Week Four

Monday April 28, 2014
7:35 pm
Partly Cloudy
63 Degrees
Ravenna Park

          After a nice day and the sun coming out the park is still filled with people walking through. The air is noticeably warmer but still retains a little coolness and it is evident that it is not yet summer. The creek is still running relatively full but is a little dryer around the edges then before, and the mud around the creek has a little bit of a dryer layer atop it. It is becoming apparent that things are changing based on how far you can see, the lower layers of the forest and the brush surrounding the creek as well as in the high canopy of the trees is now filling in quite bit making for a more dense.
          Looking at the close observations things are very similar as to the way they were last time, there is just slightly drier mud but overall the creek and the surrounding in near proximity are very similar. It seems that with the coming of spring and summer I can imagine the creek drying up and getting less and less strong as things dry out only to be down to a small trickle by late august before the fall and winter rains move back in. However the park on a larger scale is changing greatly        
          As we enter week 5 of the quarter the change is evident in species such as the big leaf maple and you can see now the leaves are fully formed and compared to the buds and small leaves i first noticed they are now nearly 4-5 times as big as they were during my last observations. As was the case last time there are plenty of birds around and I will do my best to identify some of the species in this recording. I can pick out at least 5 different calls and hopefully I can spot a bird and record what i notice about it. The focus for this recording was to get at least 8 different species of plants recorded so that is the main goal. The birds interest me and i hope that we as we get further into the course we can learn more how to better identify the species by sounds.

         I did see a bird and from what i could pick out it had an all black head with lighter brown/orange sides that almost speckled out into a white bottom. It was in the underbrush on the other side of the ravine and looking through the field guid I picked it out to be a Spotted Towhee. As far as plant species go the following are some species I came across today:

Nootka Rose (Rosa Nutkana) 
Multiple stemmed shrub
Leaflets are tiny, toothed, serrated and 5-7 ovate
Flowers bloom May-July and are 5-petaled 
Smell wonderful when in bloom!

Dandelion (Taraxacum officinale) 

Traditionally known as a weed and pest in the garden

The flower itself it around 21" with yellow petals 

Stems are unbranched, hollow, "milky juice"

               


                                    
               

Quaking Aspen (Populus tremuloides) 

Deciduous tree- grows to be around 50'

Leaves are round, toothed and turn yellow in the fall. They also 'quake' in the wind

Bark is smooth and greenish-white

Snow Berry (Symphoricarpos albus)
Shrub that produces inedible white berries in clusters
Leaves are opposite, elliptical and irregularly lobed














Tall Oregon Grape (Berberis-Mahonia aquifolium)Shrub- related to the Drawf Oregon Grape, yet taller in heightLeaves are shiny, opposite, ellipticalBark is light brown, ridgedProduces edible blue berries







       




Thimbleberry (Rubus parviflorus)   
Shrub
Leaves are 5-lobed, toothed, and fuzzy to touch "nature's toilet paper"            
Produces edible, red berries during the summer months

Vine Maple (Acer circinatum) 
Deciduous shrub or tree, with vine branches
Leaves are opposite, 7-9 lobed, toothed, also produces small flowers
Bark is gray and smooth








       





Giant Horsetail (Equisetum telmateia)
Tall shrub, in dense clusters often located near damp area like marshes and ditches 
The stalks are hollow but have multiple branches 
            
       

Salmonberry (Rubus spectabilis)
Shrub that produces pink flowers that turn into red edible berries 
Leaves are unevenly toothed
Stems have prickles
Grows well in wet habitats 

Week Three

Weekend of 4/19 - 4/20
Crescent Lake and Salt Creek
Overcast: Rain Saturday, Partly Cloudy Sunday
53 degrees

       

