Adventures Of a Phoebasaurus: Tame the invasives! Eat them or put them in vases!

There's this bit of DNR land that I've been visiting for maybe three years now. Its a creek that drains into one of the forks of the Nooksack River, with some picturesque falls and a plethora of plant fossils dating back to a faraway balmy time when palms populated the northwest. Sometime in the recent past it is clear that there was a flood or dam (natural, of downed logs etc.) breaking that resulted in a rather open stream bed with large gravel bars. When I first began visiting this area the trees, mostly red alder, were shorter than me. I had noticed a few Buddleia (Butterfly bush) shrubs here and there.

Last month I went to discover thickets of alder and a Buddleia jungle going full bore, drawing in all sorts of insects. You may be wondering what your beloved butterfly bush is doing up in the sticks of the Cascade foothills... and you guessed it. Its a pretty prolific invasive species. I did my part. I picked an armload, took them home... They're so beautiful, you often hear 'oh its invasive' and envision a gnarly plant like Himalayan blackberry of English ivy. But nope. This seemingly innocuous butterfly drawing shrub is taking over the Racehorse Falls flood plain.

Delightful insects abound here, whether using the copious resource the butterfly bush hays become, or the sparse patches of pearly everlasting (below with an itty bitty wasp).

After pursuing these little guys a bit a fluttering pink something caught my eye, apparently this was surveyed not too long ago....
Its possible I mentioned you can find fossils here, its a great activity. You have to think about what kind of rocks would contain fossils etc etc etc. There are plenty that people or the water have broken open and left for searching eyes to see.

In case you didn't believe me about the palms....

Bald faced hornets are one of the nasty mean insects that we have in abundance in this region.

I've still got it! HA!

Its pretty much a tragedy that people do this to public land. My personal enjoyment and safety was decreased because a group of slobs decided their cars, perhaps 100 yards away, were too far to carry their trash. Such... sadness with regard to humanity.

One invasive that many people know, regardless of their walk in life, is the Himilayan blackberry (Rubus armeniacus or discolor). Maybe that's because it has widely naturalized in temperate climates and is the source of headaches for gardeners, land managers, restoration project managers... And you can eat them. Free blackberries for everybody!
Jenn (remember jamming Jenn?) and I went out and picked more berries together in this scenic little field.