Coyote pups have been spotted in the wetlands along our rock wall. The pups are left to their own at times during the day. They stay near the rock wall. When people come close they disappear into the rock wall.
There appear to be two "families". In one family there are two pups. In the other there is just one.
These photos were taken when walking along the rock wall.
Mother Coyote watching us from top of rock wall.
One pup sees us.
One pup runs away. The other pup, in the grass next to the rock, has not seen us.
Now we have been spotted. First pup watches from a safe distance.
Mother Coyote goes first.
Pups come after.
Pacific Ninebark (Physocarpus capitatus). The flowers are maturing into seeds.
Oxeye Daisy (Leucanthemum vulgare)
The very small flowers of Sheep Sorrel (Rumex acetosella)
Thimbleberry flower (Rubus parviflorus)
Wild rose. Possibly Nootka rose (Rosa nutkana).
Rose bud.
Largeleaf Avens (Geum macrophyllum). Two flowers and seeds.
Cut-leaved Geranium (Geranium dissectum). Very small flowers.
English plantain (Plantago lanceolata). A common weed.
American speedwell (Veronica americana). Very small flowers with four unequal petals. It grows in streams and bottom lands.
Here the ground is soggy. Lots of speedwell, a few butter cups and the leaves are probably northern water plantain.
Spit bug. Wikipedia says: The froghoppers, or the superfamily Cercopoidea, are a group of hemipteran insects in the suborder Auchenorrhyncha. Adults are capable of jumping many times their height and length, giving the group their common name, but they are best known for their plant-sucking nymphs which encase themselves in foam in springtime.
Aphids on a sow thistle. Wikipedia says: Aphids are small sap-sucking insects and members of the superfamily Aphidoidea. Common names include greenfly and blackfly, although individuals within a species can vary widely in color. The group includes the fluffy white woolly aphids. A typical life cycle involves flightless females giving live birth to female nymphs—who may also be already pregnant, an adaptation scientists call telescopic development—without the involvement of males.
Bee at right. Spider at left. The spider is after the bee. This spider moves very fast. In this case the bee flew away.
After the bee left I moved in for a closer photo. The spider assumed a defensive posture. According to Wikipedia: Phidippus audax is a common jumping spider of North America. It is commonly referred to as the daring jumping spider, or bold jumping spider. The spider belongs to the genus Phidippus, a group of jumping spiders easily identified both by their relatively large size and their iridescent chelicerae.
Like other jumping spiders, due to their large, forward-facing eyes, they have very good stereoscopic vision. This aids them when stalking prey, and facilitates visual communication with others of their species, as in their courting dances.
This photo by Opoterser shows a front view. The two large eyes in the front allow the spider a binocular-like view of the prey. Unlike insect eyes that are composed of many small eyes, these eyes form an image on a retina. The lenses are stationary. To focus, the retina moves inside the head of the spider.
From Wikipedia: Coccinella septempunctata, the seven-spot ladybird (or, in North America, seven-spotted ladybug or "C-7"[1]), is the most common ladybird in Europe. Its elytra are of a red colour, but punctuated with three black spots each, with one further spot being spread over the junction of the two, making a total of seven spots, from which the species derives both its common and scientific names (from the Latin septem = "seven" and punctus = "spot"). C. septempunctata has a broad ecological range, generally living where there are aphids for it to eat.
Equisetum arvense, the field horsetail or common horsetail, is an herbaceous perennial plant in the Equisetopsida (the horsetails), native throughout the arctic and temperate regions of the northern hemisphere. It has separate sterile non-reproductive and fertile spore-bearing stems growing from a perennial underground rhizomatous stem system. The green sterile stems start to grow after the fertile stems have wilted and persist through the summer until the first autumn frosts.
Lupine. Possibly river-bank lupine (Lupinus rivularis). This is the first year I have seen lupine here. There have been lupine along the boardwalk near Hanson Ridge Park.
Willow seeds. When the wind blows a steady stream of seeds float on the breeze. Probably Pacific willow (Salix lasiandra).
Willow seeds close-up.
Birdfoot Trefoil (Lotus corniculatus). Not native. Can become a pest.
Pale yellow iris (Iris pseudacorus). Not native. Is a pest.
Curly-leaf Pondweed (Potamogeton crispus). Not native. Likes slow moving water.
Probably a Red-breasted Sapsucker (Sphyrapicus ruber). Rapidly ascending mature trees.
Prickly Sedge (Carex stipata).
Coyote (Canis latrans).
Common Nipplewort (Lapsana communis). Tall weedy plant with small flowers.
Common Nipplewort leaves.
Probably Soft Rush (Juncus effusus).
Numerous lichen on a dead branch of a willow tree.
Branch on a male Oregon Ash tree (Fraxinus latifolia). The male flowers are just starting to emerge.
Twinberry Honeysuckle (Lonicera involucrata).
Planted two years ago. Saw a hummingbird here.
One berry is missing. They come in pairs.
Tall Oregon Grape (Berberis aquifolium). Planted two years ago. This year's leaves on top.
Cursed Buttercup (Ranunculus sceleratus). Growing in very damp places.
Broad-leaf Cattail (Typha latifolia). Lots of new cattails.
Water Pennywort (Hydrocotyle ranunculoides). Lots of this where your boots start to sink under water.
Creeping Buttercup (Ranunculus repens). Not native.
Red Osier Dogwood (Cornus sericea). Towards the end of May many of the flowers have turned to seed.
Virginia opossum (Didelphis virginiana). This is the second dead opossum found in our neighborhood.
All of the rabbits are gone from the wetlands. There have been reports that Oregon rabbits have been infected with a virus that quickly kills them. The opossum death does not seem to be related to the rabbit virus.
Common Whitetail dragonfly (Plathemis lydia) female. This insect is mostly wing muscle. Dragonflies have the highest wing muscle to body weight ratio. They can GO.
The military, watching me take photos of a dragonfly.
Panicled Bulrush (Scirpus microcarpus).
Young Fuller's Teasel (Dipsacus fullonum). Not native. So far, just a single teasel.
Lichen and moss.