Goodbye My Nature Spot!

Its always important to use your favorite nature spot for a photoshoot as well:)

Today was my last day visiting my spot, and it made me sad, but I felt like I had accomplished something. I really made an effort every week to visit my spot as well as Ravena Park. I sat near my favorite spot because my spot has become so wet that it is just filled with mud. I feel some regret picking a location that so many people travel to close. I think that has taken away my ability to see birds especially. Today when I was being one with nature I saw a Pacific Wren, and I watched it for multiple minutes, it soared through the air and dodged branches while swooping at a fast pace around trees and branches. It was as if it was dancing to a very fast melody and following the movements through the forest. It was hard to keep up with, it was as if my new friend was trying to escape a unseen predator. Its backside from a different also appeared to look like a stick coming from a branch, it was vertical and stiff.


Organism
Leaves are levered up high
dangling in the motion of the winds choices
flying like kites in the sky
while the beetle
crawls as if its climbing over mountains
at a speed as if its being followed
it attempts to blend in
as it scurries
it becomes a blur into the camouflage of leafs itself
nature you can and will never be replaced


Where are we going
will we ever know
but where can we always return
who will always be our rock to stand on
who can always find a way to protect us from the strong wind
what will protect us from the rain,
what will bring happiness to us on bad days
nature,
nature will,
this world is a beautiful place.
we should give what mother earth gives us.
Life.

This green prickly organism seems to be slowly making its way around this entire branch and is slowly progressing up this large wood father of the forest. It seems as if it is feeding of the organism it is living on. It seems uneasy in which way it wants to grow and where it wants to go, why does it make such shape and form of confusing. what is it attacking and withholding from its partner in nature.

Part 2: Final reflection (to be finished at your site, or at home):

1) How has your perception of your observation site changed through the quarter? I have live in Washington my entire life. I grew up going on hikes and being outside and have always enjoyed the outdoor. I never really wondered what the names of plants, birds or fungi were. Of course I had a environmentalists as a father and he always named off all the plants and birds to me wherever we went. So I grew up aware of what was around me but in a sense that I had seen it before not that I knew anything else about it. I have learned a lot about what plants, birds, and fungus I am surrounded by. I think that this knowledge has really increased my awareness. Especially on campus I find myself looking and listening for birds. I never would have done that before, I would have heard them but I never would have gone looking for them! So it has really changed my appreciation of how different and diverse species can be and are in this region. 

2) How has your sense of the Puget Sound Region changed through the quarter? To be honest being from Spokane I did not know this area very well. I was even unsure of the exact dynamic shape of the Puget Sound. I had been to the Olympics and gone hiking but I had no idea how diverse and different this area was, and how many different niches there were. For example the rain forest in the Olympic Mountains, I knew it rained a lot over there but I had no idea it was enough to be a considered a rainforest. I also had no idea how little rain Seattle received for being called the rainy city. I also found it very interesting to learn about the effects of the glaciation, and how it created this area. I had never even considered the possibility that a glacier created the drumlins that really form Seatle. 

3) What does it mean to intimately know a natural place? (Think about this question in terms of the process and the outcome. Also think about it in terms of scale—you have done close observation of one site, as well as developed broader appreciation on field trips around the Puget Sound). I think it creates a broad sense of curiosity to learn more about the region and area one lives in. It has made me more curious about this area as well as  when I travel what those regions have to offer.  Learning about a natural space on a intimate level has given me a change to experience the change of seasons and how to listen and watch closely. I have become much more aware of my surroundings and have started appreciating nature in a way I never thought I would. I think having a basis of knowledge on different areas of Natural History has created this appreciation. I was able to learn about multiple different aspects of nature and it has enhanced my awareness. 

E. Wahington

 I really enjoyed going to Eastern Washington. I liked experiencing a completely new environment, I was surprised with out different it was. it was much drier, and the species were very different than they are West of the Cascades. The Rain Shadow effect on this area is very apparent.

Velvet Lupin- Genus: flowering plants in the legume family.
It is a herbaceous perennial that grown believe 1-5 feet tall! The leaf blades are palmately divided into 5-28 leaflets or reduced to a single leaflet in some cases. The yellow legume seeds of lupins were commonly called lupin beans and were popular with the Romans. Lupin contains alkaloids that are teratogenic to livestock and cause congenital birth defects in calves. This has killed thousands of calves in Eastern Washington and Norther Oregon.

Antelope bush- is a nitrogen fixing shrub in the genus Purshia. It is a low deciduous shrub growing to a height of 1-5 meters. They have flowers that are pale yellow with five petals.

