My location in Discovery park was off a road that goes through the park to the right. I walked through the fields for probably five minutes until I reached my destination just off of the path. The predominant vegetation was stinging nettles, as well as sword ferns and this plant I believe was cleavers, that sort of scrambled over the other plants. The stalk was finely hairy, with leaves stemming out in a circular fashion from the same location. The underside of the thin leaves were very sticky, while the rest of the plant was not. The trees were mainly just red alder and big leaf maple, with the small alder cones scattering the ground everywhere. The ground was very soft an covered in what appeared to be oregon beaked moss. The soft ground must have made a good environment for rodents, or some species that digs holes, because there were multiple dirt piles right next to holes that were dug. There as no sign of what animal could have made them.
Another prevalent plant species on the forest floor was what appeared to be part of the carrot family. It stood about eight inches tall, with the base of the plant having four stalks that branched out, starting at a light purple color and then blending to a green. The stalks were very densely hairy, while the leaves were not. (actual size drawing of the leaf pictured in physical journal).
I spotted a type of white rot fungus on a fallen branch of an alder, covering the entire underside, and when I touched it the wood was very crumbly due to the digestion of the lignin which holds the wood's form.
On almost all of the stinging nettles I observed there was spittle from spittlebugs, but I did not see spittle on any of the other vegetation.
I then wandered uphill, and found a tall shrub standing about fifteen feet high that had a base with about seven trunks that dispersed up and out. The branches had cones almost identical to alder cones, as well as the catkins that are very common. However, the leaves were not identical to the leaves of the Sitka Alder, so I am unsure what exactly it was, perhaps some other type of alder not shown in the book. I also came across some interesting fungi (pictured in iNaturalist linked photos). One of them was very large and located at the base of an alder and had rust colored spores that turned the plants underneath the fungi that rust color, meaning that it must be relatively old as well as producing lots of spores. Right next to the tree with the large fungi was a small dead tree that had lots of holes in it, most likely from woodpeckers, which I heard but did not see. There also appeared to be remnants of a nest in one of those holes with lots of twigs and grass poking out. It appeared to be abandoned, and there were other smaller holes that resembled woodpeckers.
The weather was overcast, not too warm, but the sun broke through the clouds occasionally. My area was very shaded by the large trees, and there were very few things flowering. Perhaps no wildflowers were there due to the lack of substantial sun and the predominance of other, mostly larger plants that may have preferred a more wet environment. The forest was very deciduous, or at least my section was, and there were a decent amount of dead maple and alder leaves decomposing on the ground, perhaps helping to make the forest floor so soft.
i also observed this strange dirt pile on the side of a hill that almost looked crystallized in a sort of basalt rock fashion, and I have no idea what could cause that (see iNaturalist links to photos for picture).
Species List:
red alder
bigleaf maple
sword ferns
oregon beaked moss
himalayan blackberry
cleavers
spittlebug
stinging nettles
horse tails
unknown fungi
siberian miners lettuce
youth on age
We went to Ravenna Park for a second voyage. However, this time we went down the paths to where they followed the creak running through the park. Descending into the little valley that the creak runs through was a more wet, coniferous environment that favored wet plants. When we left our house for the walk it began to sprinkle. One of the more predominant plants there, aside from ferns, was devil's club. Many of the plants we saw I'm assuming are very water dependent, due to their close proximity to the water. Especially plants that we saw in the muddy areas right on the stream, like lots of skunk cabbage and false lily of the valley.
The other place I had also seen false lily of the valley was in a relatively wet area right next to a little pond and a lagoon. Youth on age was also seen right next to the stream, perhaps for the same reason as the others. Salmonberry was abundant on the side of the path b the water, and it was fruiting, with most of the berries not ripe, but some were close, having a light orange color with berry shape resembling raspberries.
We also saw the fungi Artist's Bracket, preferring the more damp environment of being attached to a Horse-Chestnut (very prevalent) in a damp forest area, allowing it to thrive in the moist environment. One thing I noticed is that although it is spring and flowers are blooming everywhere, in this shady and wet environment I did not see very many flowers, especially not bright flowers.
Also, the yellow stamen-like structures at the center of the skunk cabbages seemed to be commonly knocked over or absent for some apparent reason.
Species List:
douglas fir
Horse-Chestnut
Artist's Bracket
devil's club
red cedar
hemlock
false lily of the valley
european holly
youth on age
sword fern
western lady fern
false solomon's seal
skunk cabbage
salmonberry
rose campion
himalayan blackberry
We took the waterside path down to the Arboretum, so all of the plants that we observed were right off of the water. We observed a lot of water lilies, and a good amount of flowering plants. We saw multiple Laburnum watereri (don't know the common name) flowering with many yellow pea-like flowers hanging down We also saw this strange plant, later to be identified as Viburnum rhytidophyllum through iNaturalist, that had these massive leaves with distinctive grooves that were actually chalky to the touch. We also saw some wild flowers that were in full bloom. There was this one tree/shrub that I could not find in the identification book, which was blooming. its flowers were whitish and pinkish, with leaves pictured in a drawing in my physical journal. The flowers had five petals (see iNaturalist links for pictures).
