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
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