RHH's photos with the keyword: summer lake

This Blue Dasher dragonfly was photographed at Summer Lake in Skagit County, Washington.

An Eight-spotted Skimmer, I believe, photographed at Summer Lake in Skagit County, Washington.

In Explore October 6, 2010, #196. This is the White Pitcher Plant, Sarracenia leucophylla, from the same floating bog described in the previous post. These are not as common there as the Yellow or Purple Pitchers, but are very striking in their coloration. What we have found remarkable is presence of so many spiders on these plants. Not only do the plants themselves capture and digest insects, but there are spiders, in this case a Crab Spider, lurking in the pitchers as well, ready to grab unsuspecting insects. This spider had a small moth when we first found it but dropped the moth into the pitcher either because it was finished eating or because of our presence. It was interesting, too, that this spider was colored exactly like the pitcher, white with maroon markings. More pictures and information on this amazing place can be found at: ronaldhanko-orchidhunter.blogspot.com/2010/10/little-bog-... .

In Explore October 6, 2010, #346. These are Yellow Pitcher Plants, Sarracenia flava, growing in a floating bog about an hour south of where we live. I've posted pictures from this bog before, but we visited again a week or so ago and saw these amazing plants again. No one knows who planted them there or when, but they are not native though they are well-established. Further pictures and a description of our excursion can be found here: ronaldhanko-orchidhunter.blogspot.com/2010/10/little-bog-... .

These are Purple Pitcher Plants, Sarracenia purpurea, photographed at the Little Bog of Horrors, as we call it. The photo was taken by my wife, some of whose pictures I've added to the blog posting about the place where these plants were found: ronaldhanko-orchidhunter.blogspot.com/2010/10/little-bog-... . As I've mentioned in a previous post, these plants are not native to the state of Washington, but someone has introduced them into a floating bog or muskeg at a Lake in Skagit County and they have established themselves there, along with other species of Sarracenia and the Venus' Flytrap.

This was photographed at Summer Lake, the lake where all the carnivorous plants grow. It was the only other thing we found in bloom on our last visit and we found only this last lonely flower spike. After all the carnivorous plants, however, everything begins to look sinister and one wonders if there are secrets hidden even in these lovely flowers. ronaldhanko-orchidhunter.blogspot.com/2010/10/one-more-vi...

When we visited the floating bog on Summer Lake in Skagit County a few weeks ago ronaldhanko-orchidhunter.blogspot.com/2010/10/little-bog-... , we had no intention of returning again this year. However, our good friend, Marti Anderson, expressed an interest in seeing the bog, and so we decided to go once more to show her this wonderful place, and as it turned out, picked a beautiful, sunny, autumn day. We spent nearly four hours there enjoying the sunshine, taking photos, and examining these remarkable plants. This is the bog where someone has introduced a number of species of carnivorous plants, especially Pitcher Plants and Flytraps and where they have become established and flourished. The place is amazing and it was a lot of fun to show the place to Marti, who I think enjoyed the excursion but for the wet feet she got at the end with my wife's help. Marti's photostream is here: www.flickr.com/photos/meanderingwa/ and you can link to her blog from mine. There are three species of Pitcher Plants growing in the bog. This is the White Pitcher Plant, Sarracenia leucophylla. It seems to be the least well established of thee three, since we counted only about a dozen pitchers, many of which were quite small. The other two, the Purple Pitcher Plant and the Yellow Pitcher Plant are very well established. More pictures of the lake, of its floating island and of these plants can be found on my blog: ronaldhanko-orchidhunter.blogspot.com/2010/10/one-more-vi... .

Here is another of the weird flowers of one of the carnivorous pitcher plants, this time of the Yellow Pitcher Plant, Sarracenia flava. This, too, though it looks a bit like a daffodil flower is thick and fleshy to the touch, and, though it is not as tall as the pitchers must lure some insects to the pitchers, where they are drowned and digested. These were photographed at Summer Lake in Skagit County, Washington, where a number of species of carnivorous plants (at least three species of Pitcher Plants) have been introduced and are flourishing, as their blooms and seeds clearly show. For more information see the links to my blog below. ronaldhanko-orchidhunter.blogspot.com/2010/10/one-more-vi... ronaldhanko-orchidhunter.blogspot.com/2010/10/little-bog-... ronaldhanko-orchidhunter.blogspot.com/2010/06/little-bog-...

This and the previous picture were taken on the edge of the muskeg or floating bog on Summer Lake in Skagit County, Washington, with the water of the lake as a background. The deadly beauty of these plants was evident when we looked inside the pitchers - not much water but the lower part of every pitcher was filled with dead insects. There are three species of Pitcher Plants growing in the bog. This is the Yellow Pitcher Plant, Sarracenia flava. The other two are the White and Purple Pitcher Plants. More pictures of the lake, of its floating island and of these plants can be found on my blog: ronaldhanko-orchidhunter.blogspot.com/2010/10/one-more-vi... .

