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!

Week Three- Field Trip to Olympic National Park

Our weekend trip to Olympic National Park was a really fun and educational experience. Old growth forest was really incredible to get to see, and exploring the intertidal region of Salt Creek was excellent as well. While on this trip I thought a lot about how crazy it is that these different ecosystems we saw work so perfectly. Each organism has a job and without it, the system can fall apart (as I will touch on later). I am lucky to have gone on such an exciting trip with a great group of naturalists!
While exploring the the trails around Nature Bridge, I learned about competition between trees and plants in the old growth forest. Plants and trees in that area are all competing for light, nutrients, and water, which is why you see such a diversity of plants because each is designed to harvest one of those in different ways. A specific way I saw competition was by epiphytic ferns growing on trees so that they could try and harvest more light. In addition to competition, I also noticed some patterns of disturbance. Some trees had been damaged by fire, which severely harmed much of their trunk. Amazingly, these trees survived the fires and damage and are still able to grow and heal themselves. However, it is likely that other species that were near the tree at the time of the fire were not able to survive, and after the fire new species (perhaps a nitrogen fixing red alder?) likely would have colonized the area.

You can see where the inside of the tree has extensive fire damage.

Predation was not as clear to me in the old growth forest, however an example of this might be different species of dear eating the ferns, wildflowers, and other plants that live in the area. 

In the rocky/intertidal region of Salt Creek, I saw competition between the goose barnacles and mussels. Both of these species need to be able to root themselves to the rocks, so these species are competing for space. 

Here you can see goose barnacles (bottom left) amongst the many mussels.

While I do not have any evidence of clear disturbance documented, I think a fairly common example that would be found in that region would be when sea lions come on shore. They could easily detach any barnacles or mussels as well as sea stars that were stuck onto the rocks, leaving behind bare spaces. Predation was also something I was not able to document, but one example of predation would be sea lions eating mussels or sea urchins. A ripple effect related to this could possibly account for the vast amount of mussels that I saw; while exploring Salt Creek, I only saw two sea lions. If the population of sea lions is very low, and seal lions eat mussels (otters would also eat mussels, and we did not see any otters) then it would cause the population of mussels to go way up, as there are very few predators eating them, which we saw by the vast amount of mussels we were walking across. Mussels eat plankton, and since the population of mussels is so high, they would be consuming huge amounts of plankton, which would potentially harm any other species who need to feed on the plankton as well. Another example of this could be that there are not otters at salt creek, but otters eat sea urchins. Thus, without its natural predator, the population of sea urchins would rise. Sea urchins eat kelp, and with such large numbers of sea urchins, this would significantly reduce kelp populations.  

Walking on what seemed like a bed of mussels. 

Not a good picture at all, but the head of a sea lion poking out of the water.

Additionally, while hiking the trails around Lake Crescent, I was able to compare the vegetation on the west facing slope (Storm King) and the east facing slope (Marymere Falls). I was able to notice many differences, mainly I think due to different amounts of moisture and sunlight. On the Marymere side, I noticed many ferns and moss- moss was covering nearly all of the trees and snags and ferns blanketed the forest floor. In addition I noticed this side seemed to be predominantly douglas fir trees, although there was a variety of trees on both sides. This side was also just generally darker. On both sides we noticed a lot of western red cedar. 

Mossy trees. 

A view of the water fall with all the ferns growing around it. 

On the Storm King side, we noticed many more wildflowers including chocolate lilies, succulents, and trillium. We also saw some really cool madrones that had peeling red bark.This side also seemed to be more shrubby rather than having moss and ferns and this side seemed to have more salal (at least I noticed it more on this side). We hypothesized this could be due to this side receiving more light which would aid wildflowers in photosynthesis as they can't reach the light above the canopy like large trees can. Some of the trees, especially as we got higher up, seemed to be more bare as well (as in having less leaves). We also noticed a large erratic just before starting this trail (this is irrelevant to the vegetation, but interesting nonetheless).  

Peeling madrone bark. 

Chocolate lilies. 

Succulents.

Trillium. 

Below is the photo I drew of the landscape of Lake Crescent. This lake was carved by a glacier from the Frasier Lobe. You can see the "U" shape of the valley carved by the glacier. It used to flow into the Elwha river until a landslide thousands of years ago isolated it from the river. The lake is so blue and clear because nothing can really live in it due to poor nitrogen and other nutrient levels, but also due to the barrier caused by the landslide. It was a really cool experience for me to sit and look out at the lake and think about how it was formed and what it looked like before. Its really hard to imagine the way that it used to look, almost hard to believe!

