April 26, 2012
Location: Union Bay Natural Area
Coordinates: 47.6564218, -122.2927934
Weather: The sky on this visit to UBNA was overcast and the sun had only been shining early that morning. The wind was hardly blowing and the temperature was about 55 degrees Fahrenheit. It began drizzling at around 7.30pm and did not stop even after I left at 8.00. The lighting was good despite the clouds.
Habitat/Vegetation: For more information on the habitat and vegetation of the UBNA, please see the journal entry for April 12, 2012 in my written journal.
General Comments: This was not a very fruitful day for gathering observations, unfortunately. I think I've finally exhausted the UBNA of plants I can easily identify. I found one maple that I was unable to properly identify and some salal that was flowering, which I already had from Pack Forest (I wanted an example of salal that is in bloom). The only good find from this day was the black-capped chickadee. I had been having trouble getting a good enough picture of this kind of bird because they are so fast hopping from branch to branch. This one sat still long enough for me to get usable, albeit blurry, picture where one can see its defining black cap. The only other unusual thing I saw that day was a small spider blending in with the stalk of prairie grass on which its web was partially strung. It was clearly doing so to both avoid predators and lure in its prey and I thought this was a very interesting phenomenon to be able to observe. I watched it for awhile, but I was not able to get a picture of it performing this bit of camouflage, unfortunately. I think I'll probably look for new places to go from now on. I want to see areas that aren't wetlands for my final observations just to make things a little different.
Species List:
Salal (Gaultheria shallon)
Black-capped Chickadee (Parus atricapillus)
Unknown maple with small, green leaves and little flowers.
Observations
Photos / Sounds
What
Vine Maple (Acer circinatum)Observer
tessafDescription
For more information on the habitat and vegetation of the area in which this plant was found, please see the journal entry for April 12, 2012 in my written journal. For more information on the weather that day, please see the journal entry for April 26, 2012 here on iNaturalist. This tree was found growing close to the Center for Urban Horticulture and it seemed to be a favorite of the little birds that were hopping around the trees in that area. This tree had flowers, but it appeared that the petals had all fallen off, so it is likely that the flowers bloom in early spring. The leaves were divided into 5 large points and two smaller points on the bottom. This tree was about 15 feet tall and it was probably planted there.
Photos / Sounds
What
Black-capped Chickadee (Poecile atricapillus)Observer
tessafDescription
For more information on the habitat and vegetation of the area in which this plant was found, please see the journal entry for April 12, 2012 in my written journal. For more information on the weather that day, please see the journal entry for April 26, 2012 here on iNaturalist. This chickadee was found hopping all over the branches of a deciduous tree next to a small pond in a secluded part of the Union Bay Natural Area off of the main path on a small and hard to spot path. These birds are, however, extremely common and can be seen all over the UBNA and all over UW Seattle campus. This bird in particular was about 5 inches tall.
Photos / Sounds
What
Salal (Gaultheria shallon)Observer
tessafDescription
For more information on the habitat and vegetation on the area in which this was found, please see the journal entry for April 12, 2012 in my written journal. For information on the weather, see the journal entry for April 26, 2012 on iNaturalist. I know I already have salal observed at Pack Forest, but I wanted to show an example of salal that has its flowers that will soon become berries. This was found near the Center for Urban Horticulture in the UBNA growing in a large bush with some deciduous trees and strawberry plants.
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