Granddaddy of the Northwest Tree Faces

In my last blog entry Faces on Northwest Trees, I wrote about faces I had seen on trees while hiking at Mt. Rainier and Olympic National Park.

I inadvertently left out the Granddaddy of them all!

Faces on Northwest Trees

Can you see faces on these trees?

While hiking around Mt. Rainier and the Hoh Rain Forest in Olympic National Park in Washington State, I was struck by the number of faces I saw as I looked into the forest. The phenomenon is called pareidolia where the mind takes random data and sees a pattern.

See if you can see what I did. I'll give you a hint for each image (or for greater challenge don't read the hint), then below each image, I'll provide a closeup shot and circle on the tree where I saw a face.

Have fun and let me know how you do.

From Mt. Rainier

Image #1
Hint: Look at the center of the image.

Look at how you can clearly see the eyes, nose, mouth and eyebrows. Especially the eyes. Uncanny, isn't it?

Image #2
Hint: Look at the center of the image about one-third up from the bottom. The face is small so look closely.

I see an elongated face with a long and big nose. Do you?

From Olympic National Park, Hoh Rain Forest

Image #3

Hint: Look at the very top of the dead tree at image center. (Dead trees are also called "Snags.")

Can you believe it?! Do you see the face? He or she is looking up with eyes closed seemingly enjoying the sun on his/her face. I can even see horns like that of a Minotaur. Wow.

Image #4

Hint: Look at the center snag about one-fourth down from the top.

See the eyes looking to the left? I also see a bit of a frown or a tiredness on this face.

Then there was this guy who kept hanging around. Look at all that hair draped over his eyes with his nose sticking out.

Hint: Nearly middle of the image.

Can't see him? Scroll down.

What a dude!

The beauty of these ancient forests is breathtaking and worth preserving. I could feel the wisdom standing among these old trees. They are a true treasure of the Earth.

With a tad of wishful thinking, I couldn't help but muse that perhaps these faces are indeed the watchers of the forest.

Could they all be the Lorax? 

"Hey, hey! I-I'm the Lorax! Guardian of the forest." 

~Dr. Seuss

A Red, White and Blue from Mt. Rainier

A red - "Harsh Paintbrush"

A white - "Vanilla Leaf"

A sort of blue - "Violet"

These lovely wildflowers were taken at Mt.Rainier in early June. These early bloomers are merely forerunners to what is to come as Mt. Rainier explodes with wildflowers in a spectacular array of colors and variety during July-August. But their beautiful colors are a nice salute to the 4th of July.

Mt. Rainier, a mountain seductive in its beauty, compelling in its height that induces a sense of the worthiness of a challenge.                                                                                                                              

Happy Fourth of July to all.

And, Freedom to all.

Thank you beautiful bee!

While in Oregon, I was lucky to catch this bee on her approach to flowers. You can clearly see her proboscis, which she uses for gathering pollen.

Here's a closeup view showing the detail of her proboscis, her furriness with pollen clinging to her legs and those wonderful eyes!

In 2007, the U.S. Senate unanimously declared the week of June 17-23 as National Pollinator Week in response to declining pollinator numbers.  

You can help pollinators by refraining from using pesticides and planting pollinator friendly plants and flowers.

We need them. They are part of the small world, which we often neglect and forget about and trample underfoot.

La Bombus!

Resources to help

Creatures around my home

This little spider is a Common House Spider. She's nestled against my Blue Bird nesting box that's hanging under my deck. Next to her is her egg sac, which she will guard until the tiny eggs hatch.

This is a Soldier Beetle. I found him on my rose bushes and learned that they eat pollen and other insects. You can see the tiny grains of pollen covering him as he forages along with the bees. To get an idea of his size, that's a rosebud he's climbing.

Here's a tiny fly I was able to capture as he flew about a Victoria Salvia leaf. He was very small, no more than one-eighth of an inch in length.

Here's a close-up of him showing beautiful iridescence wings, a copper body and amber eyes. I did not see these lovely colors by eyesight but only after I zoomed in on the image.

These two were a little larger and were buzzing around and landing on Blue Queen Salvia.

I believe they are all Long-legged flies but there are many species and it would take a specialist to ID them.

It makes me happy to see all of these small creatures delighting in my yard. 

All are welcome and all are safe here.

A Sun Halo

This Sun halo was caught on a Spring afternoon when there were wispy clouds above. These high clouds are made of ice crystals and due to the sunlight reflecting off of them cause this optical phenomena.

Some halos are white in color. What is particularly nice about this halo is you can see almost all the colors of a rainbow.

Wild Bleeding-heart

I'm intending on adding more native plants to my gardens. My regret, when I moved into my home, is that I did not. Planting native species is a good way to go because, over time, they are the least expensive to maintain plus, it just makes sense and restores the local ecosystem.

It's good for the plants and the insects and animals that depend on them. And it's good for us.

Below is one that I planted this spring. It's Dicentra Eximia also known as Wild Bleeding-heart or Fringed Bleeding-heart. It is a beautiful plant native to the lower Northeast and South.

Here are the wonderful blooms I've been rewarded with.

To shine with color such as this, Dicentra Eximea is truly in its element.

**Plant native**      **Plant native**      **Plant native**