           The weekend field trip this past weekend was very fun, we learned a lot about the different species that inhabit the pacific northwest whether it was from native vegetation or different species of bird we learned a lot about the history of the region and the development of its local species.
          One of the first things we did after arriving at nature bridge was go for a hike, we learned about the difference between old growth forests and other forests and how they are distinguished and it comes down to a scale of the horizontal and vertical diversities of the surrounding ecosystem. An old growth forest is rich in diversity both horizontally and vertically there are many species of animals and plants that live from the understory all the way through the canopy of the forest and this varies as you move throughout the location.
          We learned of the three components that make up and ecosystem these factors consist of the Structure of the ecosystem, that is the physical elements that it is composed of, secondly comes the Composition of the ecosystem which is what makes up the surroundings or what the structures provide habitat for, and lastly comes the Function, the function what is the work that the ecosystem provides. Function comes in the form of things such as hydrology, carbon sequestration, nitrogen fixation and more. the key to all of this is that it forms a place where diversity is possible and life can function. We also learned of a Landscape which is a nested hierarchy of patches, these patches are each different and make the whole system diverse.
          While we were Hiking we explored the area and followed a trail to a waterfall as shown in the picture, we also hiked up a trail called storming making it halfway or so up the trail but you could tell the difference in species as well as temperature as you made the steep ascent. As we climbed we went from a damp vegetation and ascended to an almost alpine like forest. there were lots of doug fir trees all the way up suggesting a wet environment but as we climbed the trees became shorter and more barren suggesting that the grade of the slope was getting steeper and as a result there may not have been as much soil to use for support of the root systems. There was more exposed rock as we got further up the hill and you noticed that the footing became less and less solid as we hiked up the rocks, there was less finer soils and the moisture content was still high from the large amount of rain. The greater exposure made the wind come through the trees much more easily and made it seem as though it was raining harder as the canopy of the forest did not protect you. We saw a Gray Jay (Perisoreus Canadensis) at the highest point we hit and watched it for a while before we turned around and headed back down the mountain. As far as the faces of the mountain when gong from the west facing slopes the the east facing slopes especially in the valley it was clear how they differed. There was a lot more Salal on the western facing slope which receives more afternoon sun and thus is drier than the east facing slope, Salal is characteristic of a dryer type of environment as well as Madrone which was more prevalent on the west side as well.
          After the Hike I came back and did a small sketch of the lake and then rested up, the food was really good. The next day we woke up early and did a bird walk. Some of the species we spotted and heard included: Stellar Jay, Red Breasted Nut-Hutch, White Crowned-Sparrow, Pacific Wren, Chicadee's (of multiple types), and a Varried Thrush. One of the coolest parts of the bird walk was learning that there are many different calls that go on and that if you can learn the calls you will have a good knowledge of the birds.
          After the Bird walk we ate breakfast and headed out to Salt Creek. For me growing up in the area and having been to Crescent Lake and Salt Creek multiple times as a kid, as well as going to Salt Creek in HS for cross country races I felt at home in the area and on the tide flats and exposed rock. The cool thing is there is still so much that I learned about the area after being there for the field trip. One of the first things is that there is a large amount of erratics in the area, the granite stands apart from the surroundings, but outside of the rock there is examples of all kinds of species diversity. From the Bob Paine lecture we learned that the interaction of the coast and the sea is one of the most diverse places. From the photos you can see some of the things Bob explained in his lecture. There was a lot of species competition for space that was apparent. In spots of the Mussel beds you could see where waves had carved out bare rock patches that were being inhabited by other organisms. Where the Mussels did grow they would only occupy up to a certain spot probably marked by the intertidal limit after that there would be a succession of other species that took over the rock. Within the tidal pools we could see a wide range of diversity, there we all kinds of sea stars, anemones and fungi. The variety was endless and the sheer number of different organisms was mind blowing. At the end of the post I have a list of species compiled that we saw during the day at the tide pools, the list probably doesn't even cover half the number of species that were actually present. One of the things that Bob explained was a trophic cascade. This is a cascade that affects multiple species that depend or are linked to one another. An example of this would be More killer whales would result in less otters, otters eat sea urchins so less otters would allow for more urchins, and urchins eat kelp so more urchins would result in less kelp. This example of how species interact is very important especially in ecosystems as diverse as the costal zone.

Below is compiled a species list as well as a few pictures of different species that we saw.


