Aug 4 - Lambs Canyon

It's Lamb's Canyon day. I don't have time for a long hike today like I hoped but since I haven't been at Lamb's Canyon since July 4, time to go back and check things out.

Its a perfect day to hike there, a nice, cool 53 degrees about 8:45. Sun is out but hasn't made it over the mountain yet so its just a cool shady dark forest.

Its (sadly) getting late into summer and there are much less of the flowers I've been seeing (geraniums, lupine, etc). But there are new ones -- mostly yellow in color as its seems lots of late summer/fall flowers are yellow (like the goldenrod and there are a few here and just starting to bloom, and purple asters).

Last time I was here I found one monkshood plant; todays lots, some must be 7ft tall. They are mostly in bunches. The bees just crawl right under the hood and disappear for a bit before backing out and flying to another flower.

Those black-n-white moths that were so numerous last time and just wouldn't stop were everywhere! Three or more on a single plant - perhaps it was still too cool and shady for them to be flying.

(But perhaps they are at the end of their lives as they do look a little ragged.)

Fritillaries are flying a bout. Just a few so far.

The thimbleberries are about ready to eat - wish they were ready as if memory serves me correctly, they were delicious when I hiking on Isle Royale in MI as few years back.

I stop to look at a flower (and I don't even remember what it was at this point) and I hear a rustling in the brush. Definitely not the lizard or snake type rustling. I start looking around. I'm walking the side of a hill that drops into a little valley with a stream and then on the other side of the stream it goes back up a hill. The valley is filled with bushes, flowers, all types of green stuff. Its about 30-40 yrds across. On the other side, the brush is moving. I can't see what it was as the brush was too tall but my heart is pounding because its either deer or moose (maybe a black bear). Whatever it is, it's walking a path to be right across from me. And finally, a large brown head with antlers peers out (a moose!!!!). He must sense I'm there because he stops and looks across the valley towards me. We both are standing as still as can be. Finally he takes a few steps forward - I can see his whole head now!

He has a pretty decent rack of antlers -- with velvet. And he keeps looking my way. I'm ready to run like the wind if he charges. After about a 5 minute standstill, I decide its probably best I continue and leave him to his wanderings while he's still in a good mood. This is so cool -- I've seen a few female moose in the wild and the 3 up in Big Cottonwood canyon earlier this summer (but they were in a tourist zone) but this was a moose doing what moose do, in the wild -- so very cool!!!! My day is already made!

The baneberry has finally gone to berry -- red or white berries, dot the green forested landscape. Pretty impressive where there are areas with large concentrations of plants.

I'm interested to find what that petal-less coneflower I saw last time looks like now. But when I find them, they're still petal-less.

Very interesting. The bees sure love them. And they get pretty tall. In one section of trail, I walk thru a mini-forest of these towering coneflowers.

If my day couldn't get any better, I find a female Great Spangled Frit. She is so beautiful with her auburn and black color.

The GSF flies in the Midwest as well (actually they are one of my favorites from the 1st time I saw one at Spring Valley Nature Center) but the ones in the west are dark and bolder in color. Saw plenty of males. And the really cool thing, these look so different from all the other frit species out here -- I can actually confidently ID them :)

There's also a small orange bfly called a Purplish Copper (actually, only one of 3 other species I seen today that was not a frit).

I've always wanted to see a fir tree's pine cone (the cone actually disintegrates which is unlike other cones - so the timing has to be right to see them) and today was the day as there were a few laying on the trail near the top.

Near the top, there are some pinkish paintbrush still blooming and they are mixed with the baneberries which looks really pretty.

The top had a clear view of the city below (no haze) -- and the lupine, mints, etc blooming. Quite a few male GSF flying up here.

On the way down, it was sunnier and just tons of frits flying. I was just looking for something other than a frit and I finally found one in the "Utah All White" or Margined White -- just a solid white bfly. Saw about 5 total.

Then a little bfly caught my eye but I had to get close enough and maneuver around plants to see it...a Colorado Hairstreak! I've seen this bfly once; on a bfly trip to the White Mts in AZ. It was dusk, we stopped along side of a road in an oak forest. These bflies love to land in the tops of oak trees and our job, if we wanted to see one, was to throw rocks into the tree tops (and shake smaller trees). All while trying to avoid hitting each other with rocks, getting hit by cars AND trying to keep track of any bflies we managed to scare out. It was actually quite fun (and I'm sure our guide was sitting back and laughing at us). But we did see one, about 30ft up a tree -- definitely, not a great look. And now I have sight of this beautiful grey butterfly w/ light blue border that when it opens is a stunning purple! And its 1/2 way open!!! Yea!!

And get a bit further down the trail and to my right on the downside of the hill near the stream were at least 3 Colorado Hairstreaks. I could barely see them as they were partially blocked by leaves/stems. One is full out open (I can see the purple) but unfortunately its facing the sun (the opposite side). One (with wings closed) finally comes out and walks up and down a stem so I do get a good view. Exciting!

I finish the trail and check the mud puddles near the parking. This is usually filled with bflies but today, only a very beaten CO Hairstreak. I check behind the toilet (lots of flowers behind it), no bflies. Yes, bfly season is past its peak :(

But it was an AMAZING day!