John Heinz National Wildlife Refuge

I found this Painted Turtle basking in the sun at the John Heinz National Wildlife Refuge in Philadelphia. That's right, Philadelphia! This is actually the largest remaining freshwater tidal marsh in the entire state of Pennsylvania, and it is located in the City of Philadelphia.

At one time, this marsh extended over 5700 acres. As the city grew, the marsh was drained and filled. It was finally saved from complete destruction in 1972, with only 200 acres left. Today, these 200 acres are home to many Painted Turtles (and other creatures).

An interesting thing I learned about Painted Turtles is that when they hibernate for the winter, they bury themselves up to 3 feet deep in the mud at the bottom of a pond or stream. This keeps them just above freezing temperature, but of course does not allow them to breathe air. Painted Turtles have evolved the amazing ability to survive for up to 4 months with no oxygen!

The trick to "holding your breath" for so long is to avoid the buildup of toxic lactic acid in your blood. Since the Painted Turtle is hibernating, its production of lactic acid is very low to begin with.

But then something very interesting happens - the turtle releases calcium carbonate and magnesium carbonate from its shell into its blood stream, to buffer the lactic acid. It also takes up lactic acid from its blood into its shell with the same effect. Voila, he can hold his breath for 4 months!

We saw various other animals at the refuge including deer, fish, frogs, birds and insects. The only other halfway decent photo I got was this one of an oddly colored dragonfly. It is known as a Low-flying Amber-wing.


If you are ever in Philly, check out the John Heinz National Wildlife Refuge. It is nearby Fort Mifflin which I previously posted about.

Mt. Rainier Wildflowers

As I mentioned in my previous post, my two favorite things from our recent trip to Washington state were the tide pools of Rialto Beach and the wildflowers of Mt. Rainier. I now present the latter for your enjoyment.

As you walk through the meadows around Mt. Rainier, you feel as if you have been transported to the opening credits of The Sound of Music, with Julie Andrews dancing through wildflowers and the Alps as a backdrop. "The hills are alive ....."

My choice for prettiest wildflower, although it is on the small side, is Pink Mountain Heather (Phyllodoce empetriformis):


Tied for second place for prettiest, but definitely in first place for best name, is Mountain Monkeyflower (Mimulus tilingii). Apparently some species of monkeyflowers look like a monkey's face, but I don't think this one does.


And here is the other flower tied for second place for prettiest, Magenta Paintbrush (Castilleja parviflora):


Paintbrushes come in many other colors, and another common one around Mt. Rainier is the Scarlet Paintbrush (Castilleja miniata):


Here is one that is attractive not for its bright color but for its delicate structure, the seedhead of the Pasqueflower (Anemone occidentalis):


And another blandly colored but delicate flower, Sitka Valarian (Valeriana sitchensis):


Here is another that proves that white flowers can be beautiful too. This is Beargrass (Xerophyllum tenax) just starting to open up:


Here's one a little later in its life:


And some in full bloom:


OK, enough with trying to make white flowers sound pretty, here's another bright and beautiful one. This is Fan-leaf Cinquefoil (Potentilla flabellifolia):


And another yellow beauty, Arrowleaf Groundsel (Senecio triangularis):


Here was the most common flower, at least at the time of year we were visiting. This is Broadleaf Lupine (Lupinus latifolius):


Time to throw in a boring one, although I do have to say that you usually don't see too many green flowers. This is False Hellebore (Veratrum viride):


Here's one with a beautiful contrast of colors, Subalpine Daisy (Erigeron peregrinus):


And a smaller one with the same color scheme, Spreading Phlox (Phlox diffusa):


Here's one that looks like the Hostess Sno Balls we used to eat as kids - round cakes covered with pink marshmallow and shredded coconut. It's called Rosy Spirea (Spiraea densiflora):


And now for something completely different.....

Yes, this picture was taken in August; and no, we were not hiking on a glacier. This snow was across the "regular" trail at Mt. Rainier (for those without crampons and ice axes). This part of the trail is snow-free for only a short time each summer.

Tide Pools at Rialto Beach

My wife and I just returned from a trip to Washington state. We visited lots of beautiful places, which have given me plenty of ideas for blog posts!

I couldn't decide which was the best, the wildflowers of Mt. Rainier or the tide pools of Rialto Beach. I flipped a coin and Rialto won, so presented for your enjoyment are some of the creatures lurking in its tide pools.

Rialto Beach is in the northwest corner of Washington, in Olympic National Park near the town of La Push. We hiked to the northern end of the beach, to a spot called "Hole-in-the-Wall". Here is how it gets its name (note the hole at the left end of the wall):


Winning in the bright color category is the Ochre Sea Star:


Although ochre is a sort of orangey-brown color, this sea star also appears in purple:


I was curious as to what caused these different colors in the same species, some of which were right next to each other:


The best answer is "nobody really knows". But another curious blogger has looked into this pretty closely, and their diet seems to be a likely factor. Eating mussels seems to make the sea stars orange, and barnacles seem to make them purple. Hole-in-the-Wall has an abundance of both, in fact there are barnacles growing on mussels:


So the color of each sea star may be determined by what it prefers to eat. Check out this interesting article for more details.

Here is a cool close-up of some Thatched Barnacles. I believe the green part is algae.


And some very weird looking things which I found out are Goose Barnacles:


Here are some Whelks at a barnacle buffet. You can see the empty shells of the ones they have already eaten.


Here is the only type of fish we saw, a Tidepool Sculpin:


Let's finish with some prettier creatures. These are two types of anemone, a Giant Green Anemone (guess which one that is) and an Aggregating Anemone (that's the other one). The Giant Green is pulling a mussel from its shell. The pink stuff across the top is Coralline Algae, with three Limpets munching on it. In the bottom left is some Red Algae.

Cattails in Philadelphia

This picture was taken in Philadelphia. Not Philadelphia, Mississippi, where you might expect to find cattails, but Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. More unusual, these cattails are growing in a moat around a fort.

I took this picture at Fort Mifflin. If you have flown into the Philadelphia airport and headed toward I-95 North, you may have seen a sign for Fort Mifflin. I have driven past this sign many times and wondered what was inside. My wife and I recently drove in to find out.

Fort Mifflin has been around for a long time. It was originally built by the British in 1771, and was used continuously by the military until 1952. It served a pivotal role in the Revolutionary War. It was occupied by Americans who held off the British Navy, so Washington and his troops could safely make their way to their winter encampment at Valley Forge. It was a prison for Confederate soldiers captured during the Civil War, and a munitions depot in World Wars I and II.

But back to that moat. It doesn't seem like much, only about 50 feet wide and a few feet deep. But I guess back in the day, that was enough to slow down an advancing army and buy you some time.

Today, the moat is home to all kinds of plants and animals. The cattails caught my eye because of an interpretive sign about their use by Native Americans. I knew that the fluffy seeds could be used as padding - we had played with these many times as kids. But I found out that the brown cylinder (the female part of the flower) could be eaten like corn-on-the-cob. In fact, every part of the plant including the roots and the pollen are edible. Who knew? And people still eat cattails - Google "cattail recipes" and see what you find.

If you are wondering what the fort looks like, here you go:


The unusual flag is a replica of the one flown during the Revolutionary War battle. It is one of the early flags of the Continental Navy or the Pennsylvania Navy (nobody seems to be sure). The photo above is one of the more flattering views of the fort. Much of it has fallen into decay over the years, like this cannon wheel:


But a dedicated group of volunteers is doing a great job bringing this key part of our American history back to life. Check out their website or visit the fort.