Week 9

3:30 PM Friday, June 6
Sunny, 75 degrees
Magnuson Park

I was able to enjoy my site for the last time today, however I'm sure I will be back in the future. First I just want to share how much my observation spot has changed over this spring.

Week 9

Week 1

These pictures do not fully account for the amount of change at my observation site. I have watched the composition of species change over time, different invertebrates and birds come and go, and plants bloom are produce pollen. It has been incredible to see these changes on all different scales. I learned so much just from sitting in one spot week after week. During my last trip there today I was still able to document a few phenotypical changes. The water level has gone up quite dramatically, in some places the water is even spilling out onto the trail. I also spotted and American Gold Finch today and was able to look at it for quite some time and listen to its cheery call for quite some time before it flew away. I also noticed something new blooming- a small yellow flower that I believe is bird's-foot trefoil. Also a new species of dragonfly/damselfly showed up at my site today. It had really vibrant blue stripes on its wings, which the picture I drew does not do justice. Its body was black and it stayed in one place for a surprisingly long time.

Dragon fly perched on a branch.

Bird's-foot trefoil

American gold finch among the willow branches.

My next challenge was to describe a plant without using any common words related to plant. I chose to describe a giant horsetail. Here is what I wrote, "Vertical structure, green in color. Long, wispy protrusions at each node. It gently rustles and waves in the wind as it sits in the water."

Next we were to describe a bird in a similar fashion. I came up with this about the american gold finch, "Yellow body and spots of black, a flying creature, crying out cheerily on a nearby willow. Just as quickly as it came, it left, gliding silently out of sight."

For the final part I described the dragonfly I saw: "Four long slender protrusions used for flight, landing motionless on a branch, this creature is vibrant and stands out. Look away for a split second, it is now in flight, its black body zig-zagging above the water."

Finally, after a spring of observing, I would like to share my final thoughts and reflections. As the quarter progressed, I grew more and more fond of my observation site. It became less of an assignment and more of a place I looked forward to going to every week. It has shown me that no matter how many times you visit a place, it will never be predictable. I never knew what I was going to see that day at my site and I think that may be what I enjoyed most of all. It was an adventure, even in a place I grew to know so intimately. I was unsure of how much I would discover in this one spot, and I was surprised by the many new species I encountered each week- even into week nine, I am still discovering new things. I never thought I would find 50 species at my site. But I was able to accomplish that with ease once I knew where to look. Magnuson park will be a place I return to, both for discovering new species and going on an adventure and for just relaxing. 

I have lived in the Puget Sound region my entire life. In the past few years, I have really grown to appreciate the beauty of this region, something that I definitely took for granted before. Now my appreciation has only grown deeper. I feel like I know this region better. From traveling to Olympic National Park, to Eastern WA, to local parks in Seattle, all places I have been before, the amount I learned each time made it feel as if the place was brand new to me. I now know the plants and birds common to this region by their species, they are no longer just simply "bird" and "plant" to me anymore. Not only that but now I am knowledgeable about how this region was formed by glaciers and how it is still changing to this day. Not only do I love where I live but I can tell people about it too. I'm more connected to this region than I was before, and I have realized how important it is to have that connection to the natural world that is around you. I want to slow down and take in this place. I want to identify the species I find on hikes and sit and watch birds, not just hike for the view at the top like I always have.
To intimately know a natural place, you need to get to know it on every scale. From the broad view of the landscape to the tiniest bugs that live in the soil, you need to be aware of them. I don't think this means you have to know every species that places has, because that is nearly impossible. I think it is more of knowing where to look. It is also knowing when things are blooming and changing and what those changes will entail. Someone brought up the idea of our sites being like having a relationship with a friend- you want to get to know it and when you visit it catch up and find out what has been going on since you've last been there. I also found myself getting more comfortable with each visit. I welcomed the sight of the red winged blackbird defending its territory. I looked forward to seeing pollinators on the nootka rose. But most importantly, I developed a sense of excitement for what I would see that day when I was visiting my site. No matter how well I thought I knew Magnuson, I still knew that I could never predict what I would see that day when I visited and I think that is part of the intimacy- I know the unpredictable nature of it, and I am fully aware of the fact that everything that happens is completely out of my control. Magnuson is a spot where I can relax and feel at peace. In the future I know I will come back here to relax and just feel the familiarity of it. I am so grateful for the opportunity I had to learn to get to know a natural area.

