The Arrival of Our Songbirds

by Ken Wilson

April is perhaps the most dramatic transition month for birds and birders. Between the beginning of April to the end of the month, there is probably a fivefold or tenfold increase in songbird numbers. This abundance continues into May, declining quite a bit as the migrants continue onward, leaving a still substantial number of songbirds that will breed here. Most of these spring migrants are our ‘neotropical’ birds, mostly smallish songbirds that spend more of their lives in Central and South America than they do in our Pacific Northwest.

Orange-crowned Warbler


But why the late April arrival? Birds time their breeding cycle so that their food supply, often the juicy caterpillars that nestlings digest easily, is most plentiful when the parents have nestlings to feed. By arriving in late April and early May, the birds have available the intervening weeks for establishing territories, mating, nest-building, and incubation. These migrants arrive on schedule, plus or minus a week or so. They are cued more by daylength than by the unpredictable fluctuations of temperature from one day to the next. Go for a walk in late April and May when birdsong occupies nearly every habitat. It’s not essential to identify each song because the enjoyment itself is worth it. But an absolute must is to download an app called Merlin Bird ID. It enables your smart-phone to listen to singing birds and is astoundingly accurate in identifying each individual. Merlin will permanently change your relationship to birds. And not just in April. Enjoy.

Wilson’s Warbler

Salmon, Cedar, Rock and Rain: Washington’s Olympic Peninsula

by Tim McNulty, Coauthor

Immature Bald Eagle at Mouth of Elwha River

In my essay, I explore the peninsula’s natural diversity from its geological origins through alpine, forest, riverine and coastal ecology. I review the peninsula’s epic conservation history, the threats posed by climate impacts, the future of the ecosystem and transformative role of restoration — from the Elwha dam removals through the Skokomish watershed and Hoh River restoration efforts to numerous salmon enhancement projects on the North Peninsula.

Western Redcedar

Along with my coauthors David Guterson and Lynda Mapes, seven Indigenous writers representing five Tribal nations tell stories of their peoples’ long-standing relationships with the peninsula’s land and waters and explore Tribal sovereignty, language revitalization, self-governance, and the Tribes’ spiritual relationship with this place. More than 30 photographers superbly capture the peninsula’s beauty and diversity.

Spotted Sandpiper at Mouth of Elwha River

Notes on Nettles

by Jeanmarie Morelli

Stinging nettles, Urtica dioica, are commonly found in moist sites and can shock the unsuspecting hiker. Often forming large patches under alder trees, they also grow along streams and disturbed sites. This time of year, the young shoots thrust upward from underground rhizomes. Later in the season, nettle plants grow to several feet tall when they produce either male or female inconspicuous flowers. Although nutritious plants, the stinging hairs covering the leaves deter browsing except by insect larvae, including the Painted Lady and West Coast Lady butterflies.

Nettle shoots herald the arrival of spring and an opportunity for wildcrafting. Young plants can be mistaken for mint with pairs of dark green leaves growing in opposite pairs along the square stem. Wear gloves and use clippers. Steamed or boiled nettles can be a spinach substitute. It’s rich in iron. Try preparing a potato-leek soup with a stock of fresh nettle greens and miso. The nettle’s sting is contained in the hollow hairs filled with uric acid. The fresh foliage applied topically has an anti-inflammatory effect on sore joints. (I have found it quite effective on aching elbows.) The fresh plant includes an array of phytochemicals. A report from the NIH confirms: “… Urtica species exert excellent anti-rheumatoid arthritis, anti-gout, anti-inflammatory, immunomodulatory, and antioxidant activities, all of which contribute to the protection of joints.”

Hair Ice

By John Goldwood

Hair ice


Hair Ice forms when specific prerequisites are present: a piece of decaying or rotted wood with specific moisture content; air temperature and humidity in a narrow range; and most importantly, the presence in that rotted wood of a single-celled fungus, Exidiopsis effusa, the critical factor driving creation of these ice crystals.

When conditions are perfect, a tiny droplet of water is forced from a hole in the decayed wood and freezes. A second droplet appears from the same hole, freezes, and pushes the first frozen droplet away from the surface of the wood. This process repeats itself until a single ice strand only 0.01mm in diameter (far smaller than a human hair) may attain a length of several centimeters. The fungi present in the ice crystals prevent the ice strands from clumping together and allow the creation of this beautiful and rarely seen ice formation.

You might walk right past Hair Ice without recognizing it. We frequently have many decaying Red Alder (a preferred host plant for the fungus) branches along our trails. Our humidity and sub-freezing temperatures are often in the perfect range, and our shorter days in winter make it easy to be on the trails shortly before or just after sunrise. If the prior evening has provided little wind, you may find these incredibly delicate and beautiful creations adorning the trail, or perhaps peeking out from the underbrush a short distance away. If you are fortunate enough to discover them, take a moment to appreciate their delicate beauty – but hold your breath!

Salmon Migration

By Chris Jones

We are lucky to live in a place where we can witness the high drama of salmon returning to their natal streams to complete their life cycle. Every river and stream in our region will have some salmon migrating all year, but September through early December is the peak. By early October, the pink (humpy) salmon have nearly completed spawning, and fall chum (dog), coho (silver), and king (chinook) are just entering their home streams. (Salmon seem to have two or more common names.) Steelhead technically are sea-going rainbow trout, and they are in rivers and streams almost year round.

At the locations below, look for chum salmon in the lower reaches of the stream and expect to see coho moving to the upper watershed. Kings and steelhead are sighted less frequently but do occur in larger rivers. Aside from the salmon themselves, look for disturbed, algae-free gravel patches, or “redds,” that mark where the salmon have mated and left fertilized eggs to hatch in the spring. You might see salmon guarding a patch of gravel anticipating a chance to mate.

  • Chimacum Creek: Explore the creek at HJ Carroll Park.
  • Elwha River: Seek overlooks where passing salmon are recolonizing
    after dam removal.
  • Duckabush River: Check the oxbow area protected by the Jefferson Land
    Trust. Use parking area beneath power lines on Duckabush Rd.
  • Dungeness River: Watch from the old railroad bridge at Sequim’s new
    Dungeness River Nature Center.