Whatcom Falls Park

The last day of May was a Thursday, a less busy day for both of us, and so my wife and I went to run some errands in Bellingham and went on to one of the parks there.  Whatcom Falls Park is nearly 250 acres and is on the east side of Bellingham, near Whatcom Lake.  It follows the meanderings of Whatcom Creek and includes several falls, one which drops about fifteen feet and which can be viewed from a beautiful old arched stone bridge just below the falls.

We decided to go there since the day was overcast and there was some threat of rain.  It never did rain, but the lack of sunshine made a good day for photographing the falls.  Finished with main falls, we hiked some of the trails and found the Western Spotted Coralroot blooming on the hills above the falls, and also took pictures of an old railroad trestle in the park, as well as the creek.  Had a very pleasant walk, though we did get a bit muddy photographing the orchids.

Finished we headed for a local Bellingham micro-brewery, Boundary Bay, and had a delicious supper there of tapanadas followed by beef stew (my wife) and a pesto salmon sandwich (myself) accompanied by an excellent glass of local bitter.

Washington Park

I made two more trips to Washington Park recently.  I had to be in Mount Vernon, Washington, on Tuesday evening, May 24th, and went first for a couple of hours to see if the Fairy Slippers were still blooming and if the Coralroots had opened.  I was not disappointed either by the weather or the flowers.

I found both, a few Fairy Slippers still at their prime and numerous Coralroots at the peak of their blooming.  These leafless, saprophytic orchids always fascinate me, not only for their lack of chlorophyll but for their unpredictability.  One never knows quite where they will spring up and how many there will be.

 

The Chocolate Lilies (Fritillaria affinis) were also in bloom and though relatively common were a delight to see once again.  The Madrone trees were also putting out new growth and flowers, the flowers white and the new growth a soft green and pink, neither of which I had seen before.

One the second trip on May 27, I went with my wife and son and we not only saw the Coralroots and the Chocolate Lilies, but were privileged to watch a number of eagles both immature and adult in the trees and in the air near the south end of the park.  The Fairy Slippers, however, were gone.

For the rest we enjoyed the scenery, the boats, the thunderheads building in the east, and the glorious sunshine of which we have seen far too little this spring.  We took several hours walking the two miles around the park and then headed home for a bit of supper and a quiet evening.