Week Eight- Field Trip to Eastern WA

Everytime I drive over the pass to Eastern WA I feel like I'm not in Washington anymore. Having lived in Western WA my entire life, I associate typical Washington vegetation with an abundance of conifers, grasses and very leafy green plants. However this is not at all the case when heading east of the Cascades. At our first destination, Yakima Canyon, we came across multiple shrubs we do not see on the west side. One was tall sage brush and the other was bitter brush. It is interesting how they are adapted to the drier climate- they can conserve water by growing very slowly, and they have an extensive root system to maximize water uptake. Additionally they do not have dark green leaves like plants of Western WA do, as they are not doing as much photosynthesis as another means of water conservation. We also saw a prickly pear cactus in bloom. The cacti are also masters of water conservation- their white "spines" are actually modified leaves. The large green part of the cacti is where water storage and conservation takes place. This area gets 20-30 inches of rain per year and can practically be considered a desert, so it was awesome to see plants adapted to that type of climate.

Tall Sagebrush

Bitter Brush

Flowering Prickly Pear Cacti

I also saw/heard some familiar and unfamiliar birds at this stop. One was the lazuli bunting, which I had only seen before in the filed guide. I was able to see it in the scope, which was awesome because its a beautiful bird, and I also was able to use the zoom on my camera to get a pretty decent picture of it! We also saw ravens and turkey vultures, two other birds I have not often seen. Additionally we heard a chickadee call- it sounded different than the black capped chickadee we hear in Seattle, so it could either have a different dialect or it could have been the mountain chickadee. Additionally there were a lot of cliff swallows flying under the bridge- we think they could have possibly been nesting there and bringing food back to their babies. 

Lazuli Bunting 

At our second stop, Umtanum Ridge, we talked about how the area was not formed  by glaciers but rather by volcanoes- I thought this was very interesting, I did not know that before. At this stop we were also able to see some wildflowers. I found it amazing that anything can even grow there. It was so dry and dusty and so easily disturbed by us walking through. We found a few lone bitterroot flowers, as well as smaller species of sagebrushes- they do not have the water availability to grow much taller than what they are, and also by being low to the ground they are more protected from high winds that go through that area. We also saw many "nests" of tent caterpillars, which I think is just a result of where they all hatched as eggs from. I also saw a really cool western bluebird and heard a meadowlark- I thought the meadowlark had one of the most cheerful calls I have heard from a bird. Meadowlarks can also be found in Western WA so when I'm out and about I'm going to keep my ears open for it!

Western Bluebird

Not sure the exact species of wildflower, but this was growing quite a bit. 

Short sagebrush, mechanism of protection from the wind. 

Nest of tent caterpillars. 

Bitterroot flower

I also do not know the species for this wildflower, but it was really cool to me!

Our final stop was nearby, but the vegetation had changed dramatically. I think this is due to it being a western facing slope rather than eastern facing. This I felt was much more characteristic of Western WA to me. There were many of species there that we commonly see, including cottonwood, redwinged blackbird, alder (although sitka instead of red), ponderosa pine, douglas fir. There were also a few species that really stood out to me, one of which was rocky mountain iris, as well as the abundance of quaking aspen. Quaking aspen is probably my favorite tree species, so it was cool to see a place where it grows naturally and was not planted for aesthetics.  Everything in this area seemed greener, and these plants did not have as many adaptations for water storage. Also the waterfall was pretty neat, and I was able to see and hear a few cool birds. One was the house wren, and another was what I think was a western tanager.

A lot of green!

The waterfall

Rocky Mountain Iris

This was a fun field trip, as I have not done a huge amount of hiking/exploring in Eastern WA. I enjoyed being able to see both similarities and differences with the pacific northwest, and I hope to do some more exploring in that area soon!

