Final Post

Part One:

Ode to Corydalis:
I heard you wore a scowl
But I found otherwise
Instead you wore a tall pink crown
capping that gaping smile
that looked so inviting

Ode to the Pacific Wren:
I heard you singing from far away
a song meant for another
I still enjoyed being let in
on your intimate little tale
I even gazed your jumpy nature
but then you swooped off
to collect some food
food for another
won't you feed me?

Ode to the starflower:
A single burst
of white among the green
guiding me along the path
like a sailor among the stars

three is a magic number
although anything big is too

You are so small.


Part Two: Final Reflection
 1) One of the largest ways my perception of my site has changed is actual species that compose that community. Given that Discovery Park is one of the largest parks of Seattle, I thought that it would be dominated by native species. However, I frequently found the park overrun by invasive species. In fact, well over half the species we found were probably invasive. I've come to believe that many people tend to idealize nature without having any basis for understanding it, and thus assume that these parks are an accurate representation of what "nature" is, or what was there before human intervention.

2) As the quarter progressed, one of the major things that I had impressed upon me was how diverse the Puget Sound Region is. For some reason, I believed that since I lived in Seattle, I had seen most of what the Puget lowlands had to offer. This actually makes no sense, given that I have not gone hiking in this area that much and have very little field experience. Many of the species that I had heard of, such as orchids and violets, seemed to be exotic and foreign, things to be found in faraway places, but certainly not on this side of the Cascades.

3) To intimately know a natural place means many things. First, it means creating a natural history foundation by developing the most important skill of observation. Observation is a skill that will allow the user to become familiar with other places as well, without going through the trouble of developing that skill again. Secondly, to know a natural place intimately means patience. Many things only flower during certain times of the year, and once per a year. Discovering where all the good fruit is takes time through trial and error. During winter when everything is gone, all you can do is wait for many things to come back, while waiting to watch the intermittent vagrants that pass through the area.

Week 9

Date: Sunday June 2nd, 2013
Temperature: ~68 degrees F
Time: 3:30 PM to 5:30 PM
Location: Discovery Park

This post skips week 8, in case there seems like a bit of a disconnect, because our week 8 journal was canceled so that we could study for an exam and start our final project.

Anywho, our task for this week was to compare our phenological observations to those of our first journal entry during week 1.

One of the first things we saw at our original site were some sword ferns and Red-flowering Currant. When we saw them the first time, the sword fern was just beginning to produce fiddleheads, while the currant was in full flower. This time, the sword fern had fully developed new fronds, while the currant was in fruit!

Sword Fern in full....leaf?

The immature fruits of Red-Flowering Currant

Right next to these guys is an Alaskan Yellow Cedar. Initially, it didn't look like much had changed from when we first saw it, but upon careful inspection, we noticed that it had developed cones! The cones of this cedar is knoby and small with few scales, unlike many other conifers (although similar to Western Red Cedar).

Note the cone!

In fact, the Western Red Cedar had cones too!

Western Red Cedar cones

We saw the Rosaceae tree that we saw the first time, but it was impossible to get close to it at this point to check out the fruits; Himalayan Blackberry had completely surrounded it and made an impenetrable thicket.

Looks like good eating come late summer

Also, the unknown Rosaceae shrub that we saw, and I tentatively identified as Spirea spp. did not seem to be in fruit despite all the flowers we saw the first time. Maybe the fruits are slow to ripen? Or they flowered too early and missed the pollinators? It did seem a little early to flower for Spirea, I suppose...
When we saw the Bigleaf Maple, it was in full flower with leaves just barely beginning to emerge. Now it definitely has big leaves, and is laden with samaroid schizocarps!

Littleleaf Maple grew up big and strong...

Fruit!

We also noticed a couple changes on plants closer to the ground. And by change, I mean things were flowering!

Galium aparine in flower

Scotchbroom in flower...and fruit!

The beautiful seashore lupine that I was so excited about!

We also noticed that the fruits of the Oemleria cerasiformis were beginning to ripen a little. I tried eating one, but it was still quite hard and tasteless.

Looks ripe if you don't like what it looks like when it's ripe

It is also worth noting that when I was here the first time that I observed that none of the grasses were in flower. Well, that has changed quite a bit, with several species being in flower. Unfortunately, I'm not very good with botanic terminology surrounding the Poaceae, so I wasn't able to identify them to species. But here are some pictures to give you an idea of the diversity of Poaceae inflorescences. Sorry for the blurry pictures! Apparently the tiny spikelets are hard to focus on.

Common Velvet Grass, note the purple tinge!

Well, that concludes my revisit to the species that we initially observed for journal one. Look forward to my final project that discusses a variety of topics in Discovery Park, such as plants, birds, invertebrates, land use, and geology. You will be able to find it at: http://birdzanbeez.blogspot.com/. This linked blog is the blog of my associate, Arielle Gervasi. We discuss much of the same things, but she inevitably puts a different spin on things, so you should check out her blog for a fresh perspective! Peace.

