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The Log

14 Species

What crossed the trail, by species, with the morning it was seen on

On the Trail

Seen on the Walk

52 photographs of 14 species since December 29, 2023. Each species page carries every photograph with its morning, the trail, the distance into the loop and the minutes from sunrise. The names are mine; the scientific names come from the iNaturalist taxonomy and are cited on each page.

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Birds10 species

A great blue heron standing in the shallows in silhouette, its reflection under it, the lake gold and blue with the sunrise, Cherokee Trail, Stone Mountain, May 22, 2026 Great Blue Heron (Herman) 9 sightings Ardea herodias
A pair of Canada geese on a rock just above the lake, one standing tall and the other hunched behind it, the water gray brown and still Canada Goose 5 sightings Branta canadensis
A bald eagle in flight over Icy Strait Bald Eagle 3 sightings Haliaeetus leucocephalus
Two mallard drakes with green heads and yellow bills and a brown hen swimming in a line on gray rippled water, their reflections under them Mallard 3 sightings Anas platyrhynchos
A turkey vulture on a thick pine limb, its bare red head tilted toward the camera Turkey Vulture 3 sightings Cathartes aura
A young red-tailed hawk lifting off low over the granite with a blue jay in its talons, wings raised and tail fanned Red-tailed Hawk 2 sightings Buteo jamaicensis
A raven on a wooden rail in Juneau, with the lens at 177 mm Common Raven 1 sighting Corvus corax
A male downy woodpecker on the side of a rough-barked trunk, the red patch on the back of its head showing, its short bill and checkered wing clear against a pale sky, Cherokee Trail, Stone Mountain, March 30, 2024 Downy Woodpecker 1 sighting Dryobates pubescens
A gull off the stern in the Strait of Juan de Fuca, with the lens at 177 mm Glaucous-winged Gull 1 sighting Larus glaucescens
A young green heron perched on a dead limb over the lake, its neck and breast streaked brown and white, its yellow legs gripping the branch Green Heron 1 sighting Butorides virescens

Mammals1 species

A white-tailed deer standing among mossy trunks on the leaf litter, ears up and looking straight back, a fallen log across the foreground White-tailed Deer 17 sightings Odocoileus virginianus

Reptiles2 species

An eastern box turtle on the leaf litter, its domed dark shell marked in radiating yellow and orange, its head half drawn in and looking out Eastern Box Turtle 3 sightings Terrapene carolina carolina
A yellow-bellied slider basking on a mossy log over the lake, its yellow-striped neck stretched up into the sun Yellow-bellied Slider 1 sighting Trachemys scripta scripta

Spiders1 species

A female Joro spider at the center of her web, her yellow and blue-gray banded body and long black legs striped in yellow against blurred green woods Joro Spider 2 sightings Trichonephila clavata

On the Map

Where They Were Seen

Where 42 of the 52 wildlife photographs were taken, at 40 places. 30 have a measured position, the photograph's own GPS or the watch's recording at that moment, and show as a filled pin; 12 were placed by hand and show as a ring.

Every recorded walk on Cherokee Trail, Stone Mountain drawn on one map, darker where more mornings passed
  • Measured position
  • Placed by hand

Under the pins, every recorded walk on Cherokee Trail, Stone Mountain, 118 mornings drawn as one line each, darker where more of them passed, with contours every 40 ft and the lake. Sightings at the same position share a pin; point at one, or tab to it, for the name and the date. Drawn when the site is built; nothing runs in the browser.

Not on the map: 5 from Seattle to Sitka and Back, 1 known only by its trail, 2 with no position, and 2 withheld, a sensitive species or a working area of the park.