Week Seven

3:30 PM Thursday, May 29
Cloudy 60 degrees
Magnuson Park

My site continues to become more and more overgrown! This made searching for fungi this week even more difficult. Before I discuss the fungi I was able to find, I will provide a brief update of what I noticed at my site. First, I noticed the twin berries at my site are starting to get berries. Also bees keep getting more and more active- I noticed much more today than I have the past times I have been at my site. Also, sadly, the mallard family is now only 3 ducklings (at least that was all I saw today). I'm hoping I'll end up seeing the other ducklings again, but I don't think the mallard mom would intentionally leave her ducklings behind.

The three mallard babies. They were sitting right by me!

Twin berry getting its berries.

I was able to find many lichens at my site. I think I found a few mushrooms that were similar to some of the conks that we saw in class, but I also feel like they might be lichens. I'm not entirely sure. All of the species that I found were either on logs or on red alder trees (that is where I found the lichens).

There are two types of lichen shown in this picture, both crustose.  The white lichen is seen on many red alders throughout the region. The smaller yellow-orange colored lichen is also common on many trees. This was on the trunk of a red alder. 

This lichen was also on a red alder tree- this was on many of its branches. It is thin and papery with a sort of light green tint that is very hard to see in this picture. It is a foliose lichen.

This lichen is also very common on the red alder branches. It is a fruticose lichen and its long and white, green and yellow. Sort of hairy in appearance. 

This is a terrible photograph, but here are some more bright green crustose lichen I found on the side of a log. 

I am not entirely sure it this is a fungi or a lichen. It did not seem to have gills, but maybe pores. The bottom is green with red spots and the tops were more whitish. I found this growing on a log. I feel like it could possibly be a foliose lichen, but I think it is probably a fungi. 

This seems like some sort of conk fungi. It was whitish on the bottom and the tops are dark brown-black with some green. Again it seemed to have pores rather than gills, and it was growing on the side of a log. My guess is that it is a wood decomposer, but I have not been able to pinpoint its exact species. 

Another very similar sort of fungi. It is attached to the log much the same was the other ones were. The tops of this one are bumpy and light brown-gray in color. The edges were sort of rough, and it did not seem to have gills either. 

Week Six

3:30 PM Monday, May 19
Mostly cloudy, 65 degrees
Magnuson Park

At my site this week I have noticed grasses really starting to take over, especially near the water. Also on the trail walking to my observation spot, the trail keeps becoming narrower from the growing vegetation. Additionally, I noticed a new plant growing by the water that I couldn't seem to find in my field guide. It has long oblong shaped leaves with jagged edges all extending from on central stem. Some of the edges of the leaves are a reddish color. I also noticed a few plants blooming, including snowberry and red osier dogwood. Additionally I noticed two other white flowering plants that I am having a hard time identifying. One looks a lot like black hawthorn, but it has different leaves. I thought it was especially interesting because the flowers were in different stages of blooming all on one plant! I also saw another flowering plant with white flowers that had long eliptical petals.  The rushes out in the water also seemed to have something blooming on them, although it was hard to tell exactly what it was.

Unidentified plant starting to grow by the edge of the water.

Blooms on rushes. 

Red Osier Dowgwood blooming.

Unidentified plant.

Unidentified plant in different stages of bloom. 

I also found many species of birds at my site today. I briefly saw a house finch before it flew away as well as an american robin. It was flying around some cottonwood trees where I believe there was a nest, as I heard some unfamiliar squawking which I think were the robin's babies. I also heard the call of the marsh wren, but I never this species. I followed a black capped chickadee through some trees for a short while before it flew away. It jumped from branch to branch not staying on any of the branches for long, but also not moving a great distance each time it moved to a new branch. I heard its chirping song which it did a lot while it was in the trees. It stayed pretty low to the ground while it was moving around before completely flying away and I could no longer follow it. Its flying was very fast and short. I could see it off on another tree in the distance for a little while just flying in short little bursts. I also followed a pair of gadwalls for a while. They were intensely cleaning themselves while sitting in the water. Sometimes they would dunk their heads under and then continue ruffling their feathers with their bills and just generally splashing around a lot. When the female decided to fly off, the male followed, and they did not go far- just moved to another close pond. where they floated peacefully for some time before flying too far away for me to find/follow. Birds are difficult to observe- it was much harder to follow them than I thought it would be, and even harder to identify when I only catch a glimpse before they fly off!