Bitterroot or Lewisia rediviva is an extremely drought-tolerant succulent which grows throughout the sage-steppe and surrounding pine-dotted areas. The plant is a perennial with fleshy taproot and a simple base, the flowering stems are leafless and 1-3 cm tall. A simple flower appears on each steam with 6-9 oval shaped sepals they range in color from whitish to deep pink or rose during May and June. The petals are oblong in shape as you can see above. It is a very beautiful flower growing in gravelly heavy soil. the roots were consumed by tribes and were eaten with sugar or salt. 

I believe this is some kind of buttercup, I just like the picture!

Time Desert Buckwheat- Slow growing perennials that can live over 100 years, you can estimate the age of individual plants based on the rings on their woody stems. 

 Wild/ hookers Onion-I pulled this plant out of the ground and it smelled exactly like a onion. It smelled for multiple hours and I was tempted to try it! There was no bulb under the ground it was just white and onion smelling. It is a perennial herb that can grow up to a foot tall, with rose colored flowers. They have 6 stamens, 3 chambered ovary. They are usually found in open rocky dry areas, which is exactly where I found it. 

 Woodland Star-lithophragma is the genus of this flowering plant. the petals of the flowers are usually bright white and have long lobes or teeth. 

horned lizard- from the family Phrynosomatidae, this lizard has a rounded body and a blunt snout. The spines on its back and sides are made from modified scales whereas the horns on the head are true horns. 

Monday, May 20th 8-9pm 54 degrees

Varnished Conk - they have a tough woody shelf like growth, and I was so surprised by the entire black color that surround this fungi. I have seen a lot of bracket fungi and never anything like this. The upper side shows concentric striations that represent successive years of growth. They can grow for as long as 50-80 years. The lower species is composed of numerous different minute pores, and when you see a large and thick conk you can usually assume they are an Artists Conks of the Ganoderma applanatum group which can reach to be up to 3 feet across and eight inches thick!!!

In the phylum Basidiomycota- very hard to identify the exact species, still struggling. 

Turkey Tail- Trametes versicolor- is a common polypore mushroom found throughout the world. I hiked up the biggest hill I could in Ravena and I found this large log on the ground with these small Turkey Tails. Turkey Tail is a common bracket fungus. It is a spoon or cup shape and is up to four inches wide. The colors can range from brown, white, tan, orange and red. They often overlap each other. They usually "bloom" from may to December. They can last several years. 

I am unsure what kind of plan this is, I think it may be a HUGE Skunk Cabbage that lost its yellow petals. 

Coltsfoot- Tussllago Farara is in the family of Astereceae and can be used as an effective use for cough medicine (anti-tussive). I had not noticed this plant yet, until it had grown so large. Eventually there will be flowers blooming but I still see no signs of any flowers, the leaves are very large. In the spring it is a dandelion flower that often covers yards and roadsides.  The leaves are heart shaped and come up sharply and seem to come up in groups. 

Last  week the salmon berries had flowered and now they are starting to create little salmon colored berries!!! I was so temped to eat one, but I didn't. 

antler lichen/ Fruticose Lichens are characterized by their erect stalks which have no distinguishable upper and lower surfaces. I found this on a highly branched twig, it is a pale gray lichen and I found it on a Hemlock so I that is how I came to the conclusion that it was a common Antler Lichen, they often grow on Hemlocks. 

Black Morel- is a genus of edible mushrooms and is closely related to the cup fungi. They have a very distinct shape that is similar to honeycomb.  It was not taller than 2 cm, they have spore disposal and through ingestion. They are cluster in the M. Elata group. The stem is fairly dark as well as the body of the cap. These mushrooms can be difficult to find but when they are found are defiantly worth eating!! I found three of the, and sautéed them with a soy garlic sauce, with rice and tofu and it was magical!!!

birds

MonDAY MAY 13,2013   very windy and 54 degrees

Yellow warbler- Passeriformes Parulidae- I was walking down to lower Ravena when I saw this bird, saw it on a tree and it quickly flew away but this is my best guess of what it was. It was near the top of a tall shrub, and first it quickly hoped along a branch and darted off.

I watched a Anna's Hummingbird for a while at Ravena, it was mostly perched on top of this tree and just sat there, it seemed very aware of everything that was going on. It was perched on a smaller maple tree. it had a straight bill and long slopping forehead. I know it was a male because it had a bright iridecent red color. When it finally took of it flew so fast it was hard to follow, it didnt fly in a straight line it flew in a wavy loopy way. It didnt seem very social, all the times I have seen them they have been alone perched on a branch.

