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.