Scenes from Rose Creek Nature Preserve

The photos on this page were captured on more than ten visits during the spring, summer, fall and winter of 2020/2021 at Rose Creek Nature Preserve in Whitman County, Washington. They were selected for use by the Rose Creek Advisory Committee and Palouse-Clearwater Environmental Institute.

Quotes are from Bess Hudson’s book of short essays about life at Rose Creek when she lived there with her husband, George Hudson. Bess, George and their descendants donated the property that is now Rose Creek Nature Preserve for preservation of rare habitat and enjoyment of nature by the public. Palouse-Clearwater Environmental Institute owns and operates the preserve.

Please attribute any printed or published photos to Casey Lowder and Bonnie Gunn.

Rose Creek Panorama from Smoot Hill, May 2020

Rose Creek Nature Preserve as seen from Smoot Hill, May 2020

‘One stood and looked and looked, and absorbed the smell and feel and sight of it, until, almost dizzy with contemplation, he knew an awakening of soul and sense and went away renewed.’

-Bess Hudson in Windows to Nature, page 47

Wildflowers blooming in the uplands of Rose Creek Nature Preserve, June 2020.

A white-tailed deer fawn heads for cover among the July blooms, 2020.

‘Big snow’ continues to accumulate in February, 2021

An intense blue shines from a Lazuli Bunting in late June 2020.

Large-leaf Waterleaf in full bloom under a hawthorn canopy, May 2020.

-Bess Hudson in Windows to Nature, page 30

‘It’s fascinating to an amateur to develop awareness of plant life. It turns every naturally vegetated hill or roadside, every brushy draw or grove, every meadow, and every mossy rock into a marvelously exciting, explorable creation never again to be ignored or treated with nonchalance.’

Unknown wildflower gracing a cold April morning.

This Common Yellowthroat patrols his territory in late May.

Arrowleaf balsamroot blooms in the late April frost.

Black-headed Grosbeak perches in a blue elderberry, May 2020.

Sticky Geranium in bloom with insect, May, 2020.

A Tree Swallow perches near its nest box with five young swallows in late May 2020.

A Townsend’s Warbler forages during a migratory rest stop, April 2020.

*Rose Creek Nature Preserve, September 2020*.

‘These bewitching little rodents are closely related to the ground squirrel. Though sharing many aggravating rodent traits, by charm and enchantment they win over the most obdurate observer; and their tricks and trespasses are not only endured but even encouraged.’

-Bess Hudson in Windows to Nature, page 91

*Rose Creek Nature Preserve as seen from Smoot Hill, September 2020*.

‘The time is growing short, you know, with the diminishing of our outdoor environment, and we had better savor whatever still endures. So, along with me, drop what you are doing. Chuck a pseudo-obligation, cancel a plan, scrub the ironing! There are better things to do – things nurturing our kinship with all nature, apart from which we cannot fully live.’

-Bess Hudson in Windows to Nature, page 123

Scenes from Rose Creek Nature Preserve