Week Two

3:30 PM Monday April 14
Mostly sunny, 65 degrees
Magnuson Park

There are not many changes to note about my site this week. I did notice that more horsetails are growing along the water's edge this week. I also noticed bumble bees this week, when last week it was more flies and what I thought could have possibly been a smaller type of bee. In addition to that, the tree/shrub directly next to me seemed to be much fuller, and the tube-like bristles protruding were much more spikey in appearance. In addition to that, I noticed the yellow-flowering plant, which I believe is tall oregon grape I saw last week has even more blooms on it, and a nearby plant without blooms had red on its leaves. I also saw many more birds up close today. The one I saw last week with the high-pitched shrieking call was back again, but when I saw it up close, the patches on it's wings appeared more yellow-orange. I do believe it was the same species of bird, however, because I recognized the call it made.I also saw ducks that were black and white which I believe to be buffleheads. Unfortunately I was never able to capture a very good photo. These waterfowl would dive under the water for lengthy periods of time! In addition to those, I believe the other ducks I saw today were mallards but the heads seemed to be more blue to me, so it might be something else. I'm hoping I will see even more of the birds I am hearing in the following weeks!

General view of my observation spot this week.

The leaves of the tall oregon grape that were changing.

One of the types of ducks I saw with a distinctly blue head.

The bird with the distinct call and patch/stripe on its wing. 

I was also able to closely examine a few species through drawing them. Its really helpful in discovering the intricate details of the plants at my site! Here are my drawings:

Week One

4:00 Monday April 7, 2014
Sunny, 66 degrees
Magnuson Park

The site I have chosen to observe is Warren G. Magnuson Park. While at first glance it seems like an array of baseball fields, upon further exploration, there are preserved wetland areas with plants and birds galore! This was my first time going to Magnuson, so I was excited to get to explore!

Here is my observation site! It is very peaceful here!

 While within 50 meters, I was only able to see a few ducks, canadian geese, and a black bird with red on its wings, I heard a plethora of bird calls from birds which I did not see. I hope that in my further explorations I will be able to spot more of the birds that I heard. I also kept hearing a frog croak, but I never actually spotted it. 

I wasn't able to get a very good shot, but this bird had a high pitched call, and each time it puffed up to call I was able to glimpse some red on its wings. I also heard another bird in the distance call back to it!

While many of the ducks and canadian geese were off in the distance, here is one that swam up close to me.

Along the water behind me on the other side of the trail, there were many tall plants that were fluffy and almost looked like cotton candy on top. They were growing all along the sides of the water. I also spotted a yellow flowering plant.

Unknown yellow flowering plant. 

Unknown plant along the water behind me.

Additionally, there were many species of trees that I am unable to identify, a few of them were pine trees, but many of them had more broad, flat leaves. Within one meter of me, I saw many little flies (they seemed to have yellow stripes, they could have been bees) buzzing around. There were also many grassy leafy plants. There were also what looked like mini pine trees to me protruding out of the ground, yellowish green in color. In the water there was algae growing, as well as other grassy looking plants. There was also a plant that had buds that looked sort of dead and dried up to me, but I guess I will know for sure after further observations. I also saw plants with tube like bristle shapes protruding- perhaps they will bloom? Again, in the weeks to come, I am sure I will be able to answer that question. I was also able to spot some fungi as well as some moss growing on a log. 

The plants that look like little pine trees to me among the grass. 

Algae growing in the water.

The buds that I think look dried up.

Grasses growing out of the water.

Tube-like bristles that I think will perhaps be flowers.

Moss on a log. 

A fungi growing on a log. 

While making my observations, I realized that I was unable to put names to many of the species that I have seen plenty of times before. I am excited to be able to name them in the coming weeks!

As far as an experience in nature goes, here is what I came up with:

Every time I am in nature, I am in awe of it. I have always loved how it has made me feel so small, taking me away from the stress of day to day life and helping me relax. A time I remember feeling this the most was on a bio field trip fall quarter. We hiked Twin Falls and Snoqualmie Falls and I was amazed by the power of the waterfalls we saw. Despite our upcoming midterm for the class that coming Monday, I had never felt so relaxed and de-stressed at any point during school before. To me, this is extremely important and powerful that simply being outdoors and in nature can have that affect on me. 

As a child, there was not an experience in nature that stood out to me. My parents did not take me to a lot of natural places that I can recall. As I've gotten older, I have taken it upon myself to explore nature on my own, and I hope to continue doing that no matter where I end up after college. I look forward to expanding my explorations in this class!