Week Seven

Date: Sunday May 19th, 2013
Weather: Sunny
Temperature: ~60 degrees F
Time: 5:30 PM to 6:30 PM
Location: Discovery Park

Well, this week we were supposed to focus on mushrooms, but since that's all the good stuff, I'll save it for the end. In the meantime, here are some new phenotypic observations and plants.

First of all, we saw some Vine Maple flowering. An interesting fact is that this species is dioecious, meaning there are two different genders of the plants. However, one is male, while the other is hermaphroditic!

I love how the red flowers pop against the lime green of the leaves

We also found some Froghoppers (Cercopoidea) in their nymph state! Also known as spittlebugs, they are known for the froth that they produce as they develop into adults.

Bigleaf Maples are also fruiting. Their fruits are samaroid schizocarps; samaras are winged fruit, while schizocarps are fruit that splits in half when dry. Since these fruit do both, they are samaroid schizocarps!

Not quite ready to fly

Just a couple of feet away we saw an Araneae building its web.

The Indian Plum fruits are beginning to look a lot more ripe too.

We also saw an example of some not so wild wildlife...

Hard to see, but a kitty is stalking about

Also, another bunny! YayyyyyyyyyyyYY!

I just wanna pet you... and take you home...

Later on, as we continued our search for mushrooms (rather unsuccessfully), what we believed to be a Song Sparrow came along to serenade us. Unfortunately, it ran away when a dog came by. 

Quite a few things are in flower as well!

Victoria spp.

Not really sure what this is

Not sure... maybe goldenrod of some sort?

Twinflower; flowers in twins!

Despite all our trudging around, we only found a couple species of lichens and a single mushroom. In fact, it wasn't until our way out that we saw a mushroom. At first, we thought it was a puffball, but after cutting it open, we found that it was really a gilled mushroom with a full veil. We decided it is probably a Shaggy Parasol. While we were poking around one of the mushrooms, a Diplopoda (millipede) decided to come out and greet us! It scared the both of us since we didn't expect the mushroom to be inhabited, but it gave us a great photo opportunity!

"Who's knocking on my door!?"

Cross section

In full form

We managed to figure out what we thought was Oakmoss Lichen

It took us a little while longer to figure out, but we also found a Hammered Shield Lichen and Methuselah's Beard Lichen. It was really cool to identify them because I've seen these guys a lot, but had no idea what they were, other than some sort of lichen.

Hammered Shield Lichen

Methuselah's Beard Lichen

Since we came up short on mushroom this week, I think I'll include a few other ones we've found in the past, since I don't think I really wrote about them at the time. The list includes Panther Amanita, Marasmius spp., Hare's-Foot Inkcap, and Oyster Mushroom.

Panther Amanita, looks so juicy. It is quite poisonous though. 

Marasmius spp., apparently quite common in grassy areas

Hare's-Foot Inkcap, looks like a truffula tree from Dr. Seuss's The Lorax

Oyster Mushroom

Well, that is all for now. Maybe more later!

Week Six

Date: Friday May 10th, 2013
Weather: Sunny, a few clouds, somewhat windy
Temperature: 70 degrees F
Time: 2:30 PM to 4:30 PM
Location: Discovery Park

So on this wonderful day, we got to chase birds! Or well, as much as you can chase birds before they just fly away. But before I get to the birds, I'll get all the plant and phenological changes out of the way. As we strolled through the forest, we came across some more plant species I was unfamiliar with. Unfortunately, my poor photography limits my ability to identify them, so I'll just post pretty pictures!

An unknown

Another unknown

We did come across a couple of plant species I was familiar with, but hadn't yet come across yet in Discovery Park!

False Soloman's Seal

Wild Ginger, yummy smelling

Lesser Hop Trefoil

Northern Starwort

Nootka Rose

Red Huckleberry

Red-Osier Dogwood

We also came across a few new phenlogical changes.

Salmonberry is fruiting! We saw an almost ripe drupe on one of the bushes. 

Creeping Buttercup is in flower!

That concludes all the new plants! We had hoped to see a few new arthropods, and we did! Ch-ch-check it out!

Six spotted Lady Beetle

Potential Carpenter Ant?

Some sort of Beetle (Coleoptera)

Now to the real stuff for this week: birdz! Almost immediately after we left the parking lot we saw a couple of small sparrow-like birds fly over us in an undulating manner at a height of about 13 feet, moving from a tree on one end of a clearing to a large shrub on the other end. But we were unfamiliar with their tweets and didn't get a good look at them, so identification was not a real possibility. 