We carried on, and on the path there was lots of cotton from the cottonwood trees, which means that the tree is dispersing its seeds via the cotton so that they are able to spread their seed over long distances to reproduce due to the ability of the cotton to float in the wind and on the water, most likely giving it a competitive ede in reproduction. We also saw a couple different types of willows along the trial, but I could not identify them (drawings showing leaves and flowering structures in physical journal).
While we crossed the bridge to the marshy area we observed what appeared tobe shovelers from far away, because they were feeding only by dipping their beaks in the water to filter out their food. We saw a lot of these flat leaved plants coming out of the water by the trail with some pea-like larged yellow flowers on the top of those stalks that came out. The leaves were very stiff and relatively thick, with the edges being sharp.
Species List:
laburnum watereri
dawn redwood
red osier dogwood
forget me not
creeping buttercup
hardhack
willows
black cottonwood
viburnum rhytidophyllum
northern shoveler
common raven
eastern gray squirrel
american white waterlily
cat tail
reeds
The weather was sunny and a little bit windy off of the Puget Sound. Deception pass served to have multiple different environments. We first headed down a steep path into a more wooded environment with paths going through out into open bluff areas right off of the water with prairie-like grass and wind blown trees. Also, once we got behind a peninsula we got into this little cove where we saw a Great Blue Heron standing where the water was out due to tides, leaving a muddy area where we saw people out clamming, and just on the other side of this was a beach habitat. There were a lot of wildflowers and flowering plants out, especially on the rocky bluffs area by the water. However, in the more wet environment in the forest we found some as well, like the western starflower was somewhat common, and we saw a lot of Indian paintbrush lining the path. There were also larger flowering shrubs in the forest, like ocean spray. A lot of wildflowers, however, seem to prefer the more rocky outcrops, although they usually seem to stay smaller, probably due to limited soil and strong winds. There were a lot of pea pants flowering all over, like purple peavine, lupines, common vetch, etc. i did see one type of plant that was extremely bright colored and was on a rocky outcrop on a bluff right by the water. It was bright yellow on the top beginning to flower, and then transitioned into amore pink color further down the base, with buds coming off that haven't opened. My guess was stonecrop, and that the whole plant must turn yellow when its all flowering, because of the way the color transitioned down to the stalk. It grew in bunches concentrated with small, velvety plants that stood only an inch or so off the ground. They seemed to be both occupying the same area in the two patches we saw.
There were a lot of madrones on the hill that went up from the bridge down to the water areas, as well as some wind blown pines and douglas firs on the bluff areas. There were multiple downed trees near the paths.
Species List:
common vetch
baldhip rose
snowberry
western starflower
coast fawn lily (?)
daisy
common yarrow
colorado stonecrop
douglas fir
shore pine
madrone
indian paintbrush
ocean spray
purple peavine
great blue heron
lupine
larkspurs
unknown caterpillar
cerastium
barnacles
bull kelp
salaal
ferns
I went to the Union Bay Natural Area both Thursday and Friday. Both were beautiful days out, so there was lots of bird activity. One of the primary shrubs there was snowberry and baldhip rose in there as well, but in the wet Union Bay Area habitat there were many willows, soe growing out of the shallows of ponds in the Natural Area, but it was difficult to identify many of them due to their similarities. The grass was starting to get tall, and was probably between knee and waist height. The previous weekend I had seen lupines almost fully bloomed, but in an area right by a pond we found a lupine that had not begun to bloom at all, and its flowering structure was entirely green, sort of resembling shape and form of the top of a cat tail, with none of the buds beginning to open up yet. However, this was a different type of lupine that I had seen previously, as its leaves were larger, and were in compounds with about ten leaflets rather than around seven like the other ones I had seen. We walked up to the edge of Lake Washington to see a male and a female mallard floating in the reeds right by the shore. We were able to get very close, and the female was feeding on the surface, or "dabbling" for about five minutes while we watched, dipping her head and upper body under water and paddling with her feet to stay below the surface. The male was just observing and floating. In the same area the net day, a Great Blue Heron landed on a small island right next to us, probably fifteen to twenty feet away. It stood very still, most likely waiting for prey to come by, before I startled it while taking a picture and it squawked an flew away. We also saw other birds out as well, like a bunch of barn swallows flying around by one of the ponds, and I could hear chickadees out by their "chicka dee-dee-dee" call. We also saw a red-winged blackbird perched on the top of a cat tail by Lake Washington. Aso, in the little bay area to the right of the boat house I observed what appeared to be a cormorant. Initially it sort of resembled a heron from far away because I saw the long neck, but it became clear that it wasn't once I looked in the binoculars . It had short legs, was all black,and had a hooked beak that was orange a little on the sides with sort of green eyes. I also saw a couple robins out as well as many other small birds flying around I could not identify.
