I enjoy noticing subtle variations in clouds and light on Mt. Edgecumbe, especially this time of year when there is much snow on the cone.

Overcast with periods of rain. When I was out, winds seemed moderate. This was contrary to forecast, so I may have missed the bigger winds.

It was mid-afternoon before I made it out for a significant period of time.

I wasn’t sure where I wanted to go, and ended up driving to the zero gate (which I expect will remain closed for another month) on Harbor Mountain Road. I wasn’t feeling inspired to stop anywhere along there, however.

I took this photo to remind of a tree where I had taken pictures of liverworts but not made collections in case I needed to go back. This one of the walk-in camp sites at the campground

Since I was already this far out the road, I went on to Starrigavan. I decided to walk around the hike-in camping loop part of the campground. Paul Norwood had previously found Neckera menziesii there, which would be a new species for me. Walking up the gated service road I noticed juncos calling off to my right. I paused and looked up (I had apparently been looking down while walking). I noticed two juncos sitting in the grass along the edge in front of me. They seemed a bit concerned by me, and something (perhaps a shift on my part, I don’t remember) caused them to fly up to a nearby branch. I moved to the other side of the path and moseyed up past them without apparent further disturbance.

(probably) Blepharostoma trichophyllum growing on cedar

This was only the second or third time I’ve walked around this area. It’s somewhat surprisingly rich in different mosses and liverworts relative to other areas. I’m not entirely sure why. One particular surprise was seeing patches of Sphagnum growing on top of gravel. I even checked and good feel the hard surface below the patch.

The trail loop and several campsites have all been excavated a bit and backfilled with rock and gravel to make a sturdy base for traffic. However, the area this was put in strikes me as mostly low productivity old growth with ample shrubs. Without a path, it can be a bit of a pain to walk through this habitat, and I have not tended to spend much time in such places. Perhaps if I had, I would be less surprised with the diversity of bryophytes I was seeing.

I stopped to make a few photos and take a couple of collections.

I'm not sure if it will apply more generally, but this patch of Neckera menziesii is distinctly more saturated in color than N. douglasii. Both have distinctively wrinkled looking leaves

I did find the Neckera menziesii. Conveniently there was a bit of Neckera douglasii nearby for comparison. I noticed two small dark springtails on a dead tree with many holes from bark (or other) beetle galleries. They were darker than I remembered seeing before. The (slightly) smaller one’s back was almost completely black. I suspect they are the same species and either the smaller one is immature, or one of them is male and the other female.

On my way out, I had noticed a scene I thought might make a nice picture from the Harbor Point pullout. Since I didn’t expect to be long at Starrigavan, and I thought the weather would stay the same, I decided to take the photo on the way back. Coming back to my car, I noticed the clouds had lifted a bit and it seemed much brighter. Sure enough, things had changed that the scene no longer caught my eye. Lesson number [big number] that the pictures you rarely stick around for long.

The F/V Nicholas Michael heading back to town with Mt. Edgecumbe in the distance

I spent some time watching the water from Sandy Beach and then Sea Mart while on a call. At Sea Mart I spotted a Pigeon Guillemot, my first of the year.

Neckera douglasii strand on the left, and N. menziesii on the right. The different branching patterns and more saturated color of N. menziesii stand out to me.

This evening I finally finished up going through a collection I had started a few days ago but not gotten back to. I confirmed the Neckera species with a closer look at the leaves, but didn’t make it any further.

I noticed this rotifer crawling around on a liverwort I had collected.

In a liverwort collection, I noticed a rotifer doing its thing, including the apparently spinning parts which inspired its name. The video definitely captured it better than the photos.

My iNaturalist Observations for Today The post Visiting Starrigavan Campground Residents first appeared on Sitka Nature.