RHH's photos with the keyword: rosario beach

The Black Oystercatcher is found only along the Pacific coast and even there they are supposed to be uncommon, but we almost always see them in the area of Deception Pass. This photo was taken at Rosario Beach just north of Deception Pass where I watched this bird for quite a while using his bill to find shellfish just at the tideline. With its long orange bill, it has been described as a crow smoking a carrot.

This is one of the trails we hiked recently looking for spring wildflowers. The trail is on the south end of Fidalgo Island and goes from Bowman Beach to Rosario Beach along the bluffs. The forest is a mixed forest of Western Hemlocks, Douglas Firs, Pacific Madrones, Western Red Cedars and Shore Pines, with an understory of Salal, Red-flowering Currant, Sea-grape and wild Roses.

This is part of the Bowman Beach to Rosario Beach trail, a trail that takes one along the bluffs above Deception Pass. As anyone who has followed my photostream, knows, I am always trying to capture the magic of hiking and of the trails we follow, though I seldom succeed. There is nothing quite like the anticipation of the next bend in the trail, the next view, the next wildflower or other natural wonder. Rain or sunshine or even snow, there is always something to see and admire and even the familiar trails are always new with the changing seasons and infinite variation of the natural world. The tree, by the way, is a Douglas Fir and it was along this section of the trail that we found the first native orchids of the season. “Still round the corner there may wait A new road or a secret gate And though I oft have passed them by A day will come at last when I Shall take the hidden paths that run West of the Moon, East of the Sun.”

This is not a native plant and becomes invasive at low elevations often displacing everything else. This photo was taken on the Rosario Beach to Bowman Beach trail while hiking there last spring.

This is either a pale form of the Western Fairy Slipper or a flower that is just starting to fade. Perhaps the presence of the spider webs indicates that it is an older flower. It was photographed last spring along the trail from Rosario Beach to Bowman Beach.

The Aggregating Anemone, Anthopleura elegantissima. is very common on the Pacific Northwest coast. These were photographed in the tidepools at Rosario Beach on Fidalgo Island.

Rosario Beach is in the area of Deception Pass, the waterway that separates Fidalgo and Whidbey Islands. We were there to photograph the Grass Widows (see previous photo) and went on from Pass Island to Rosario Beach where we investigated the tide pools before heading back home. The light was changing and the day was becoming more and more overcast when this photo was taken.