burke Museum

by Chris Jones

The Burke Museum at the University of Washington was established in 1885 by the “Young Naturalists’ Society,” a group of teenagers passionate about studying and preserving the natural world of the Pacific Northwest. Their collection of specimens grew, and in 1899 it was officially designated as the Washington State Museum.

Today, the Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture is dedicated to preserving and sharing our natural and cultural heritage. It serves as both a research hub and public museum and is a leader in the university museum world.

The Burke integrates the fields of archeology, anthropology, biology, and geology and engages with local Indigenous communities to research cultural history, co-curate exhibits, and preserve artifacts. After three years of construction, the museum and its 18 million biological specimens and artifacts moved to the “New Burke” in 2019. There are visible labs where visitors can watch researchers working.

More information: www.burkemuseum.org

A Special Lagoon

by Wendy Feltham

Chinese Gardens Lagoon is one of the jewels of Port Townsend. Surrounded by a beach, a forest, and farmland, this lagoon is home to resident and migratory birds. I walk around this lagoon often, seeking the birds that make this area their home— Great Blue Herons, Mallards, Bald Eagles, and Spotted Towhees. 

Chinese Gardens Lagoon

The lagoon changes with the seasons. In winter, many ducks, including Hooded Mergansers, Green-winged Teals, and Northern Shovelers, find food and safety from hunters here. Yellow-rumped Warblers thrive in the Wax Myrtle shrubs. In summer three swallow species swoop along the water’s edge. Savannah Sparrows nest in the grasslands that Ft. Worden State Park won’t mow until the young have fledged. 

Yellow-rumped Warbler

Recently I’ve noticed Double-crested Cormorants resting on the old pilings, especially those at the far corner where people can’t approach. I’ve watched herons and mergansers catch Three-spined Sticklebacks, and lately even huge Pacific Staghorn Sculpins.

Great Blue Heron & Leptocottus armatus (Pacific Staghorn Sculpin)

A few years ago Ft. Worden State Park and the Friends of Ft. Worden created the Chinese Gardens Interpretive Trail, with signage by painter Larry Eifert. This project highlights the wildlife as well as the historical use of this area, which was part of a series of wetlands and ponds used by Tribes and Chinese families: http://www.tribalmuseum.jamestowntribe.org/hsg/exhibits/chetzemokatrail/northbeach.php

Snowflakes

by John Goldwood

As we head into the winter months, we’re filled with anticipation of our first snowfall of the season here in the Puget Sound low country. Will we have a White Christmas, or will we need to wait for the colder months beyond?

Alnus rubra (Red Alder)


For one young man living on a Vermont farm in the late 1800s, his initial interaction with snowflakes led to a lifelong passion and worldwide recognition as ‘The Snowflake Man of Jericho.’ Wilson Alwyn Bentley, born in 1865, was fifteen years old when his mother provided an inexpensive microscope for him to view snowflakes. The incredibly delicate crystals seen through the microscope sparked his lifelong interest. At nineteen, he acquired a compound microscope and a large studio camera and became the first person to photograph a single snowflake on January 15, 1885. For the next fifty years, the first snowfall would find Bentley setting up his equipment in an unheated shed at the farm to capture on glass plates the magnified images of snowflakes. He eventually photographed nearly 6000 individual snowflakes. His images have been published in college textbooks and the Encyclopedia Britannica and used as inspiration by artists and jewelers. His snowflake photo plates are found in many museums including the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City and the Smithsonian.

Holodiscus discolor (Oceanspray)

When the next snowfall arrives, I hope you will be inspired to rush out with your magnifying glass and enjoy those beautiful snow crystals!

Autumn Birds

by Ken Wilson

No two weeks are the same when it comes to our local bird life.
In this column, we’ll motivate you to notice more of what’s happening
instead of just trying to identify each species.

Dunlin

Many species switch their feeding behaviors in autumn. Robins
switch from earthworms to berries. The holly trees in Port Townsend’s
Uptown can have flocks numbering in the hundreds. Many ducks go into
full courtship mode with wonderful and humorous sounds and
behaviors. The forests seem mostly vacated because the songbirds have
ceased their singing from conspicuous perches; instead, they are to be
discovered by turning on your smartphone’s free Merlin app. It will
identify many individual birds that you would otherwise miss, either
because the vocalizations are soft, or the bird is hidden within the
foliage. (Merlin found more than 20 species in my P.T. backyard this
past week.) Backyard feeders are superb for observing bird behaviors.

Green-winged Teal

Through November, our waterbirds increase greatly in number and
diversity, with most of these remaining through the winter.
Nonetheless, there are considerable local movements of birds, so that
whatever you discover on one day will be different the following day.
But not always… some individual birds, for example, will return to
the same precise location each year. Others, such as Red Crossbills or
Pine Siskins, do not share this ‘site fidelity;’ they may be abundant
one year and wander elsewhere the next.

Pacific Northwest Forests

by Cheryl Lowe

The Pacific Northwest (PNW) is renowned for its diverse and vibrant forest ecosystems, characterized by a unique interplay of climate, geology, and biology. Stretching from Northern California to British Columbia, this region encompasses temperate rainforests, coastal woodlands, and mountainous terrain. The climate, influenced by the Pacific Ocean, brings abundant rainfall and mild temperatures, fostering lush vegetation and rich biodiversity. Key species include towering Douglas firs, Sitka spruce, and western red cedars, which create dense canopies that support a myriad of understory plants, fungi, and wildlife. 

Ursus Americana (American Black Bear)

The ecological dynamics of PNW forests are shaped by a variety of factors, including soil composition, elevation, and human impact. The nutrient-rich soils, particularly in older forest stands, support complex plant communities and contribute to high levels of productivity. These forests are also home to a wide range of animal species, from large mammals like elk and black bears to countless bird species, amphibians, and invertebrates. Interactions among these organisms, including predator-prey relationships and mutualistic partnerships, create a balanced ecosystem that is resilient yet sensitive to environmental changes.

Tree Bark