Mary F. Willson

A stroll along the dike trail in late-mid July was replete with nice observations. As readers know, I’ve been concerned about our local bee populations, with just spotty reports of abundance. On that stroll, however, we found over 150 bees on fireweed, all along the trail, plus an occasional one on yellow rattle and fragrant white clover. Possibly encouraging news??

One fine, sunny day in mid-July, I strolled around at the Jensen-Olson Arboretum. I usually see something of interest there. I was amused by a sign saying “asparagus” that seemed to guard a large stand of tall foxglove. If I looked closely, however, there really was a delicate sprig of mature asparagus, almost hidden by the leafy foxglove.

Gunnels are small intertidal fish, very slender, bearing a long dorsal fin. They are unusually slimy; that mucus coat protects them from dehydration when the tide goes out. They can breathe air through the skin for hours.