Sharpe Park

On April 14th we visited Sharpe Park on Fidalgo Island looking for Fairy Slippers.  Sharpe Park is on the coast and has wonderful views of the Straits of San Juan, a wonderful wetland area, great wildflowers, lots of Fairy Slippers, and some of the most beautiful Madrone trees that we've seen.  The day started sunny but soon turned overcast and we were somewhat disappointed with the views of the Straits.

The wetlands are near the start of the trails.

We photographed some Red-flowering Currant there (Ribes sanguineum),

though it was also blooming elsewhere.

The Giant Horsetails (Equisetum telmatiea) were magnificent.

The trails are through the most beautiful woodlands.

We found Western Fairy Slippers (Calypso bulbosa var. occidentalis) all along the trail,

including one nearly white flower.

The Fawn Lilies (Erythronium oregonum) were at their peak

when we came near the more open coastal areas.

There's always a lot of moss and lichens in our northwest forests.

I believe this is Common Witch's Hair (Alectoria sarmentosa).

On the balds and the bluffs we photographed a number of wildflowers

including the Broad-leaved Stonecrop,

the Common Camas (Camassia quamash),

and the Sheep Sorrel (Rumex acetosella), a non-native, and the only one in bloom,

beside the Seaside Dandelion (Agoseris apargioides), a Dandelion-like native.

We took some pictures of the Straits but not as many as usual.

We also found a Rush on the bluffs,

which I believe to be the Many-flowered Wood-rush (Luzula multiflora).

The only fungus was the Red-banded Polypore (Fomitopsis pinicola).