I haven't seen much of this type around Washington, mostly maybe because I don't tend to notice the minor differences. This one was found in the Union Bay Natural Area, near other Mallards.
Growing on a log, they're commonly found all over the world. The name comes from the resemblance of the tail of a wild turkey and the variation of colors on the mushroom. This fungi is popular to moths and caterpillars. It is considered a medicinal mushroom in eastern medicine. These were small in size, found in an area that is a wetland part of the year. The area is occupied by pollinators, ducks, native and migratory birds, Great Blue Herons, and most commonly crows.
Found on a piece of land that was previous a toxic site. The inside of these flowers are waxy or glossy, kind of like the finish of butter. There are five overlapping petals. They produce seeds, they're invasive, and toxic to grazing animals. Mostly, animals taste them and move on due to their bad taste. Sometimes, a few grazing animals develop a taste for buttercups and consume them in lethal amounts. Buttercups are listed under the Weed of Concern list.
Soon to bloom, this plant was found on a flat area of land. The land was dominated with grass, weeds, and booming with pollinators. This plant is attractive to butterflies and wasps although I didn't see any butterflies out. Their flowers are white, and the roots may be edible when young. The crushed seeds were once thought to be a form of birth control.
There were a ton of these spittlebug marks on surrounding shrubs, probably forbs, in the Union Bay Natural Area. I took a small leaf and dug out a bit of the barrier to find a small yellow larvae like organism (of course I covered it up again). It was on a forb, soon to flower. I'm really not sure what kind of spittlebug this was. The bug makes this kind of casing for moisture and protection, and it is quite sticky. These bugs feed on plant saps and therefore are considered pests. However, they look worse than they really are.
Found on a plant with evidence of spittlebugs. This one was found in the Union Bay Natural Area, next to the University of Washington's campus, previously a garbage dump site. The area was flat and part of the year, a wetland. The surrounding vegetations are mostly grass and weeds, young deciduous trees, and forbs such as the daucus carota. The area on a sunny like today was blooming with pollinators.
I got absolutely excited seeing this woodpecker on my walk to the Union Bay Natural Area, off of UW's campus. Mostly, because I've never seen one a couple feet from me, but for other reasons because I've never seen them at work. The red stripe on this woodpecker's head immediately made me think that it is a pileated woodpecker. It was about the size of a crow, pecking at a trunk of a deciduous tree submerged in pond water. I believe it was scouring for insects, not sure if it was a male or female, but I air on it being a female. There didn't seem to have a red line from the bill to the throat like males have. The surrounding vegetations were cattails, deciduous trees with small birds and many ducks. The woodpecker was out probably because it was a sunny day, high in the 60s; the weather for insects.
Tumwater Campground, picnic area, near river. We lifted up a large piece of bark on a fallen over tree near the river that many uses as a seating area. There were many decomposers present including this interesting worm-like organism. It has an orange body for the most part with a bright red head. It measured about half an inch and moved slow. I actually think this might be a larva of an organism. The wood where it was found was moist and "spongy" although the surrounding temperature was in the high 70s.
Tumwater Campground, picnic area, next to river. These holes covered most of the area, but were quite difficult to notice. The "hill" is about 1-2 inches in diameter with the hole in the middle around 1/8 of an inch. I cannot identify what kind of ants these hills belong to although I am guessing the species of ant is medium in size. There were actually not many ants visible when was there.
Hypogymnia imshaugii, a pollution tolerant lichen. The cups at ends are the sexual organs, they produce spores. The inflated lobes are hallow and white inside.
The flower is underneath the leaves. Leaves are waxy. Break a leaf in half and take a whiff; it smells strongly of ginger.
This lichen is variable in color on bottom ranging from black, brown, or white. It is pollution tolerant.