Moving on, we found a Black-capped Chickadee that we decided to stalk. Initially, it flew back and forth in a Salmonberry bush, but we couldn't really see what it was up to. Finally it flew up into the bottom portion of a large Bigleaf Maple, and started curiously flitting back and forth along a branch. Under careful observation, it appeared that it was feeding on insects! Mostly small caterpillar like things that were feeding on the tree. It continued this for quite a while, without making a sound or interacting with any other birds. It just flew around the bottom portion of the tree, probably around 10 feet from the ground, eating bugs. I heard another Black-capped chickadee quite a ways away, but it didn't respond. I imagine this is probably because that while it is feeding, it would be disadvantageous to respond, lest it gives away its position to a potential predator. 

Since it seemed like this chickadee was content to continue eating for quite a while, we continued our search for birds. We came across an American Robin, perched at the very top of a Douglas-Fir in the middle of a clearing. It sang its interrupted, cheerful song quite readily for all to hear. We decided to watch what it would do. However, it just kept singing. Every now and then, it would take a break for maybe 20-30 seconds to groom itself and fluff its feathers, probably to look good for a potential mate, but then it would resume its unwavering song. Since both this bird, and the chickadee didn't seem to be doing much, we decided to delve deeper into the forest. 

But before we managed to do that, an American Crow cackled at us. Rather aggressively as well. I have a tiny fear of crows, because I've been attacked by them before. I remember the event quite clearly; it was a Sunday on a warm spring day around 7:00PM. I was walking from my house in Maple Leaf to a bus stop two blocks away. Almost right away, as I left my house, a crow cawed at me. Of course, I thought nothing of it because this has happened a million times. However, the crow began to follow me. After a block, it began to caw again, and another crow came. Together, the two of them began to follow me and caw at me. It was quite unnerving, but I though once I got far away enough they'd leave me alone. How wrong I was. Soon I got to the bus stop, and another two crows showed up to join the chorus of cawing. At this point, two of them flew into a tree above the bus stop and started ripping leaves from the tree and throwing it at me. I was hoping the bus would come soon so I didn't have to deal with this, but they escalated the situation by starting to dive bomb me. At this point, I called it quits and decided I had had enough, and ran for it. This might have encouraged them though, because as I ran across the street, one of them swooped lower than usual, and hit my lower back with its beak, leaving a small welt. Fortunately, I ran the two blocks home and they didn't follow me. I decided to stay home that night. 

I'm watching you...

There were quite a few times we heard an Anna's Hummingbird, but only managed to glimpse it once as it fed from some Himalayan Blackberry bushes. I tried to pull out my camera to capture a snapshot of it, but I was too slow to the draw, and it quickly flitted away. 

After a little bit of trekking, we came across an overlook into a very wooded area with a lot of canopy cover. We decided to sit down and see if any birds would come our way. It took quite a while, but after a while we spotted a Spotted Towhee rummaging through the leaf litter collected under a thicket of blackberry bushes. At this point we decided to see if we could lure it in with some playback calls. At first, we started with some songs, and got no response. But then we used calls, and started getting some responses. It was funny how much of a game of marco polo it seemed like. Eventually, the same towhee came back through the blackberry bushes on the other side of us, and looked at us inquisitively. We wanted to get a picture, so we kept repeating the call. Apparently, that towhee wasn't the only one that heard us though; soon enough we were surrounded by four towhees, one to the right on the ground in blackberry bushes, one to the left in the top of a large shrub, and two behind us (one on the ground, another in a bigleaf maple). At this point we managed to get a snapshot!

One in the tree!

One on the ground! Surrounded!

We decided to stop calling the towhees, because we were afraid that we might end up stressing them out. We tried other calls like hummingbirds, Goldfinches, and Northern Flickers, but without any results. After a while, we tried a Chestnut-backed Chickadee call, and that seemed to attract one of them! It came over quite inquisitively, and ended up observing us from a branch almost right above us as we called to it and it responded. 

Checking out the neighbors

It didn't seem aggressive all though, more curious. It just watched us and groomed itself. In fact, it stayed put long after we stopped calling to it, and didn't leave until we did. After a bit more walking we found ourselves closer to the shoreline, but not actually at it despite our best efforts. From the distance we managed to spot a Western Gull shrieking in the air, but eventually we lost sight of it. Due to time restrictions, we had to turn back, even though we meant to see all the shorebirds and waterfowl that might be on the shoreline.  

Trying to find a meal. 

As we worked our way through the forest again, we looked up to see a Great Blue Heron! What a majestic bird! The UW campus has a rookery that I like to visit every now and then to see what they're up to. 

Despite being a wetland bird, they nest in terrestrial trees!

The last bird we saw were a couple of small nondescript sparrow shaped but robin sized birds that flew through a clearing and right past us into low shrubbery. They were mostly grey, with a black streak over the eye. There were about three initially, but another joined them as they hopped along the ground in the understory. They made a fairly taunting cackling sound that almost sounded like an evil laugh. I was hoping to see them again, but the brush was too thick to see through. Maybe I will come across them again the future?