RHH's photos with the keyword: catherine

This was taken in the Catherine Creek Natural Area on the Washington side of the Columbia River. The tree in the foreground is a Ponderosa Pine, most of which are dying in the area from an outbreak of the Five-spined Ips Beetle, and the mountain in the background is Mount Hood in Oregon.

This was photographed at Catherine Creek in the Columbia River Gorge where these tiny beetles were feasting on yellow flowers that I did not identify. There were dozens of them on every plant and most of the flowers had been eaten. Thanks to Barbol, the beetles have now been identified as Klamathweed Beetles, and I assume that the plant is the Kalmathweed (Hypericum perforatum), their main food source. Interestingly, the information I found indicates that these beetles were introduced into our area to control the Klamathweed, a noxious plant that is toxic to livestock and that the beetles have nearly eliminated this weed. Forgot to mention earlier that this is also a photo of my wife's. ronaldhanko-orchidhunter.blogspot.com/2012/07/catherine-c...

Catherine Creek is in Gifford Pinchot National Forest, Mount Adams Ranger District. It is along the Columbia River near Bingen, Washington, and is notable for its wildflowers, for its views of the Columbia River gorge and Mount Hood and for its hiking trails. This photo shows the creek itself near where it drops down the side of the gorge to the Columbia River. The rock is black basalt and the photo was taken early in the summer when the vegetation was beginning to show the effects of summer dryness. ronaldhanko-orchidhunter.blogspot.ca/2012/07/catherine-cr...