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!