Fourteen wildflower enthusiasts enjoyed a beautiful day with Priscilla Dauble in the Blue Mountains on Saturday, June 21. The air was clear, the skies blue and the wildflowers abundant. At our first stop on Weston Mountain we were treated to mountain lady slippers, coral root, pine drops and phantom orchids. On Summit Road we found several varieties and colors of penstemons, scarlet gila, several varieties of lupine including Sabin's lupine which is endemic to the Blue Mountains and white Blue Mountain lupine which is rare. At Target Meadows we found elephant head figwort, camus, hellebore, bistort, white bog orchid and Douglas clover, another rare plant. Coyote Ridge trail was a lush green with a nice variety of wildflowers and shrubs. It was like walking into a magical forest! I'm not sure of the total number of wildflower species we saw at the various stops during the day, but it was between 75 and 100.
A special treat was getting to watch a blond yearling bear foraging on Summit Road. Although this wasn't a birding trip, most of us had our binoculars and saw or heard many of the mountain birds. The most unusual sighting was watching about 20 American white pelicans at Coyote Ridge. They were riding the thermals up to cross the mountains – probably going from the Umatilla River area to the LaGrande area. Not a sight you would expect to see in the mountains.
There are some great photos of the day on the Blue Mountain Audubon Facebook page. Check them out!
