Ecology Note: Point Defiance Park

This Douglas Fir survived the onslaught of loggers and is now approximately 450 years old–middle aged for this species.

From Dalco Passage Point, we saw a whale hanging around; the only signs were occasional water spouts and a brief glimpse of a pair of flippers. It was pretty small from 200 feet above sea level and several hundred yards distance. I was too slow to get a video. Maybe next time.

I spotted this glacial erratic (boulder transported by a glacier) and took a look. It looks like a granitic rock, probably granodiorite. It was transported, over possibly a million years, from the Northern Cascades. We saw a lot of it on my last post.

You can’t walk Five-Mile Drive without stopping for a photo of the Tacoma Narrows bridge.

Salal (Gaultheria shallon) dominates the conifer understory in places. It is a native evergreen shrub.

It was a beautiful fall day to stroll around the park, and I’ll try to get a video of some whales next time.