4.17.12 Union Bay Natural Area

Date: 4.17.12

Location: Union Bay Natural Area (near the water’s edge rather than in a grove of trees)
Lat: 47.6539772387, Lon: -122.2938638603
Time: 13:00-14:30
Weather: Full sun. The few clouds visible are wispy and high in the sky. A slight wind.

Observations and things taught/learned:

General: I sat next to the bank of Lake Washington. There were no trees in the direct vicinity (the nearest trees were about 100 yards away). Most trees cannot grow that close to the water because they would get waterlogged and probably start to rot. I am also guessing that the ground wouldn’t have all the nutrients most trees of the area need to survive (possibly because the water washes it away?). While sitting in the grass, I decided once and for all, I am, in fact, allergic to grass. My legs, started to itch like crazy, and when I got up I had rashes all over. I have sat in grass many times before, but I always rather hoped that I maybe it was just bugs in the grass or something. Alas, that is not the case. What is it in the grass that I am allergic to? Why are so many people allergic to it? If I sat in a field of other kinds of plants, would there be others that I would be allergic to as well?

Individual plant and animal descriptions:
All along the bank (even in the water), as far of the bank I could see in either direction, grew Cattails (Typha latifolia). Many of the top “corn-shaped” flower clusters were fibrous (these fibers, I learned, hold the seeds produced by the female flowers).
Next to the bank in the water, presumably in a relatively shallow area, grew White Water Buttercups (Ranunculus aquatilis). They were not flowering.
Amid the White Water Buttercups were a few, thought not many, of what I think is Fragrant Water Lilies (Nymphaea odorata). These too were not flowering, and so were hard to identify (I judged by leaf shape). They were mostly brown. They appeared to be rotting. I wonder why they appeared this way? There were other water lilies (I am not certain of the type) in the distance along a bank across from mine that were not brown/rotting.
Common Horsetails (Equisetum arvense) grew next to the Cattails, though further inland. They grew amid grass and brambles.
There was a type of buttercup, what I identified as Creeping Buttercup (Ranunculus repens) due to the wet environment in which it grew and the leaf shape, that grew amid the grass. The plants were extremely young. The leaves were a lightish green and very small. They were not flowering.
A field on the side of the gravel path farthest from the water was filled with the dried stalks of Queen Anne's Lace (Daucus carota).
Young sprouts of Orchard Morning Glory (Convolvulus arvensis) (?) grew next to the bank. The morning glory that grows at home is extremely pervasive. It takes over massive areas quickly, mapping the ground with its white roots. The roots of morning glories (as I have had much experience with since I work on a raspberry and bean farm and thus I do quite a lot of weeding) will sprout when they are chopped up and detached from leaves. Instead of putting them in compost heaps as we do with most weeds, we burn them of put them in wheel barrels to dry out in the sun. They are crazy! Why is it they are so invasive?
I saw a Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias) flying over the lake. It passed by quickly so I didn’t observe much about it.
I saw many Red-winged Blackbirds (Agelaius phoeniceus). Most of them flitted among the Cattails. Why is it the tops of the wings have bright red and yellow? How can one tell the difference between the males and females?
A crow flew over me that I think to be either a Northwestern Crow (Corvus caurinus) or an American Crow (Corvus brachyrhynchos). I didn’t see it well enough to tell the identify it as one or the other.
Three Bumblebees (Genus Bombus) buzzed by me (further inland) at three separate times as I lay in the grass. Each flew by rather quickly, as if they were on a mission. Normally when I see bumblebees they are “bumbling” around, meaning wavering up and down and landing on leaves, the ground, or flowers, and then flying again to land on something else. There were no flowers in the vicinity, which is probably why there were not interested in staying and “bumbling.”
I also saw several of what I know to be Cormorants (disambiguation). Several dove under the water, probably fishing for food. There were other birds with these cormorants that I thought might be cormorants as well, but black and white rather than just black. These aired and flapped their wings.

Species List:

• Cattail (Typha latifolia)
• White Water Buttercup (Ranunculus aquatilis)
• Fragrant Water Lilies (Nymphaea odorata)
• Common Horsetail (Equisetum arvense)
• Creeping Buttercup (Ranunculus repens)
• Queen Anne's Lace (Daucus carota)
• Orchard Morning Glory (Convolvulus arvensis)
• Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias)
• Red-winged Blackbird (Agelaius phoeniceus)
• Northwestern Crow (Corvus caurinus) or American Crow (Corvus brachyrhynchos)
• Bumblebee (Genus Bombus)
• Cormorants (disambiguation)

Previous Species Seen:
-Trailing Blackberry (Rubus ursinus)
-Mallard Ducks (Anas platyrhynchos)
-Canadian Geese (Branta canadensis)

Posted on April 28, 2012 03:06 AM by chimeravo