Tag Archives: Peter Baye

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Calypso Orchids are having a wonderful bloom this winter/spring. Peter Baye photographed this normal-colored Calypso Orchid.

And then he found this atypically-colored Calypso Orchid.

I've never seen one like the one here! In a recent Mendonoma Sightings column, I wrote - with Peter's great help - about why you should never pick one:

Please don’t pick native wildflowers. Let’s take the Calypso Orchid, for example. Such beautiful flowers to find in undisturbed forests. The slim stem is only three to four inches high, the pink flower is exquisite but quite small, and a single leaf rests on the forest duff. These native orchids need a fungus in the soil to thrive, which makes transplanting them nearly impossible. They are like finding a gift in the forest.

If you pick one or more for your own enjoyment, you might have a day or two before they wither. In the forest, they will bloom for several weeks. It’s what happens after their bloom that is extremely important. I asked Botanist Peter Baye to explain. He wrote, “Each plucked, plundered Calypso Orchid bloom potentially produces a seed capsule with many thousands of viable dust-like seed. Each capsule could spread whole new colonies of this species that is still struggling to recover after over a century of excessive logging and soil disturbance. [Picking them] represents decades and generations of potential Calypso Orchid populations sacrificed for a few days of private ornament and fragrance. Calypso Orchids don't have reproductive success every year. They rely on rare good bloom years like this one, and rare luck of escaping herbivores and flower-pickers.”

Thanks to Peter for allowing me to share his photos with  you here and for explaining why we should never pick one of these exquisite orchids.

Cooler with storm clouds moving in. Rain is in our forecast for Friday night and Saturday. The Calypso Orchids should love it!

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Nancy Feehan was the first to spot a very early Calypso Orchid, Calypso bulbosa, in late January. It was close to Fort Ross School. Recently Julia Larke found her first one in bloom. You can see the single leaf on the forest duff.

Then Peter Baye found a group in the Annapolis area.

These orchids are quite tiny so don't let these photos fool you! Theses flowers are also called Fairy Slippers.

Thanks to Peter and Julia for allowing me to share their photos with you here.

Today, Saturday, was magnificent on the coast. No wind so the ocean was calm, and Gray Whale spouts were seen. Temps in the low 70's - we know it won't last but for now, we are enjoying the sun and the warmth.

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My brother-in-law, Mel Smith, spotted this rare beauty several years ago in Anchor Bay. It was mostly hidden under a huckleberry bush, but Mel has a very good eye! It did not bloom last year but appeared again this year, much to our delight. It is in full flower today. It's about an inch high.

And here are two that are up but not yet opened, growing in sandy soil. They look like little fir cones!

I was able to show these to botanist Peter Baye several years ago. He had never seen them before. He said sightings of these plants on the Mendonoma Coast are rarer than a UFO sighting!

I took these photos.

It was super foggy this morning, but the fog pulled back giving us a mild, beautiful day.

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Peter Baye found a very late blooming Western Columbine, Aquilegia formosa.

And I found a very early Matsutake.

A Sightings contributor sent me a photo of his haul of Matsutakes from earlier today. So if you are a Matsutake forager, check your spots!

Thanks to Peter for allowing me to share his photo with  you here.

It's another beautiful Autumn day here on the Mendonoma Coast. There was a pretty impressive fog bank early this morning but it is gone this afternoon, leaving nothing but sunshine!

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Peter Baye found unique-looking Steelhead in the Gualala. He wrote, “On my list for show and tell is the return of those rare pale juvenile Steelhead that look almost silver-gold ["sub-leucistic"?] on the Wheatfield Fork. I haven't seen any in years. They stand out in dark pools where their typical dark olive-backed peers, other Steelhead parr and Gualala Roach, are well-camouflaged against the dark algae-covered cobbles and gravel."

"In past years, I have seen sub-adults with this pigmentation. More often, if I find atypical adult pigmentation, it's almost blue-black. I think the folk name is actually "blueback" steelhead. The Kingfisher predation seems to be very low this year, so I guess it's not a big hazard to glow in the dark like this! It's from a deep, dark pool with cooler water stratified -layered- at the bottom.”

Here's a photo showing young Steelhead and Gualala Roach.

Thanks to Peter for allowing me to share his photos with you here.

It's sunny, breezy and warm here today!