First you are going to want to enter Magnuson Park on 65th street. Turn onto the frog pond trail until you get here. This is where my tour begins!
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Site 2, Birds: At this spot, a plethora of birds can be found. Not only can mallards, gadwalls and their ducklings be found swimming, but this is also prime territory for red winged blackbirds. You will often see them perched on top of a willow or cottonwood giving their territorial call and showing their red epaulets. Red winged blackbirds are active all over Magnuson, but this is a spot where I always see them. Lower down in the willows I sometimes see a female red winged blackbird, but not nearly as often as I see the male, likely because the male needs to defend his territory. Male red winged blackbirds will have multiple female mates, so it may seem somewhat surprising that one does not find many red winged blackbirds. However, since it is spring, the females birds are likely tending to nests and young, which is often away from where they could be disturbed by people. Also I have seen a few black capped chickadees in this area, as well as hear their alarm call. Anna's hummingbird can also be seen from time to time flying above the trees/shrubs, landing on rare occasion. Again, all of these birds can be found all over the site, but this is one good spot if you are interested in bird watching or just looking for an interesting element of Magnuson.
Site 3, Invertebrates: Here is where you can find the many cool invertebrates of Magnuson! The image to the right is a meadowhawk dragon fly. This is one species of dragonfly found at this site, generally flying near the edge of the water, very rarely landing. You can also find pacific forktail dragonfly, which is much smaller and skinnier with transparent wings. It sometimes lands for enough time that it can really be observed, unlike the meadowhawk! There is another larger blue species of dragonfly I have observed at this site. It is flying constantly, making it nearly impossible for me to identify! Perhaps if you stay for long enough it will eventually stay still enough to get a really good look at it! However, the window for really seeing dragonflies is somewhat small. If you are intrigued by dragonflies and would really enjoy observing them, I would suggest going in May-June. Not only are there dragonflies at this site, but if you look closely at the logs, you can see very tiny ants coming in and out of the crevices, and you can sometimes even see them holding pieces of leaves much larger than they are! You will also see the occasional bee or fly, but often not for long enough to determine the species. Don't be afraid to move logs to look for more insects at this site! While I had a hard time moving the logs, I am sure many people could easily move the logs and find many awesome invertebrates here- just be sure to replace the log when you are done!
Site 4, Ecological Disturbance: Ecological disturbances come in many shapes and sizes. Some are induced by humans, others are facilitated by nature. Unfortunately, during a windstorm, many pacific and scouler willow branches were broken. As mentioned previously, these willows seem as if they could be the homes of many birds. Usually though, it will take time to tell how severe the impact of the disturbance will be. I think this will not have too large of an impact on the organisms living at this site. Broken branches as well as the high winds was likely able to disperse plenty of willow pollen, which is very beneficial to this willow species even though this particular one was damaged. It is important to remember however that everything has an ecological niche, so devastation to one species can almost always translate to some sort of ill effect for another.
Site 5, Plants: Keep in mind, plants are found everywhere at Magnuson Park, including the water. That being said, this particular site has a few plants I would like to highlight. One of which is tall oregon grape, pictured to the right. This plant has a bright yellow cluster of flowers, which I found to be in bloom in April. Not long after this, end of April or beginning of May, the flowers have all disappeared. Then, late May it begins to get berries. One really awesome aspect of observing my site at the time that I did, I was able to see the plant change quite drastically. I found this with many other plants as well, including twin berry. I witnessed it going from no flowers to flowers to berries. A variety of grasses can also be seen at this spot, especially as spring goes on. Western buttercup (the small yellow flower you would hold under your chin as a child to determine whether or not you like butter!) is also seen in abundance here. In this general vicinity, you will also come across a few other species of plants. One is common vetch with small skinny leaves that are opposite each other with small pink flowers (at least during this time of year). Also pacific ninebark, a plant with white flowers and dark green veined leaves. Walking just a little farther back (carefully, the trail does not go back here) you will also find snowberry and broad leafed cattails. The plant diversity at Magnuson is incredible, and this is just a small taste of it.
Now we will continue walking down the trail to our next site seeing spot!
Site 6, Invasive Species: Invasive species occur in a number of places throughout the Pacific Northwest. A common one is ivy. It was brought to America for ornamental purposes, but it can have a very negative impact on the native populations of plants. You may be thinking, "What's the big deal? Its just a plant!" The problem with invasives is that they have no natural predators in the area they are introduced to, so their populations can grow wildly out of control. It can outcompete native species for resources. In this specific case with ivy, it may be outcompeting other plants for light, water, and space. As discussed at other sites, one species or one plant may have a much greater and far reaching impact on the ecosystem than is anticipated. While Magnuson Park seems to be doing just fine, even with a little ivy, it is important to realize the possible implications and why we should not introduce a new species into an environment without much careful research and planning. Even then, it is still a risk.
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Site 9, Ecological Interaction: Perhaps one of the arguably most important ecological interactions is between fruit and flowers and pollinators. Pollinators play an essential role in our every environment, from Magnuson Park to our agricultural industry. Bees and other pollinators are essential to help plants reproduce. Pictured here is a mason bee on a nootka rose. This site on the walking tour has a lot of nootka rose plants that always seem to have bees buzzing around them. They're really cute to watch, and I've seen a few bees buzz pollinate, so its almost like they grab onto the flower and shake it. But now lets get down to the details of pollination. How does it work? Bees really have no idea all the good that they do and how important their role is. They are looking for nectar, which they eat, and as they are getting the nectar from the flower, pollen gets stuck to them. They then fly off to another flower, in search of more nectar, and the pollen from the previous flower comes off onto the next flower and pollination occurs.This ecological interaction has led to the evolution of flowers that attract bees. Nootka rose for example is bright colored and has a very open landing spot for bees. Other flowers have adapted to attract hummingbirds, which are another pollinator of Magnuson Park. This ecological interaction benefits the plant, the pollinator, and the whole ecosystem!
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Thank you for joining me on this walking tour of Magnuson Park. I hope that you will enjoy exploring here as much as I have. If this is your first natural history experience I hope that this has piqued your curiosity and you want to go explore more regions. If you are an experienced natural historian or an avid outdoorsman, then I hope that you were still able to learn something from this tour. Again, thanks for reading!
References:
Map Of Cordilleran Ice Sheet. N.d. 0, 0. ISU Geology. Web. 7 June 2014.
"American Robin." , Identification, All About Birds. N.p., n.d. Web. 7 June 2014. <http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/american_robin/id>.
Journal Staff. Sand Point Naval Air Station. N.d. 0, Seattle, WA. Daily Journal Of Commerce. Web. 3 July 2014.
"The Free Encyclopedia of Washington State History." HistoryLink. N.p., n.d. Web. 3 July 2014. <http://www.historylink.org/index.cfm?DisplayPage=output.cfm&file_id=2287>.
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