Heron rookery University of Washington, Seattle, Washington, United States of America, Lat: 47.653 Long:-122.307

It was March 29th and it was heavily raining with significant cloud cover. The area is primarily coniferous and it consists of various larger trees, smaller trees, shrubbery, and ferns. Two primary items of interest are the Western Hemlock (Tsuga heterophylla) and the Bigleaf Maple (Acer macrophyllum).
The Western Hemlock is of particular interest because there are several heron nests located up in the branches of one of the Western Hemlock trees located in the rookery. At one point, I witnessed two herons mate. The male heron that had not socially bonded with the female attempted copulation and was attacked by another male that had presumably socially bonded with the female heron in question. This attempt to deter copulation was ineffective and I believe that copulation did in fact occur. This is fascinating to witness because it offers insight into the behavioral tendencies of the heron species and particularly heron within this pacific northwest region. The Western Hemlock provides the habitat in which this type of behavior can be engaged in and observed.
The Bigleaf Maple, or what I believe to be a Bigleaf Maple is of particular interest to me in this setting because it appears to be entirely bare; meaning that it has no leaves of any kind. This was intriguing because Big Leaf Maples typically bloom in spring and it is currently spring, which causes me to believe that there must be some deficiency with this tree.
It was difficult to make concise observations do to the challenges that the weather presented I was unable to make detailed notes in my field notebook and was forced to work more quickly than usual, but I hope to return to this area to make more detailed and reflective observations.
Species List:
Western Red Cedar (Thuja pilcata)
Douglas Fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii)
Western Hemlock (Tsuga heterophylla)
Bigleaf Maple (Acer macrophyllum)
Dull Oregon Grape (mahonia nervosa)
Oregon Grape (mahonia aquifolium)
English Ivy (Hedera relix)
Bay Laurel (Laurus nobilis)
English Holly (ilex aquifolium)

Posted on April 23, 2012 01:25 AM by laurars13