This is a really far away picture of a crow- I had a really hard time identifying birds today because these two crows were attacking and making all of these loud noises and I think it scared a lot of the other birds off. I am not sure exactly what they were doing, but it a bird sound sense they were screaming. They seemed angry at each other and I spent most of my time watching them. The sun was going down and most of the noise that I could hear near my sight was these two crows. Crows and Ravens are apart of the same Corvid family and are considered some of the most adaptable and intelligent birds, they have black coloring and are highly social behavior. They have nests that are usually up high in trees and I was not able to identify any nests, but they seemed to be communicating between each other. I thought it was very hard to identify any birds because most of the birds were not near by and although I had a monocular I still had a very hard time following any of the birds. It was very frustrating- it was also hard because so many people were walking along the trail and I believe that was disturbing many of the birds that I could have seen. They seemed to be very high up in the trees so it was very hard to see them. 

Raspberries - These just recently bloomed and this is the first time I have seen them. The horse tails have also grown to almost my waist 

I also found these Snowberries which I had not noticed until this week, there were not very many of them, and they were in a small area. They still do not have the small white flowers there are suppose to have. This is an important winter food source for many different birds. 

English Ivy- European colonists introduced English Ivy as early as 1720's. It was widely planted for its evergreen foliage and dependability as a year round ground cover. This plant has infested many landscapes, parks and ecosystems. It is an aggressive invader and threatens all vegetations levels of the forests, all the way to the top of the forest canopy!

BUGS

Sunday May 5, 2013 High 70s 11-130

Stink Beatle- pinacate bettle, it is a species of the darkling beetle. This bettle is noted for its defensive tactic of standing on its head and spraying noxious spray. I found this bug under a log, and it was very quick and hard to catch, it would run, hid under some leaves and then play dead, it look me a while to catch him. It was a shiny black color and had some light lines on its back that were a slightly lighter color. 

Armadillidiiae vulgare- is in the insect family it is part of the Woodlice family, they can roll their bodies into a ball shape and this process is known as conglobation. I found this under a log, and it was very easy to catch, it rolled into a ball first and I then caught it. It looked like it had a sturdy outside shell, so I was amazed with its ability to roll into a ball so quickly. 

This is hard to see, but its a picture of a massive spider, I haven't been able to identify it because it was really hard to even take a picture of and its not very visible. It was huge!!

Forget-me-not- Myosotis - with close to 50 species in the genus there is a lot of variation, most are small and this one has blue and yellow. they can tolerate partial sun and shade. I had not been to my site in two weeks so this was the first time I had seen these flowers. They must have just recently bloomed!

I have noticed, the horse tails have grown much larger close to 25-45% larger than they originally were two and a half weeks ago. The sword ferns seem to be not a as vibrant green, some seem to be dying while others are slightly brown in places. The salmon berry is also done blooming, so that is also a new observation this week. Overall my site was very very green, and seems to be growing like crazy. The hill side was covered in this beautiful purple flower which I am unsure what kind of flower it is, possibly not native, I will post a picture below.

Salmon berry

Skunk Cabbage is done blooming, I am not sure if that is the correct terminology- it no longer has it yellow leaves.

And a slug on a stick! 

Weekend away!

I really enjoyed my time away in the forest and on the coast. In the old growth forest there was vertical diversification. This means the branches were growing down the tree. One way to identify an old growth forest in with the acronym B.U.N.S. -big trees, smaller understory, nurse logs, and shags.

Predation- Is a biological interaction that takes place between one species that is decomposing and another plant uses the previous' plants resources to grow. This is a non symbolic relationship. An example of this is a wasp looking for a Douglas Fir caterpillar. Another example is the mushroom growing on dead wood. I believe the picture below is some kind of Mushroom:

Facilitation-the tree provides the moss with water and the mychorhizal fungus tree provides glucose. Nursing tree- is a place where lichens can grow as well as moss and other algae and fungus.

Pollination in another example of predation- as well as when aunts pollinate.

Disturbance- Douglas tree that fell and cleared an area, this now becomes an opening in the forest. This opening leads to pioneer species. The burnt out tree that we saw was another example of a disturbance from a fire.

competition- everything is competing for light and water!

An example of this is a Douglas fir that grows very quickly but cant grow in shade. While an example of a pioneering species is the Douglas fir, while a successional species is Hemlock which reproduces in a mature forest, and will eventually take over if there is enough time.

The picture below is a trillium: Trilliums have 3 white petals and grows in cool moist mixed woods. They flower in early spring and perennial.

The seeds of trilliums are spread by aunts! 

Sea Anemone that is part of the water-dwelling predatory animals of the order of Actiniaria. One interesting fact I learned in class is the ability for Anemones to identify strange anemones if they are set within there specific communities. The Anemones then proceed to sting the foreigner to death. Although they have no nervous system they still can identify intruders!! I find that fascinating! 

Sea anemones are a group of water-dwelling, predatory animals of the order Actiniaria.

This is a Blood Sea Star Fish in the Echinoderms Family. They have closely set equal blue spins and are found at low tide zone to the water. It can absorb nutrients through its skin. 

