Usually you would post a picture here, but you could also post a description of what you saw. Please start a new topic for each new question, or at least for each new outing.
Below are some useful resources for identifying various bits of nature in the Pacific Northwest. Obviously, this is not comprehensive, and I will add to it as I encounter more useful sites/books. Suggestions are welcome.
Wildflower Web sites:
- WildflowerSearch.com
- USDA Plants Database
- Paul Slichter's Flora & Fauna Northwest
- Wildflowers of the Pacific Northwest
- Oregon Flora Project, including the searchable Oregon Plant Atlas
- Consortium of PNW Herbaria - search a map for specimens and observation records
- Washington Native Plant Society
- UW Image Collection: Plants of Washington
- CalFlora
- Butterflies and Moths of North America
- Butterflies of Lane County, Oregon
- The Trees of Reed College
- The Fungi of California
- Field Guide to Oregon's Rocky Intertidal (PDF)
- Wildflowers of the Pacific Northwest (Turner & Gustafson) - over 1200 photos and range maps; highly recommended
- Wildflowers of the Columbia Gorge (Jolley) - most complete resource for the Gorge, but poorly organized
- Plants Of The Pacific Northwest Coast & Alpine Plants of the Northwest (Pojar & MacKinnon) - excellent for shrubs and trees, including ethnobotanical info
- Trees & Shrubs of the Pacific Northwest (Turner & Kuhlmann)
- A Field Guide to Pacific States Wildflowers (Peterson Field Guides)
- A Field Guide to Western Trees (Peterson Field Guides)
- Insects of the Pacific Northwest - I have some reservations about recommending this one; it's far from complete. The NWF Field Guide to Insects and Spiders of North America is much better, although not specific to the Northwest.
- The Butterflies of Cascadia - easily the best butterfly book
- The Guide to Butterflies of Oregon and Washington
- Portland Birds: An Introduction to Familiar Species - laminated fold-out booklet
- Audubon Society Field Guide to the Pacific Northwest - covers a little bit of everything, but not deeply