Favoritos de brewbooks

Paler flower than most on Burnt Mountain.

The last hundred feet of elevation gain to Burnt Mountain peak is a botanical bonanza and a lot of it was in flower on this day. At least 20 species of rock plants within a very small area, and I suspect several more if you come earlier and later in the season. I know I missed the Collomia despite poking around quite a bit. I could have spent hours just there if it weren't so hot and sunny this day.

It is also very pretty, though most of the color is from bush penstemon and Erigeron linearis:
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/228528035

This is the serpentine grass Poa curtifolia. Identification is mostly on general appearance and that this distinctive grass is common on serpentine in the area and I don't recall seeing a grass like this outside of the Wenatchees. I should have gotten more pictures. It is all over the place near this photo, which is on the north-east face of the pass leading to Lake Ann. Might not be obvious from photos - plant is rather short (maybe 8-12 cm excluding seed stalk, maybe 30 cm with seed stalk? based partly on memory). Since this is the first appearance on iNaturalist, I added a relatively non-technical description panel below a photo and uploaded it as photo 5. I think this is fairly easy to recognize for a grass, in part because it should be only on serpentine.

See also https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/167725566 for photos much earlier in season, just as flowers are forming, and also including more detailed closeups.

There is one grass growing on serpentine that might be confused with Poa curtifolia when not in flower - see https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/174711405 for pictures and list of obvious differences.

Late note - also common on trail up to Longs Pass and Iron Peak (and probably other similar trails such as Ingalls Lake, Navaho, and Bean).

Video: https://youtu.be/8lGamhcz54o (compilation of multiple video clips of four juveniles from 5.24 through 6.19.24 at a single wildlife camera location).

I'm not sure whether it's accurate to characterize it as an "irruption," but I've recorded significantly more Long-eared owl presence/activity in the Wildcat Hills of western Nebraska this year than in any previous year.

Here's a weird one: I think it's probably V. viride based on the location and elevation (6400'), but both the leaves and flowers are unusually pale — and there's a normal-colored one right next to it.

Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Idgq6_0J_S8

Female mountain lion in hot pursuit of white-tailed deer in the Pine Ridge of Nebraska. It’s hard to say whether she succeeded in catching one since the chase proceeds off-camera, but the odds aren’t in her favor. Mountain lions have relatively small lung capacity; their bodies are designed for ambush and short bursts of speed, not pursuing prey over long distances or for that matter outrunning pursuers with greater stamina (e.g. canines like hounds or wolves). The research I could find indicated that most successful deer pursuits ended with the cougar making contact with the deer within 10 meters of starting their pursuit.

HP5

Rubus ursinus (Trailing Blackberry) usually seems to have five to seven petals. We were all astonished that in this one area they all had multiple petals! They were growing near the normal five-petaled shrubs on the Spruce Railroad Trail.