Monday, August 31, 2020

Where are all the wildflowers?

Hoary Marmot Feeding on Lupine, Mount Rainier National Park, Washington

I have found it hard to get good action photos of marmots. Most of the time, they aren’t very active.

The hoary marmots I’ve seen in the Cascade mountain range spend most of the year sleeping. They hibernate for 8 to 9 months each year. They are awake only in summer when they scramble to eat enough to sleep through the next three seasons. Even then, however, I often see them stretched out over large rocks, napping in the sunshine.

Monday, August 17, 2020

5 Minutes in Nature: Appreciating green

Carpet of Ferns and Clover, Bellevue, Washington

This post is part of the 5 Minutes in Nature project — quick activities that are designed to help you relax and more deeply appreciate nature, five minutes at a time.

What color is grass? What color are leaves in the summer? What color is a cactus? They’re all green, right? But our snap response causes us to miss some of the nuance that makes nature interesting.