SPECIES:

Isopods
Sea Lion
Flounder
Eel
Sea Star (Blood, Okar, Sun, Striped)
Dunlin
Racoon
Rockfish
Marbled Murlet
Oyster Catcher
Harlequin Ducks
River Otter
Rose Anemone
Chitins
Sandpiper, Surfbirds
Loon
Scooter

Sea Urchin                                                                  Larch

Pacific Yew                                                 Chocolate Lily

Week Two

Tuesday April 15, 2014

4:56 pm
Partly Sunny, Warm Muggy
59 degrees
Ravenna Park Erratic

          After having class this morning in the park I learned a lot. One of the first things we covered was lichen on red alder trunks and how they do not like to grow in the city, we learned they are highly sensitive to pollution and thus do not survive well near the city. I still find it awkward to be in the middle of the park conducting observations, not because of the act itself which i actually enjoy but more because of the looks and smirks i receive by the passerby's. I returned to Ravenna this afternoon to record some more observations, and found some interesting changes.
          Though the creek is still running relatively full and hasn't changed much in its flow volume since last week there is a lot more green to be noticed. The Big Leaf Maples which was one of the species we learned about today has bloomed and their leaves are a nearly neon green, that stands out and is a distant cry from their fall browns oranges and yellows. The leaves are small and yet to mature but their difference seems to add a thickness to the canopy that was not present last time. I assume this will only grow more apparent as spring continues.
         Looking into the river itself I find very fine sands, clays and silts that have dropped out of suspension. They sit atop larger almost black rock that would have been moved there during a high flow event. There are many particles of bark and leaf floating down stream and where the stream narrows the sand and silt are flushed away leaving only the dark rock bed. Judging by the bottom of the creek bed I can tell where the water moves quickly or slowly and where the pools form behind larger rocks there is a clam that is serene. A few water bugs or water striders as the field guide refers to them.
          In addition to the Big Leaf Maples there is a lot of Skunk Cabbage and Lady Ferns (a species that we learned about today, before which I only knew of deer ferns and sword ferns). And there is a lot of Birds. We saw a Black Capped Chickadee today which was cool that is the first time I have identified a Bird that I did not already know.

For the sketches portion of this week I focused on the Western Red Cedar:

Week One

Sunday: April 6, 2014
6:19 pm
Overcast, 59 degrees
Ravenna Park Boulder

            Today is my first entry for the blog that will be recording my observations of the surrounding in Ravenna Park Seattle. I will use the Erratic boulder that is in the park and is surrounded by a wood bridge and a trail that deviates from the main trail through the heart of the park. The stream running through the park is about half full at this time as you can see from the bank lines where it flows when it is all the way full and you can smell the blooming flowers of spring and hear the birds calling. I hear at least 4 distinct birds and their calls not including the crow and the woodpecker that are nearby making a ruckus. This being my first entry I do not know exactly what to look or listen for but i will just do my best to observe.
           There are a good number of mosquitoes and gnats around since i am near the stream as well as lots of people walking/running through the park. Some little kids came by and were jumping off the rock and that combined with the sounds and the smells around me reminded me of when i was a young kid and i would go on adventures in the woods. I used to be an avid mountain biker and hiker as well as spending time in the woods walking my dogs, so being in Ravenna is nice but it still feels very exposed to the city. Hearing so many people and airplanes and even the distant car even in the middle of the park it makes it quite apparent that you are near the city and by a residential area.
          On the rock face there is moss and some fungi growing, it is all damp with moisture and looks to be healthy. The ground around the base of the rock is saturated with water form the recent rains of the last few weeks. There is some english ivy and native blackberry and some sword ferns also present at the base of the rock, in addition to many dead leaves left from the winter and fall. A child's flip flop is dropped about 20 feet away its bright pink and blue suggesting that a young girl would have worn it, the rock that i am sitting on is cool and damp from the air around and the whiteness of the paper in my journal stands out and looks as sterile and unnatural as the flip flop and is blindingly night in comparison to my surroundings.
          The ripple of the creek is a slow and steady gurgle and is refreshing and a nice sound that almost counteracts the noise of the construction in the distance. Overall I feel awkward and out of place as if sitting in nature is an act far out of the ordinary for the passerby's that give me interesting glares. I feel dwarfed by the massive evergreen trees and the old maples, many of which are already on the verge of blooming as is made apparent by their large nearly neon green buds with pink highlights. Their is a tree to my left with white and pinkish leaves and i have never seen one of these before so I look forward to trying to figure out what kind it is. Also and lastly there is a significant amount of woody debris near the base of the rock that sit in the sandy bottom of the creek, the look natural but the large lump of concrete next to them is obviously not.