Species List:
baldhip rose
snowberry
american robin
great blue heron
barn swallow
mallards
cormorant
cascara
red winged blackbird
willows
lupine
paper birch
scotch broom
cat tails
canada geese
horse tails
chickadees
douglas's hawthorne
himalayan blackberry
hybrid bluebell
American Camp is a National Historic Park dedicated to the Pig War. The park itself is very prairie like, with lots of tall, dry grasses from the dessication due to the wind, as well as lots of rock patches, as there are bluffs on the egde, since its right off of the Puget Sound. As was the case with Mt. Finlayson, there were minimal trees, but there were even less here because there was not a valley that ropped down to shield the trees and vegetation from the wind. The trees that interspersed were very wind blown and the branches were relatively sparse. Rather than trees, there were many head tall or slightly taller shrubs. The most common was the snowberry and rose bushes lining the path that took us down to the water. There were also man cat tails and lupines lining the path with the shelter of the thicker and taller snowberry bushes. Unlike Mt. Finlayson, there weren't nearly as many wildflowers, even though it was a very similar environment with the same type of exposure, although it was much closer to sea level, which perhaps made the difference, as many wildflowers grow in the more medium to higher elevations.
Species List:
Snowberry
Seashore lupine
baldhip rose
field horsetail bull kelp
doulas fir
willows
Mt. Finlayson is a short hike on the San Juan Islands that goes up a bluff on one side, and dips down in a very small sort of valley on the other side. Because half the hike is on a bluff on the coast there was a stark contrast between the two environments. Due to the fact that the San Juans only get around twenty inches of rain a year and the wind that comes off of the water. The trail that goes up by the coast is extremely dessicated, dominated mostly by long, prairie-like grass and windblown douglas firs that bent in the direction of the wind and were very patchy. There were a lot of wildflowers as well, such as lupine (small-flowered lupine) orchids (fairy slipper, western coralroot), elephants head; however, they were all mostly very short due to the wind force and frequency. We saw a red fox on the other side of the trail limping with his back foot up and a very bushy tail with a little white clump on the tip. The douglas firs all had bright green tips on their branches. Very short, only one to two inches, but it shows their new growth in the spring I'm assuming. At the midway point of the loop when we were at the most exposed point of the bluff we saw two bald eagles. I could tell because of their wings and gliding, as they were not upward in a "V" shape like vulture, and I could spot a little white on their heads. Then, we went through the trees and down out of the wind and transitioned to a much more coniferous wet forest environment dominated by douglas firs (not windblown any more) and lots of sword ferns on the forest floor. There was also lots of foamflower in the wetter environment, and what appeared to be false lily of the valley. I also observed a tent caterpillar and its nest on a shrub, what appeared to be perhaps a rose. There was only one very small caterpillar on the nest, however, but when I've seen nests previously they had many more. Perhaps it was due to the difficulty with the winds off of the Sound.
Species List:
Red fox
eagle
fairy slipper
douglas fir
sword fern
false lily of the valley
tent caterpillar
foamflower
western coralroot
elephants head
daisies
buttercups
daffodils
small flowered lupine
checker lily
death camas
small camas
red elderberry
Tim and I went to Ravenna Park near the University District. It was wet, and there were about an equal distribution of coniferous and deciduous trees, spotting species like the pacific crab apple with its white flowers and many long branches, madrone, douglas fir, western red cedar, and hemlocks as well as what we identified as a shore pine, with very large and sharp needles with bunches of cones at the branch tips, with the cones being much harder and less flaky than douglas firs, with little pokey thorn like things located on each cone scale. The needles were probably about four inches long. We also saw a couple of western yews, with red, flaky bark and no branches coming from the lower part of the trunk. We observed a lot of ivy on the floor, as well as sword ferns, salaal, and oregon grape of both varieties. We also found a tree with pink flowers and multiple layers of pedals that appeared a couple times that we were not able to identify with the Northwest Plants book, perhaps because it was not a native species. The leaves were lightly serrated, and both sides folded up from the middle, clumping more densely around the flowers. We also found a shrub we were unable to identify with light green leaves that were opposite branching. Herb-Robert was also very prevalent on the ground, growing only about six inches off the ground with leaves in sets of five, light green and a hairy, reddish stalk. The leaves were very rounded. We also observed saskatoon with remnants of berries and dark green, oval shaped leaves with alternate branching. One thing that was very abundant that we were unable to identify was a flower with four purple pedals that grew about one to two feet off the ground, with the flowers occurring in a large clump near the top of the stalk. The leaves were serrated on the edges, being the dominant part of the plant until the very top. The flowers got almost a light blue color very close to the middle. Perhaps they are not native to the northwest, as I tried to find it in the Plant sof the Northwest book for a while and was unsuccessful. My guess is the were about twenty of the flowers at the top of the plant.
