Today, I decided to trek to the Arboretum to try and identify some things I had not yet seen and also admire the beautiful Seattle weather. It was sunny, bright, and perfect weather for spending time by the water. On the walk over, I passed behind the UW training facilities and found some interesting species in an inlet by the Conibear Shellhouse. The inlet was narrow but deep and was littered with large lillypads and plant debris. This area was also home to ducks, insects, and herons feeding. Along the edge of this inlet, there was also some interesting foliage that I did not recognize. Later, with the help of the inaturalist community I was able to identify them as hawthorns. Continuing down the road, I began to see other species I did not recognize scattered amongst fir and cedar trees. For example, across the street from a grove of Douglas firs, I spotted a strange looking redwood tree with flaky bark and peculiar needles. As it turns out it was a dawn redwood. Just before crossing the Montlake bridge to enter the arboretum, I came across a large shrub with vibrant yellow flowers hanging from its branches. I then crossed the bridge and went down the steep steps to the arboretum where I immediately was surrounded by wildflowers. There were flowers of all colors in front of me: blue, violet, yellow, and white. I began the identification process and came across creeping buttercup, borage, hardhack, red osier dogwood, bluebell, and leatherleaf viburnum. All of these plants were strewn along the edge of the path where they could receive sunlight. The other plants towered above them but were further off the path and in a much denser area. I continued down the path to the edge of the water where I was able to see a pair of northern shovelers returning to their female counterparts. I did not delve too deep into the arboretum because the ground was soaked with water from Lake Washington but I was surprised at the diversity I found while on my short hike from the edge of the Montlake bridge down to the waterfront.
Today I presented our project on waterfowl along with Jin, Drew, Kate, and Victoria. Before we began our presentation though, we listened to the birds group present theirs. We began at UBNA and split into two groups and looped the trail within UBNA. Cara and Anisa led our group and talked about the various birds that are present in the UBNA, such as red winged blackbirds, barn swallows, and robins. We observed lots of swallows around the central pond in UBNA swooping down close to the water and chirping very loudly. The small body size of the swallow allows it to be extremely maneuverable and its distinction is its forked tail. As we made our way around, we came to an area with many cattails and tall grass where red winged blackbirds liked to hang out and presumably nest. The red winged blackbirds have a noticeable red spot at the base of theirs wings and is easy to point out when they are in flight. After completing their tour, it was our turn to present. I was stationed by the large pond in the center in hopes of seeing mallards. I was pleasantly surprised when mallards began to arrive because I had surveyed the area before class and hadn't seen any mallards. Our project consisted of five stations, each with a different topic. I talked about mallards, Drew talked about herons and shovelers, Kate about mergansers, Victoria about wood ducks and canada geese, and Jin about features of waterfowl. As a whole, I believe our project went smoothly and I learned a bunch in the process.
Today we began class in the classroom (who would have guessed). The last two groups were presenting, starting with mammals, or in this case squirrels. W split off into various groups and began outside learning about the capture and monitoring of squirrels in the Northwest. The reason this is important is because the much more common eastern gray squirrel is driving the indigenous western gray squirrel to extinction. The eastern gray squirrel is the most common squirrel on campus and in Washington. After learning this, we continued into a small park on campus where we met and talked about the complex feeding habits of squirrels. Squirrels store their food in small holes and can remember thousands of them due to their very powerful spatial memory. In addition, they sometimes fake burying their food to fool thieves and instead take their food elsewhere. Continuing on, we came to a station where we actually got to feed campus squirrels. The squirrels hesitant at first but once they saw the food, they were no strangers. The campus squirrels have become heavily reliant on human contact for food and makes them completely different behaviorally wise to their friends that live in the wild. We then headed back inside to look at the differences of species in the squirrel family and how they vary in size. The second half of class was devoted to bees, butterflies, and beetles. We learned about different pollination techniques of butterflies and how they differ from moths. We learned that most species of bees are solitary and honey bees make up small percentage of the bee family. Bees are also an important element to our ecosystem. They pollinate far more than any other species but pesticide use is killing them off. I aslo learned bees hate the color black and feared for my life because I was wearing a black jacket while at the beehives by the UW farm. After bees, we learned about beetles and how important they are to us. like bees, they also pollinate and are important decomposers. Overall, today was very informative and helpful.
