Finding my special natural spot- Ravena Park April 9th 430-6 pm 41 degrees

I went to a few of the different parks in Seattle over the weekend. Ravena Park was the last one that I visited, and I just loved it. It is placed in this ravine, next to a park, and under a bridge. I have walked and driven past this area many times and never knew how much life was so close by. I live in the U-District so this will be a great opportunity for me to walk to my natural location. I spent about two hours  here looking for a spot that would have a lot of different species in close range. I eventually found one, it is across the small stream, and was near another small stream. I thought this was the perfect locations because there seemed to be a lot of different kinds of vegetation near the outlet of water. Also in my spot there are fallen trees, as well as standing trees, this will give me the chance to see the different species that are growing on each. Below I have a picture of the small stream running through my area, as well as a close up picture of the tree which has fallen over the stream.

I identified Skunk Cabbage within my spot. Yellow Skunk Cabbage, Lysichiton Americanus is a native plant to this region and the to the Northwest. It is found in streams and swamps which is where I found it, in a very muddy area. It has a "skunky" odor that attracts pollinators. I found it very interesting that after bears come out of hibernating they use this plant as a laxative! Picture can be found below:

I was surrounded by many plants I was unaware of the names, I have started drawing some of the plants and will upload those later this week. There was a lot of vegetation growing from the stream,ground as well as the fallen trees. It is a very moist damp area so it was interesting to see how densely covered my 50 m. Area is. I am thinking of covering one section at a time and photographing as well as drawing and later identifying the plants. I heard a few different birds but did not see any. I want to find a time of day where the least amount of people will be using the park so I can have more awareness of sounds and hopefully be less distracted by the people as well as my densely covered spot. I also noticed a lot of vines coving some of the fallen trees, it looked as if they were feeding off the fallen trees nutrients and almost suffocating them. I want to turn more about that, as well as identify more plants after my guide book comes in the mail! I plan to go back to my site this Friday!