Carkeek Park, Seattle, WA 2012/5/2

Carkeek Park, Seattle, WA. 16:20.

Today on my way back from Edmonds, WA (where my Grandparents live), my girlfriend and I decided to check out Carkeek Park, in the Broadview neighborhood of north Seattle. Although it is slightly rainy, we thought it would be a good chance to get out and stretch our legs after eating a few too many hearty bowls of my Grandmother's family-secret-recipe oyster stew.

Typical mottled-gray clouds littered the sky like thousands of dirty cottonballs. At least it is not that rainy...at least not yet. As we pulled into the parking lot of the park we saw two small Eastern Gray Squirrels (Sciurus carolinensis) running underneath some of the other parked cars. We nearly ran over another that was in the spot I was trying to park in. We were not moving very fast, it just seemed as though it did not want to move. On a nearby embankment of dirt are some lush, green Sword Ferns (Polystichum munitum) along with some foraging American Robins (Turdus Migratorius).

As I approached the Robins they flew away towards a nearby Alder (Alnus) for refuge. This particular Alder must be about 15 meters tall and is surrounded by a mixture of other Alders, some Madrone (Arbutus menziesii), many Bigleaf Maples (Acer macrophyllum), and a few Western Red Cedars (Thuja plicata). The understory mainly consists of different kinds of Sedges (Cyperaceae) and Salal (Gaultheria shallon). This forest appears to be fairly well established, but none of the trees appear to be incredibly old. Perhaps they were cleared out when settlers came?

We did not make it to the beach area or the ravine today, but I would certainly enjoy returning to Carkeek in the future. It would be gorgeous on a nice day!

Species Present:

Turdus Migratorius

Sciurus carolinensis

Acer macrophyllum
Alnus
Arbutus menziesii
Cyperaceae
Gaultheria shallon
Polystichum munitum
Thuja plicata

Posted on June 5, 2012 03:12 PM by ablevins