Gadwall I observed doing some cleaning. 

The best picture I was able to capture of the black capped chickadee. 

Week Five

3:00 PM Monday, May 12

Sunny, 75 degrees

Magnuson Park

After being away from my site for a week, I noticed some pretty exciting changes this week! First I found a mallard with babies! I counted five babies total, which is far less than the number of babies the mallards have in drumheller fountain, which I am hypothesizing has something to do with no predators being in the fountain. I also saw a female gadwall floating in the water.

Female Gadwall.

Four of the mallard ducklings.

Additionally I noticed many plants blooming today. I found pink flowers on the nootka rose plant and white flowers on the thimbleberry at my site. Also, the tall oregon grape now has what seems like berries in the place of the yellow flowers it had when I first started observing at my site. I also noticed a few purple clover blooming along the edge of a log.

Blooming nootka rose.

Purple Clover flower.

Tall Oregon grape getting berries.

Thimbleberry flower. 

I additionally saw many species of dragonfly. I have yet to see dragonflies at my site so I was pretty excited! One I identified as a Pacific Forktail Dragonfly and one is a Meadowhawk and I am still uncertain about one of the species, however I know they all belong to the order Odonata. I also saw a white moth/butterfly (order Lepidoptera) and a species of fly (order Diptera). There were many other flies/bees flying around but they did not stay still long enough for me to ever get a good look at them. I additionally found some very tiny black ants (order Hymenoptera).

Meadowhawk dragonfly

Pacific Forktail Dragonfly

Week Four

3:15 PM Saturday April 19

Partly Sunny 56 degrees

Magnuson Park

The biggest change I noticed this week was how quiet it was. I usually hear and see a lot of birds, but today the only birds I saw where a few canadian geese flying overhead. This could be because the other days I have visited my site it was much sunnier and warmer. However, I did hear the red winged blackbird but did not see it. In addition, I also felt as if the water was clearer today. Perhaps the lack of sun resulted in fewer algae.

General view of my observation spot. Really peaceful and quiet today. 

I also noticed the pacific willow catkins are getting "fuzzy". I am not sure if this is how they will spread their pollen/ seeds, but that is my guess for why this is happening. There has not been a lot of change in the scouler willows. Also, at this point I am uncertain if any of the willows are hybrids of the two species or not. They are all growing so close to each other right by the water, so I feel as if I could have a few hybrid willows, as we talked about in class, it is somewhat common for that to happen.

Fuzzy catkins!

I also noticed a plant growing in the water I had not noticed before. I think it could possibly be common plantain after looking in my field guide, but I'm still uncertain. I also thought it sort of resembled skunk cabbage, but I think it has slightly different leaves.

Unknown plant I noticed. 

Additionally, the tall oregon grape I found at my site has lost all of its flowers. This is probably in preparation for getting berries later in the summer. I also explored a different part of Magnuson than I have before and I found a plant with longer skinnier leaves, but the leaves were completely red. I did not find a plant that matched the description in the field guide.

Unknown red-leafed plant. 

I also noticed I have twin berry at my site. After walking through UBNA and Ravenna, it has been much easier for me to keep identifying species at my site. I also found another interesting plant with fuzzy blooms on it, I am still not certain about what it is. This is the first time I have noticed this fuzzy plant.

Twin berry.

Unidentified plant. 

One last thing I wanted to share was that I met a group of four kids (elementary school age) who were very interested in what I was doing. I talked to them for awhile and taught them the names of some of the plants around my site. I also showed them my field guide, and they were so excited! I think its really great when kids are excited about nature, and it was really fun to share my love of nature with them. Maybe I met some future naturalists!