April 23, 2012
Location: Magnuson Park
Coordinates: 47.6812231, -122.2477698
Weather: The sky was relatively clear all day with perhaps 20% cloud cover. It was fairly windy and the temperature was about 60 degrees Fahrenheit. The lighting was good that day as it was still pretty bright out even when the clouds covered up the sun.
Habitat: Magnuson Park is very large and has many different types of habitats in it. The main types of habitats I visited were a forest, a wetland, and a beach area near the edge of Lake Washington. The forest habitat was where the red huckleberry, bracken, and ocean spray were located, the wetland was where I found the gadwall, along with many other duck species, red-winged blackbirds, and various wetland plants similar to those found at UBNA, finally, at the beach area, I found the silverspotted tiger moth caterpillars on a douglas fir tree next to the water and the Eisenia fetida clinging to a root that I dug up also on the water's edge. The forest was a good place to find small birds and low growing native plant species that I had not yet documented, though I was not able to capture any birds on camera because they're so quick and the trees were so tall. The forest area seemed like a good place to find animals such as deer, raccoons, possums, and smaller mammals like voles. The wetland area is similar to the UBNA, only smaller. There are plenty of large and small ponds dotting this section of the park that the ducks and red-winged blackbirds have really taken to. Gadwalls, mallards, and even buffleheads made this area their home and I was able to get good pictures of all of them because they stayed so close to the shore. Birds at this park must be more used to humans than birds at UBNA. This area essentially consists of a singular path with large ponds on either side of it running through its length. The wetland area at Magnuson is nothing like UBNA. The wetland at Magnuson is very controlled and it's very obvious that it was built there while UBNA is much more wild and natural with very little human influence. The beach area is very open and has very few trees obstructing one's view of the lake from any point along the area. This area is mostly for the boat launch and for people to sit by the water or play games. Ducks also call this area home and there were plenty of insects like the caterpillars and the Eisenia fetida all around because it was a nice day. This area sees less animal presence because of the human presence, though the forest and wetland were full of interesting places and things to observe.
Vegetation: The forest habitat was dominated by deciduous trees, predominately bigleaf maples. There were practically no conifers to be found there. The forest floor was dominated by ferns, especially the bracken and western sword fern. There was also an even distribution of ivy on either side of the path completely obscuring the ground and tree roots. The ocean spray was the only one of its like I saw along the path, though I'm sure there were more off into the more wild parts of the forest. The red huckleberry was also growing on the side of the path and there was more like it some distance off the path, so it was loosely distributed over the forest floor. Also in the more wild parts of the forest, Himalayan blackberry was evenly distributed along with the ivy over the forest floor. The wetland area was dominated by marsh plants like common cattails (last year's growth) and various smaller trees and shrubs of all kinds. The plants here were obviously put here by humans. There are very few things that grew in on their own as this whole area was constructed some years ago. However, it is still an interesting area because it is full of native species and because it attracts so many animals. I was not able to identify many of the plants I saw here, but the trees were all deciduous and many of the plants had berries by now. Many of the trees on the far side of the ponds had fallen down or were dead and the red-winged blackbirds and other small birds seemed to enjoy this part of the wetlands. The ponds had interesting looking algae species growing in them, though I assumed it was frog spawn at first. The algae was green and formed thick, slimy clumps with bubbles in it. This was the dominant form of water plant I could actually identify. There were plenty of things growing under the water, but I could not get a sample of one to take a picture of it or examine it. It all essentially looked like seaweed. Finally, the beach area was, as I said earlier, rather barren of obvious plant life. It was mostly covered in short grass with vetch and wood sorrel interspersed throughout. Trees, mostly conifers and willows, grew near the water's edge where all the park benches were. Among the conifers, Douglas fir was the most common species and the the willows were likely sitka willows. Vegetation did not become thicker until one approached the forest area up the hill. This area was likely barren on purpose so as to not obstruct the view of the water and to allow people to spend time there.
