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| Hound's tongue. |
One of our favorite vernal pools is the pond at
Cooper Mountain Nature Park in Beaverton. This park is operated by Metro and the Tualatin Hills Parks and Recreation District. One of the happy advantages is that it is the only spot where THPRD routinely offers nature education opportunities that do not require either proof of district residency or a steep out of district fee. The park opened to the public only a few years ago, and in addition to lots of trails for exploring, there is a nice facility for classes and a lovely playground. At Cooper Mountain, they are hoping to maintain a prairie habitat for some of the park. In order to maintain the prairie habitat, it is necessary for them to do what Native Americans did, and occasionally have a controlled burn. They had one last September, and signs explain the blackened areas visitors will encounter.
There are many less familiar wildflowers that bloom at Cooper Mountain because they like the praire. There are also some lovely wooded areas, and we noticed trees in a forest restoration area have grown amazingly tall from just last year. It's really a great spot to go to soak up the sun. While in the hottest part of the summer it can be uncomfortably hot, the spring is a marvelous time to visit. There is a pond which was created when rocks were excavated to help make the trails. The park does not otherwise have much water, and the pond dries up completely in the summer, but the pond area continues to be a magnet for wildlife all year long.
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| A caddisfly tucked into its case. |
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| A caddisfly hides in the center. |
We found the pond filled with thousands of caddisfly larvae, funny little aquatic bugs which wrap themselves in a case of detritus. They were poking their heads and front legs out and scooting around looking for food, but when picked up, they quickly withdrew into their cases. If we sat still, we could watch their slow dance, and see such wonders as waterboatman beetles, tadpoles, newt larvae, and big, fat rough skinned newts drifting through the clear water. Jasper thinks this is excellent entertainment! In the summer, dry snakeskins can be found here and there among the rocks, along with the occasional lizard, but any sunny day in the spring is good for finding garter snakes.
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| Saying hello to a baby garter snake. |
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