Nature

Clark’s Nutcracker Nucifraga columbiana Jun – Oct A gray, black and white bird of timberline that buries thousands of pine seeds each fall and plants whitebark pine in the… Clodius Parnassian Parnassius clodius Jun – Aug A large white butterfly with gray bars and two red spots on each hindwing that patrols mountain meadows and open woods in… Coastal Giant Salamander Dicamptodon tenebrosus Mar – Oct Oregon's largest salamander, a marbled brown predator of cold forest streams that can bark when it feels threatened. Coastal Manroot Marah oregana Apr – Jul A native vine in the gourd family with white star-shaped flowers and spiny, inflated fruits, growing each spring from an enormous buried… Coho Salmon Oncorhynchus kisutch Jul, Sep – Nov A Pacific salmon that returns from the ocean to spawn in small streams of the Sandy, Clackamas and Hood River basins. Spawners… Columbia Lily Lilium columbianum May – Jul A native lily with nodding orange flowers, spotted maroon and curled back like a turban, that blooms in meadows and forest openings… Columbian Windflower Anemonastrum deltoideum May – Jul A spring woodland flower: one clean white blossom with five petal-like sepals, held above a ring of three toothed leaves on a… Common Beargrass Xerophyllum tenax May – Aug Tough evergreen clumps that send up tall plumes of small cream flowers, lighting up open slopes and ridges in a good bloom… Common Cowparsnip Heracleum maximum Apr – Aug A giant native wildflower with huge three-part leaves and plate-sized white flower heads. Its sap can blister skin in sunlight. Common Garter Snake Thamnophis sirtalis Mar – Oct A harmless, slim striped snake of wet meadows and pond edges, with three yellow stripes and often red spots along its sides. Common Merganser Mergus merganser Feb – Nov A long, slim diving duck of clear mountain rivers and lakes. Males are white with a green head; females are gray with… Common Raccoon Procyon lotor Mar – Aug, Oct The masked, ring-tailed night visitor of lower forests and campgrounds. Never feed one, and store food and trash securely. Common Raven Corvus corax Year-round The big black bird croaking over Mt. Hood's ridges all year, known for its intelligence, aerial play and wedge-shaped tail. Common Snowberry Symphoricarpos albus Apr – Dec A low, twiggy shrub whose round white berries hang on bare branches all winter. The berries are not for people to eat. Common Woolly Sunflower Eriophyllum lanatum May – Aug A silvery, woolly-leaved wildflower covered in golden daisies, better known as Oregon sunshine, that brightens dry, rocky ground in summer. Common Yarrow Achillea millefolium Apr – Oct An aromatic wildflower with feathery leaves and flat-topped clusters of tiny white flower heads, found in sunny ground from trailheads to high… Conifer Chicken of the Woods Laetiporus conifericola Aug – Oct Big, bright orange shelves with lemon-yellow pores that grow in overlapping clusters on conifer trunks, stumps and logs from late summer into… Cornflower Centaurea cyanus May – Jun A blue-flowered annual from the Mediterranean that now grows wild on roadsides, fields and other disturbed ground at low elevations. Dark-eyed Junco Junco hyemalis Apr – Oct A small, hooded forest sparrow with white outer tail feathers that flash as it flies up from the ground. Common in Mt.… Devil’s Club Oplopanax horridus Apr – Oct A tall shrub armed with spines from stem to leaf vein, with huge maple-like leaves and bright red berries, crowding wet ground… Douglas-fir Pseudotsuga menziesii Jan – Nov Oregon's state tree and the main big conifer in Mt. Hood's lower forests. Its hanging cones have three-pointed bracts poking out between… Douglas’s Ground Squirrel Otospermophilus douglasii Mar – Sep A big, speckled gray-brown ground squirrel with a bushy tail that lives in burrow colonies in open ground and loves to perch… Douglas’s Squirrel Tamiasciurus douglasii Apr – Nov A small, loud tree squirrel of conifer forests that scolds hikers from the branches and leaves big piles of stripped cone scales. Dunn’s Salamander Plethodon dunni Mar – Jun, Oct – Jan A large, dark woodland salamander with a tan to greenish back stripe, found under rocks along shaded forest streams. It has no…