Uncoiling Fern Frond

My wife an I spent the day hiking and doing photography on Whidbey Island. We visited several locations including the forested grounds of the Au Sable Institute near Coupeville, the trails at Hoypus Hill, overlooking Cornet Bay, and the trails at Deception Pass and Goose Rock. We went to the Au Sable Institute to see the Spotted and Ozette Coralroots (the former were in full bloom and the latter were not yet blooming, but we also found one other orchid in bloom, the Heart-leaved Twayblade). We went to Hoypus Hill to see if the Western Coralroots were blooming (they were not). We went to Deception Pass and Goose Rock just to see what we could find, orchids or otherwise, and found plenty to photograph especially on the balds of Goose Rock.

This picture was taken on Hoypus Hill. My wife was photographing the one open flower we found on the Western Coralroots. I figured I would come back in a few weeks and see them fully opened, and wandered about looking for other things to photograph. I love the unfurling fronds of the ferns and began taking pictures of some of them, especially the curled tips, hoping to catch a bit of their unique beauty. This is one of them, which I cannot identify (I am hopeless with ferns), is posted pretty much SOOC, though I did increase the contrast slightly. If anyone can identify the fern I'd be very pleased, but that may be quite difficult without being able to see the whole plant.