Native Animal of the Month: Otter
North American River Otter - Lontra canadensis River otters are semi-aquatic mammals commonly thrive in rivers, lakes, coastal bogs, swamps, wetlands, or estuary ecosystems in the USA and Canada. Aided by their webbed feet, streamlined body, muscular tail, and thick...
Native Plant of the Month: Sitka Spruce
Sitka Spruce - Picea sitchensis If you have ever grabbed a conifer tree and were poked by its particularly spiky needles, those needles likely belonged to a spruce tree. Known for its tough leaves and scaly bark, the Sitka spruce is a classic tree of the Pacific...
Join the Frog Frolic Volunteer Team, Today!
The 22nd Annual Frog Frolic is an opportunity to join 22 years of volunteer efforts for education, preservation, and restoration right here, in South King County! Spend Saturday, September 15th outside with new friends who are enthusiastic about the environment....
August Volunteer Spotlight
Recently, Cathy Maunu and Katie Morris completed SHADOW's Bog Ambassador Training! The two spent a few hours learning about how to give a bog walk, completed an outline of how their walk would go, practiced with staff, and delivered their first tours to visiting...
Forest for the Trees
Do you have a favorite tree? A tree that has played a critical role in your life and development? A tree that's always been near by? Forest for the Trees an online, crowdsourced map telling the stories of our most culturally-significant trees. Anyone who can recall...
Animals in Summer: North American Racoon
North American Racoon- Procyon lotor Masked and slinking through the night, racoons are often considered a wily bandit of North American mammals. This nocturnal predator is an incredibly adaptable and has found a home in the urban environment. Native to North...
Native Plant of the Month: Ghost Pipe
Walking through a coniferous forest in summer is like walking through an art exhibit on the various shades of green. Deep browns serve as the backdrop to an impressive display of deep, emerald tones and bright, lime highlights. But if one pays careful attention, and...
The Life-Giving Power of Sun
Sunshine has returned to the Pacific Northwest. Summer is a season of celebration: fruits are ripening, gardens are bountiful, and the forest is a bustling place. At SHADOW, these days of warm sunshine have brought snakes out to sun, an opossum scavenging lunch in the...
Animals in Summer: Oh Deer!
White-tailed deer - Odocoileus virginianus As the weather is heating up you might be seeing extra tracks in your garden. Some of these tracks may belong to this month's mammal: the white-tailed deer. Here at the Nature Preserve, we are seeing lots of deer signs,...
Native Plant of the Month: Rattlesnake Plantain
Rattlesnake Plantain- Goodyera oblongifolia One surprising treasure in Shadow Lake Bog is an orchid: Goodyera oblongifolia or Rattlesnake Plantain. Yes, you can find an wild orchid at your local nature preserve. The western rattlesnake plantain is similar to...
SHADOW’s Summer Fundraiser- Thank You!
Four-on-Six entertained us with melodic jazz classics. Thank you to everyone who made SHADOW Lake Nature Preserve's 2018 Celebrate Local Summer Fundraiser such a success. Together we raised $9,730! These funds go directly to support the preservation of...
Humility, Honesty, Herbicides
SHADOW Lake Nature Preserve currently protects over 100 acres of Puget Lowland Bog, Wetlands, and Upland forests as well as the headwaters of Jenkin's Creek. As a Land Trust and a Nature Preserve, we are mission-driven to protect biodiversity and wildlife habitat....
The Big Bog Study
We are happy to announce that Shadow Lake Bog will be included in a study that is a partnership of the EPA, Washington Natural Heritage Program (NHP), and Colorado State University. Ecologists will study Shadow Lake Bog as well as 11 other bogs to determine what...
Not-so-Native Plant of the Month: Herb Robert
Photo curtesy of King County Noxious Weeds Known by many as Stinky Bob or Herb Robert, Geranium Robertianum, is as invasive a weed as they come. This little plant has an incredible super power that helps it dominate wherever its seeds end up. Stinky Bob is a wild...
Please, Tell Us What YOU Think!
As part of the SHADOW Lake Nature Preserve community, you get to tell us what makes the Nature Preserve important to you. This brief survey asks you to rank the importance of the various land uses occurring here at the Nature Preserve. It also provides a quick...
A Ribbeting Tale of Invasion: The American Bull Frog
Did you know that this invasive amphibian was brought to Western Washington to be your dinner?!? That's right, the American Bullfrog, Lithobates (Rana) Catesbeiana, is native to Eastern North America and was brought west as a cheap food source. The largest North...
Aquatic Weed Control at Shadow Lake
Shadow Lake is dealing with invasive pressure as well! Neighbors living around the lake, the King county Noxious Weed Control Program and the Washington State Department of Ecology's Aquatic Weeds Management Fund have teamed up to fight back. Eurasian...
Submit Works Now for SHADOW’s Summer Art Exhibition
From June 23rd- September 18th, SHADOW's Richter Education Center will house a Summer Art Exhibition. Works by local artists showcasing the beauty of nature are hung for, for sale, throughout the summer. 50% of the proceeds from this art sale go directly to the...
Officially Rare: WA Dept. of Natural Resources Comes to SHADOW
On an unseasonably warm and sunny day in March, SHADOW's staff met two members of the Department of Natural Resources' Washington Natural Heritage Program (DNR's WNHP) for a different type of bog tour. Joe Rocchio (right) and Tynan Ramm-Granberg (left), the program's...
Native plant of the month: Skunk Cabbage
Skunk Cabbage, Lysichiton americanus There is a variety of life emerging in the Nature Preserve in spring: oso berry, nettles, bleeding heart, and even some horsetail. There is one plant that is stealing the show this month: Skunk Cabbage. The smell is the first...
Animals in Spring: Gartner Snake
Walking on a sunny day in the spring you might catch a glimpse of a small, slender snake sunning itself on a rocky outcrop. Garter snakes are common reptiles of Western Washington forests and are known as a friend to farmers and gardeners. They are active March-...
