Sometimes it’s a long journey from “I found a cool bug!” to “I can actually write a Crawlies about it!”
To date, this week’s crawly represents the longest journey yet. It took me eight years from the first time I saw our featured critter until I was able to ID our featured critter.
A few weeks ago, I pulled over (safely!) while driving so I could get a pic of a cheery, orange wildflower. The flower was growing on other side of a small seasonal waterfall/stream as Oregon wildflowers so often are.
une is only half over and already it has been an ordeal. The journey began on the third when I had to take Da Beast into very south Medford for an overhaul. It needed new brake pads and a replacement of the front rotor for the disc brake and other basic maintenance.
As we head in to the “Dang! It’s hot!” summer months you may want to take a break from the heat and head over to the coast for a day or two. While there is no shortage of fun things to do along the Oregon Coast (or do nothing but chill), we’re going to give you just one activity over the next two weeks of All Things: Look for “Wait, what? We have those birds in Oregon?” birds.
I was first introduced to Ninebark in college when I was taking and teaching woody plant identification classes. In the eastern U.S. Eastern Ninebark (Physocarpus oplifolius) was a common large deciduous shrub with showy flowers in late spring, beautiful fall color in yellows, oranges and reds.
To anyone interested in wild plant study the derivation of the plant names, both common and botanical, is a source of never-ending fascination and puzzlement. Many of the plant names are so far-fetched and imaginative they seem almost ridiculous.
As long-time readers know, once in a while we revisit a past crawly if we feel we didn’t give that crawly enough attention the first time around.
This is one of those! I recently found this week’s crawly – the first I’d seen in 10 years – and realized “I don’t know how to find this critter. I don’t know anything about their life history. I’ve found a (literal) few just by stumbling upon them.
“Rescuers used ropes to climb 100 feet down a cliff face to save a dog trapped on a ledge in Ecola State Park over the weekend.
The dog’s owners contacted a park ranger Saturday afternoon after the pet ran off during a hike at the Oregon coast park and disappeared” The Oregonian, June 9, 2026
Because we haven’t yet hit the Dog Days of Summer, now is the perfect time to go hiking with your dog. If your dad has a dog, or if you are a Dog Dad or heck maybe your dog is a dad and needs some time away from the litter - whatever your dogs ‘n dads status, a hike is the perfect Father’s Day activity!