General Comments: This area was an interesting example of a place that isn't quite like a garden, but has such obvious human influence in it that I feel slightly guilty looking for species there because things are planted. It is a sharp contrast with UBNA since Magnuson Park is so carefully controlled while there is little evidence that anyone but the animals has influence in UBNA. It seems much more untamed and undisturbed in UBNA while it felt like I was walking through a large garden at the wetlands at Magnuson. I suppose this is to be expected since Magnuson is supposed to be a park, but it felt odd since I thought it would be more like UBNA. The forest area at Magnuson is the only area that felt remotely "wild" because everywhere else in the park seemed so groomed in comparison. I know that I prefer UBNA to this area, but I'm glad I got the chance to at least try looking around Magnuson as I did see some new things and I did want to try to look at how an area heavily populated by humans changes in comparison to an area that sees much less human traffic like UBNA. It is interesting that, though both areas are in the middle of the city, one can be so much more uninfluenced than the other. Perhaps the people at the Center of Urban Horticulture tried very hard to keep the UBNA that way. In any case, I was happy with how used to humans the ducks at Magnuson were. I got very good pictures of the gadwalls and the buffleheads to the point where I even got to see a female bufflehead. I like Magnuson because there are so many different types of habitats to observe there rather than just one like at UBNA. I got to get observations from a few different areas and have some variations. I wonder if Magnuson looks different later in the spring and into summer. I might go back to see how it changes later in the year.
Species List:
Red wiggler (Eisenia fetida)
Gadwall (Anas strepera)
Silverspotted Tiger Moth (Lophocampa argentata)
Ocean Spray (Holodiscus discolor)
Red Huckleberry (Vaccinium parvifolium)
Bracken (Pteridium aquilinum)
Douglas Fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii)
Observations
Photos / Sounds
What
Ocean Spray (Holodiscus discolor)Observer
tessafDescription
For more information on the habitat and vegetation of the area this was found and on the weather that day, please see the journal entry here on iNaturalist for April 23, 2012. This tree was found on the edge of a secluded path near the shore of Lake Washington at Magnuson Park in Seattle. The shrub was about 15 feet tall with slim branches and a slim trunk. The defining feature of this shrub is the "spray" of tiny white flowers that grows from each branch. This shrub in particular did not have its flowers as they don't bloom until early summer. The picture I have is of the "spray" from last year's bloom, which will fall off and be replaced later. The shrub is deciduous and prefers wet coastal environments like the one I found my specimen in. The shrub is also known as an ironwood because its bark is so hard and resilient and it has been used for nails in the past.
Photos / Sounds
What
Common Bracken (Pteridium aquilinum)Observer
tessafDescription
For more information on the habitat and vegetation of the area this plant was observed in and on the weather that day, please see the journal entry for April 23, 2012 here on iNaturalist. These bracken plants looked like ferns, except they had a long stalk about 3 feet tall with 4-5 branches that the actual fronds grow out of. The one I observed was growing in a group of six others and I spotted more along the path growing in groups of about the same size. The plant was a light green and some of the fronds had not completely unfurled. This plant can be incredibly invasive and grows readily in disturbed areas. It contains carcinogenic compounds.
Photos / Sounds
What
Gadwall (Mareca strepera)Observer
tessafDescription
For more information on the habitat and vegetation of the area this plant was observed in and on the weather that day, please see the journal entry for April 23, 2012 here on iNaturalist. The organism I got a picture of was a male gadwall duck floating in one of the large ponds in the wetland area of Magnuson Park. These ducks were all over the park and some were walking around in pairs of male and female. The gadwall I saw was about 19in long and, as indicated by its black feathers on its rear, this is the middle of their breeding season. Female gadwalls look almost exactly like female mallards only smaller and with a white belly and speculum. Male and female gadwalls both go through two molt cycles throughout the year. These birds prefer open wetlands like the one I found this one in.
Photos / Sounds
What
Silver-spotted Tiger Moth (Lophocampa argentata)Observer
tessafDescription
For more information on the habitat and vegetation of the area this plant was observed in and on the weather that day, please see the journal entry for April 23, 2012 here on iNaturalist. These little caterpillars were in a bundle on the tip of a conifer branch beside Lake Washington in Magnuson Park. I pulled one off to look at it and put it back. They were each about an inch long and covered in fine orange hair with a brown body. They hatch in late summer to early fall and feed mostly on Douglas fir tree needles for the rest of the year with an increase in feeding activity in spring, making them pests. They become adults in June and breed and lay eggs in July.
Photos / Sounds
What
Redworm (Eisenia fetida)Observer
tessafDescription
For more information on the habitat and vegetation of the area this plant was observed in and on the weather that day, please see the journal entry for April 23, 2012 here on iNaturalist. I found this little worm while trying to see what the roots of a plant looked like. It was clinging to the roots in the dirt and I pulled it out to get a better look at it. It was about two or three inches long and was a light to dark red color. These worms are not usually found in soil, but it was too small and lacked the large band of an earthworm, so I had to conclude it was a "red wriggler" as it is commonly called. These worms are often used in compost.
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