Species List:
herb-robert
mardone
douglas fir
shore pine
red cedar
pacific crab aple
salaal
saskatoon
snowberry
hemlock
western yew
oregon grape
On the morning after the Pack Forest, we drove over to the Nisqually Estuary to visit the Nisqually Wildlife Refuge. We learned some of the history of the area, such as its previous occupation as farm land until 40 or so years ago when it was converted into a refuge. We then took a walk on the board walk that parallels the Nisqually River, and observed many birds, such as robins, brown creepers, canadian geese, coots, ducks, sparrows, shovelers, and barn swallows. We also saw two great horned owls perching near each other. One about halfway up a snag near the trunk a hundred yards away or so, and the other in an alder right next to it. We only saw them through binoculars mainly, but not much later we saw a juvenile red-tailed hawk up close perched only about 15 or so feet away in an alder, which then flew 20 to 30 yards away to a cotton wood a little higher up. The dominant trees were alders, big leaf maples, and cottonwoods. The board walk took us by a stream that flowed into the estuary that ran somewhat parallel to the Nisqually River. The stream was surrounded by many salmonberry bushes and stinging nettles. We took the boardwalk to a more muddy and salt water environment that is recovering due to the recent demolition of the dike, with lots of saplings coming up. We caught a rare sighting of an American Bittern, and saw ducks diving for food and two shovelers swimming together in a circle. I'm not sure if it was a mating ritual or not, but one appeared to be male, since it was more brightly colored, resembling almost a mallard, but with a different bill. There were very few trees due to the former pasteur lands, but more were psrouting up, although the path was too far away to identify them. We also observed two great blue herons, and a seagull flying overhead, and large congregations of canadian geese just about everywhere.
Species List:
american bittern
shovelers
mallards
brown creepers
canada geese
american robin
red tailed hawk
himalayan blackberry
salmonberry
red alder
bigleaf maple
great horned owl
barn swallow
ferns
great blue herons
sparrows
Pack Forest
After arriving at the UW Experimental Pack Forest near the foot of Mt. Rainier, we split into smaller groups to take a short hike/ walk before lunch. We began in a wet, coniferous area dominated by douglas firs (as identified by the many douglas fir pine cones littering the floor and lots of branches on the ground from blow down that exhibited the classic pipe brush needle arrangement), hemlocks (identified by the softer needles that do not occur cylindrically around the branch), and cedars with their characteristic bark that is more dark and easily peeled and the dipping braches that curl back upwards near the end and the very closely arranged needles in a sort of scaly pattern. The forest floor had a lot of oregon grape, and ferns, with the majority of them being sword ferns, but also observed some of the smaller ferns like licorice and lady ferns. After a little while of walking we observed a transition to a more deciduous part of the forest, dominated b alders being identified by the tell tale catkins present on the tips of the branches, and lots of big leaf maples, as well as relatively infrequent madrones, as easily identified by their peeling red bark with the smooth coffee bark underneath and their crooked shape. In this part of the forest the floor had a large amount of salmonberry bushes, mostly not blooming yet but some pink flowers were noticeable. We did not see many animals, although throughout the walk we heard various birds calling, such as robins, winter rens, kinglets, towies, chickadees, and others I could not identify and was not made aware of. We encountered a stream, and found several types of fungi on downed logs and some mushrooms in the wetter areas by the stream. We headed back to the camp to leave for Longmire at about 3.
Longmire:
We then took the 40 minute or so drive up to Longmire in Mt. Rainier National Park, and took a short hour long hike through a short loop that took us through a coniferous forest. There was probably one to two feet of snow on the ground, so there was limited fauna visible and alive on the forest floor, but we saw a lot of ferns, and came across two cleared hotsprings areas with prairie-like grasses. The ground around these areas was rich with iron deposits all around the nearby areas. I am assuming it was hotsprings based on the sulphorous smell and colors, and the steam rising from the sater. The loop we took went around these two clearings. There were many pines, such as the pacific silver pine, with other conifers common such as yew and douglas firs.
Species List:
douglas fir
hemlock
red alder
red cedar
salaal
oregon grape
bigleaf maple
osoberry
ferns
pacific silver pine
yew
madrone
salmonberry
