Blog
Swimming Under the Radar: Less Splashy Salmonid Has Much to Teach Us
The headwaters of Christensen Creek, Christensen Pond. Credit: Bianca Perla Just before winter solstice, Vashon Nature Center co-director Bianca Perla visited her salmon-watch reach to both look for fish and find her calm center amid the holiday bustle. As she walked...
Extreme high tides hit Vashon this winter
Featured Image: KVI on December 27th, 2022. Photo Credit: Island Resident As we drove towards KVI for an afternoon walk, we hadn’t given much thought to tides. High tides just mean a shorter walk right? Most days of the year this would be a decent way to approach a...
Vashon Nature Center Co-directorship
As of January 1, 2023 we have converted to a co-director model for leadership of Vashon Nature Center. We are excited about this change and all that it symbolizes and brings! Read below for a letter from your new co-directors: Bianca Perla and Maria Metler! Dear...
The Apprenticeship: Water District 19 Trains Local Talent
"For my age, to be in a union and to have all these benefits is amazing,” says 20-year-old Jayce Alberthal, Water District 19's first ever apprentice. Photo Credit: Mary Bruno Water District 19 was at half staff last January when John Martinak...
Rare Birds
The visiting Acorn Woodpecker. Photo credit: Jim Diers An acorn woodpecker has been hanging around the old Misty Isle Farms airstrip at SW 232nd Street since Nov. 2. For the nonbirder, this information might result in a shrug, but to the birding community on Vashon...
Health Officials Share Findings from North Colvos Healthy Beach Project
Public Health teams have been assessing water quality and septic performance along Vashon's northwest shoreline. Credit: Public Health -- Seattle & King County In May 2020, responding to reports of foul odors along certain stretches of Vashon shoreline,...
Elwood and other elephant seals visit Vashon
Elwood, the young male Northern elephant seal in Tramp Harbor this fall. Credit: Jim Diers For almost everyone living in the Pacific Northwest over the past century, Northern elephant seals (Mirounga angustirostris) are not considered a common sight. But, over the...
My Quest for a Blue Frog
The blue frog is out there…somewhere. Photo credit: Jim Diers The blue frog is my holy grail. Ever since learning that the Northern Pacific tree frog (Pseudacris regilla) can on the rarest of occasions turn up sky blue in color, I have been on the lookout for this...
BioBlitz 2022: Monitoring Mystery at Fisher Pond
This is a special guest blog post by our 2022 Summer Science Communication Intern Alana Bass. Each year that the Bioblitz survey takes place, residents of Vashon set out to observe and identify every single species that they can – a task that requires a lot of moving...
Header Photo: Bianca Perla