Beautiful lake, you say? Quiet and peaceful scene? What you don't know is that at every corner of this lake there lurk creatures of your worst nightmares, creatures who eat other creatures alive, swallowing them whole. Scotland has its Loch Ness and its monster, but Washington has Summer Lake and the Halloween creatures that hide there. This is a place you would not want to visit at night nor on Halloween, for there are found flesh-eating plants, and who knows what they will do if you go alone or in the dark. On a more serious note, this is the east side of Summer Lake, the place where someone has introduced various species of carnivorous plants. The picture shows part of the muskeg or floating bog on the right. Standing where this picture was taken one is standing on a mat of floating vegetation that moves underfoot and that is the home of these carnivorous plants. Interestingly, the lake is also the home of a man-made floating island that has trees growing on it that are at least 20 years old. More details and pictures of this unique place can be found on the following blog entries. ronaldhanko-orchidhunter.blogspot.com/2010/10/one-more-vi... ronaldhanko-orchidhunter.blogspot.com/2010/10/little-bog-... ronaldhanko-orchidhunter.blogspot.com/2010/06/little-bog-...

As the poor insect goes from door to door looking for a treat, perhaps a lovely piece of half rotten meat (isn't that what these look like?) he suddenly finds that he is the treat, swallowed whole and unsuspecting by one of the Halloween creature from the Little Bog of Horrors. Horrible trick, Isn't it? These are Purple Pitcher Plants (wonderful alliteration) growing in the quaking bog at Summer Lake in Skagit County, Washington. They have become established there and grow in huge clumps of hundreds of pitchers. Each pitcher is lined with hairs and filled with water to catch insects. ronaldhanko-orchidhunter.blogspot.com/2010/10/one-more-vi... ronaldhanko-orchidhunter.blogspot.com/2010/10/little-bog-... ronaldhanko-orchidhunter.blogspot.com/2010/06/little-bog-...

"I felt that something horrible was near from the moment that my foot first touched the water" - Frodo in "The Fellowship of the Ring." Taken at the north end of Summer Lake early in the morning. There were no carnivorous plants found at this end of the lake but they were nearby! ronaldhanko-orchidhunter.blogspot.com/2010/10/one-more-vi... ronaldhanko-orchidhunter.blogspot.com/2010/10/little-bog-... ronaldhanko-orchidhunter.blogspot.com/2010/06/little-bog-...

I know that I am getting tired of these pictures and I'm sure everyone else is too, but I promise this will be the last. It was taken on one of our recent visits to the floating bog on Summer Lake. On this White Pitcher Plant (Sarracenia leucophylla) we found this crab spider which had captured and was dining on a moth or skipper much larger than itself. When we tried to photograph it it retreated around the edge of the pitcher plant with its prey and finally dropped the insect into the pitcher. Whether it was finished eating or just tired of trying to avoid us we could not tell, but what a double jeopardy! Insects have to beware both the deadly beauty of the Pitcher Plants and the spiders so often lurking inside or nearby. ronaldhanko-orchidhunter.blogspot.com/2010/10/one-more-vi... ronaldhanko-orchidhunter.blogspot.com/2010/10/little-bog-... ronaldhanko-orchidhunter.blogspot.com/2010/06/little-bog-...

Do not open the door Saturday evening if you live in Skagit County! These creatures will be looking for a treat, but they don't like candy. In fact, if you look closely, you'll see the remains of the last meal on the lip of the pitcher to the right, a small dragonfly of some sort. So, unless you want to be the next "treat" don't open the door. These are Yellow Pitcher Plants (Sarracenia flava), but showing some of the variation in color. They vary in background color from bright yellow to green and some have almost none of the heavy veining of these plants. For more information see my previous posts and the links to my blog below. ronaldhanko-orchidhunter.blogspot.com/2010/10/one-more-vi... ronaldhanko-orchidhunter.blogspot.com/2010/10/little-bog-... ronaldhanko-orchidhunter.blogspot.com/2010/06/little-bog-...

Even the flowers of these carnivorous plants are weird. This is the flower, nearly gone by, of a Purple Pitcher Plant. They are actually even stranger than they look since they are thick and fleshy to the touch, and, of course, held above the pitchers which are ready to catch unsuspecting insects that visit the flowers. These were photographed at Summer Lake in Skagit County, Washington, where a number of species of carnivorous plants (at least three species of Pitcher Plants) have been introduced and are flourishing, as their blooms and seeds clearly show. For more information see the links to my blog below. ronaldhanko-orchidhunter.blogspot.com/2010/10/one-more-vi... ronaldhanko-orchidhunter.blogspot.com/2010/10/little-bog-... ronaldhanko-orchidhunter.blogspot.com/2010/06/little-bog-...

One more Halloween photo of the Yellow Pitcher Plant and its strange flower. Whether the flowers attract insects to the pitchers I do not know, but the flowers are very thick and fleshy and feel as though they are made of leather. This photo was taken on the edge of the floating bog with the water of Summer Lake in the background. ronaldhanko-orchidhunter.blogspot.com/2010/10/one-more-vi... ronaldhanko-orchidhunter.blogspot.com/2010/10/little-bog-... ronaldhanko-orchidhunter.blogspot.com/2010/06/little-bog-...

A last picture, I think, from our excursion to Summer Lake. This is the Yellow Pitcher Plant, now established by the thousands on the floating bog and shores of the lake. If you look closely you can see a fly perched on the rim of the pitcher and one can only guess what happened to it, but that close to the opening it probably became a meal. ronaldhanko-orchidhunter.blogspot.com/2012/09/carnivorous...