May 12th - Field Trip Part 3

The next stop on our field trip was at Money Creek and Leavenworth.
11:15 am
Warm weather, sun, high 60s

We stopped at Money Creek and went down to the water to look for critters. The first one I spotted was a dead Stone Fly stuck on a rock. It was large, has two tail divisions, a segmented abdomen, and inch long antennae. Next, Susan spotted a caddisfly larvae, which make protective cases out of silk decorated with gravel, sand, and debris.

We also saw wild ginger, called so because it tastes and smells similar to ginger, but is not related. This plant has heart shaped leaves and a three pronged purplish flower underneath.

We also saw an inky cap mushroom, oyster mushroom, and brown rot fungus.

Species List

1. Stonefly - Order plecoptera
2. Caddisfly - Order trichoptera
3. Western Wild Ginger - Asarum caudatum
4. Inky Cap - Ardea herodias
5. Oyster Mushroom - Pleurotus ostreatus

Next, we reached Leavenworth. We parked in a dirt lot and hiked up a hill to do make some observations. The weather by this point was very warm, in the 70s with full sun and few clouds in the sky. The time was around 2 pm.

The first plant we saw here was Yarrow, also known as "little feather" for the shape of its leaves. We also saw balsam root (yellow flowers and arrow shaped leaves), some peonies, as well as arabidopsis. Susan told us about the death camus, a toxic plant is dangerously similar to its cousin, the blue camus. The blue camus is a commonly used plant and food staple for Native Americans, and fields that had death camus growing were weeded out carefully in case the wrong plant was picked.

Next was my favorite part of the whole trip - lizard hunting. We had a pole with a small loop of string on the end of it, and were able to hook it around the lizards head without it noticing (it thought the string was a blade of grass). Then the lizard could be gently lifted, and the string removed. I caught two lizards with this device, and was very excited to have found an easy technique to do so in the future! The lizards that were caught were male and female western fence lizards, as well as a baby. They were dark grey on top, with shiny blue bellies.

We also saw ocean spray, a Douglas Fir with a burnt trunk, a fleshy mushroom called that is often covered in slime, indian paintbrush, and several unidentified blue butterflies.

Species List

1. Yarrow - Achillea millefolium
2. Balsam Root - Balsamorhiza sagittata
3. Browns Peony - Peonia brownii
4. Genus Arabidopsis
5. Chocolate Lily - Fritillaria biflora
6. Death Camus - Zigadenus venenosus
7. Western Fence Lizard - Sceloporus occidentalis
8. Ocean Spray - Holodiscus discolor
9. Douglas Fir - Pseudotsuga menziesii
10. Indian Paintbrush - Castilleja coccinea

Posted on June 5, 2012 07:27 AM by ashersh