Mima Mounds

I’ve been told several times that Mima Mounds near Chehalis is a spectacular area, good for bees, butterflies, and birds. I visited last fall and didn’t find that to be true but was told that the best time to visit is late Spring, or early Summer.

So I decided that today was a good day to drive down there. The most impressive sight was whole fields of Camas Lily, a plant I’ve rarely seen despite all the hiking I’ve done here in the Pacific Northwest.

Field Of Camas Lilly

In fact, there were so many that it was difficult to isolate a single flower.

Camas Lily

Unfortunately, there were few other flowers and even those were quite small and hard to find like this purple flower, shown larger than life size.

purple flower

I thought I must have missed some birds but another couple told me that all they’d seen were Savannah Sparrows, like this one who kept his distance no matter how patient I was.

Savannah Sparrow

I did see a considerable number of butterflies, but they were all a small, rather undistinguished one that made up for it’s lack of size with its flittiness, which probably explains why I never managed to get a single decent shot of one.

Perhaps I’m just mistiming my visits, but it’s unlikely I’ll return next year. It’s just too long of a drive for such unpredictable results.

5 thoughts on “Mima Mounds”

  1. The small, hard-to-find flowers are usually my favorites. Tiny things have a certain charm and enchantment that larger things lose.

  2. I don’t know the camas lily, Loren but I do love their clear blue colour. As for the violets – we have them here too – they hide in the grass and under the hedge and are so beautiful. Lovely pictures.

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