Purple Sea Urchin- Family: Echinoderms. They are usually around 4" wide and 1" high. They are a oval shape with spines, and a vivid purple color. I found these Urchins in the low tide zone, they were seemed to often be living in rounded depressions in the rocks- they actually slowly erode these rocks with their teeth and spines! The picture below is what is left behind from a sea urchin who died. 

Chiton: Are apart of the Polyplacophores family and have a dorsal shell that is composed of eight seperate shell plates. The  plates overlap and with these plates they have good protection especially from direct impacts from above. Chiton can also slowly curl up into a ball when it is dislodged from a surface. 

April 22, 4-5:15 Sunny as can be! 57 degrees

I finished this before class but it didn't publish, I am not sure why!

My natural spot seems to be more damp and muddier than it was last week. It was hard to find a place where I could really even sit and draw. I decided it would be easier to take some specimens with me and also take pictures as you will see below. Some of the flowering plants like the Red Flowering currant are still present and flower, but there are new plants flowering like the Bleeding heart you will see below. I also noticed there were more insects, the weather has be warming up so the bugs seemed more present this trip to Ravena. It is very green and lush of course and seems to be much wetter. 

Pacific Bleeding Heart- Dicentra Formosa part of the poppy family. These beautiful flowers just bloomed. Last week I saw this but was not sure what it was because it was yet to bloom. It so beautiful! I found it a hillside and there was very few of them. They grow in damp shaded ares and can grow in gravely soil which is exactly what Ravena Park is like. The leaves were finely divided kind of a like a ferns, the flowers grew in clusters as you can see above, at the base of the stem there were four petals, often times it blooms in the spring is dormant in the summer and blooms again in the fall!

Long Leafed Oregon Grape - Berberis aquifolium this plant is suppose to have yellow flowers but I have not see any change in this plant. it has evergreen thick leathery quite shiny compound leaves. they are a pointed oval shape and have one very prominent vein with holly like spins. I find this plant more often on the a incline or at the bottom of the incline than in the really damp area near a small creek. So I am assuming it needs a slightly drier area to grow in. 

Bracken Fern-  This fern is one of the most successful it can be found on six continents and is one of the oldest ferns, there are fossils dating back to 55 million years. I see this fern through out my site- which is very moist and wet, in the picture above it was practically growing in the water. My site is very brushy and shady, they seem to thrive here very well. 

Bracken Fern is part of the Pteridium genus it is a vascular plant meaning it grows in alternating generation. It has fronds that are very spread out and small pinnae. The fronds are shaped like triangles and each frond has a few leaflets. I pulled one to find a very long root system, this is called rhizomes and I found out they can grow up to SIX feet long! 

Red Alder- Alnus Rubra- I have a very hard time identifying all the different leaves found at my sight. One way to identify a Red Alder: the undersides of the leaves have very finely hairs and are oval with small teeth upon larger teeth. The edges of the leaf are wavy and the bark is very smooth with small white patches which I believe is some kind of lichen! Alders are a pioneering species in areas where the ground soil has a lot of gravel in it, which was left over from the receding glacier. They improve the soil and the fertility of the areas they grow in! Alders are good, Alders are great!

Salmon Berry- Rubus Spectabilis - Rose family. 

This plant will eventually have red/pink flowers, but right now I still see no sign of any flowers. The leaves alternate and are a very pointy oval shape, finely toothed and slightly loved. They do no have prickles like other plants in the rose family. We always associate plants in the rose family to have prickles but not this one! Salmonberry grows well in soggy spots and that is exactly where I find it. It looks just like it did last week! 

This snowberry-Symphoricarpos can be very hard to identify because the leaves can change shapes and sizes. But around my site they all seem to look relatively similar. this is a erect deciduous shrub and are around 3 feet at the most in my spot. they have round oval small leaves, and are thin and light green with a little tint of brown or yellow. The leaves are wavy toothed but these are very small toothed, I still see no sign of possible flowers and have watched this plant the last few weeks and it continues to look the same. 

Indian Plum- Oemleria Cerasiformis is a shrub the genus is Oemleria. It is native to this region. The past few weeks there has still be no sign of any flowers, and the leaved are around 1-3 inches long. they have leathery simple leaves. The flowers will bloom and I expect them to be a white-ish color and bell shaped. The bark is smooth and slightly reddish. 

Bitter Cherry is a species of the Prunus genus- Prunus Emarginata. It is a deciduous shrub/tree that has a slender oval trunk and gray/brown bark. The leaves are long thin and oval shaped with a yellowish green coloring. The leaves also have unevenly sized theeth on either side, the flowers are small and white with five metals. The flowers have hairlike stamens and are in clusters which you can see below in my pictures.