Week 9, June 6

Ravenna Park Observation
Saturday, June 6
Sunny, 81 degrees

Part 1:
Today is an perfect day to visit my site for the last time this quarter. Over the past three month, I have witnessed the Ravenna Park from the bare grayish trees to blooming, thriving and green trees. I have witnessed the horsetail from just reached my ankle to many branches grown out and even reach my hip now. I have witnessed the ground from only a mass of green to now filled with tall grasses and wild flowers. I have witnessed the salmonberries are blooming...... I am not sure if I did not pay enough attention to the birds or anything, but I definitely feel more birds are singing during this time than I first visited the Ravenna Park.

Above are two pictures I took in week 1 and today. It is really hard to believe they are in a same spot. In the second picture, you can even see the stream and logs through those bare trees and short horsetails, but in the first picture, those horsetails completely block the view of the stream. It is just amazing to see the changes in nine weeks.

These two pictures are another comparison of horsetails. The first one I had to crouched down to get a full view of these horsetails, but the second one I can just stand there and take the photo. They are the most obvious change in the Ravenna Park based on my observation.

Now I can be confident enough to talk about my site, now just for phenological change, but also the history of the park, and where are some best locations to do observations.

Part 2:
1) When I first visited the site I could not identify anything, and I did not believe I could identify so many species from this class. I didn't realize the significance of identifying species. In my point of view, it was just another environment class that I have to take in my major. However in fact, after I am capable of identifying some species, I look at plants and hear birds every time I am outside. I pay more attention to the nature, and I understand how humans and nature live together. I notice the seasonal changes in the nature, and how different plants respond to the nature. I discovered many wonderful things in Ravenna Park, and now I just recommend to everyone to visit the park.  

2)I have never felt so lucky to live here! Seattle is still my favorite American city since I moved here from China four years ago. Not only for the hippie culture and amazing music, I cannot tell how much I appreciate the natural landscapes we have here. The city has everything that I can dream of- the lakes, the ocean, the mountains... I have the opportunity to learn more about the city I live in because of this class. Before it, I had no idea Seattle used to cover by ice sheets. I had no idea a park, or a forest I visit may take hundreds of years to develop. By taking this class, I know how special that Puget Sound Region is, and how lucky that I have a chance to live here!

3)It is important to pay attention to the details of things around you. But often times, we take many small things for granted and never appreciate them. The big picture can give you "big feelings", but intimately knowing a natural place can give you surprises and understandings. I think when you want to know place well, you should definitely do close observations. You can always discover something new, even if it is a place you already know, or you have visited many times. I like this class also required us to do sketches for the nature, I think sketch the plants or animals can make you observe more details that you would never pay attention to if you just look at them.  Also by sketching the nature, you add your own understandings and emotions to it. 

4)Like what I said before, I think sketch the nature is an important skill for me. I always like drawing things but I realized I never really drew the nature around me before taking this class. The sketch training made me love observing my site. Another important skill I gained from this class is plant ID and bird ID, especially for bird ID, I discovered so many amazing birds during this class. Before it, I didn't even know there are people spending time on observing birds everyday. 

5) My overall perception of nature and natural history has definitely changed. I am more convinced that humans are interconnected with the nature, and humans are part of the nature not an independent life. Out ancestors relied on the nature so much than we do today, and because of the natural history we know based on their previous explorations, we become who we are today. I think the development of technology is also intimately connected with the nature. 

Final Project Rough Draft

Ravenna Park Walking Tour


This walking tour is  in Ravenna Park. It is a ravine that possessed old-growth timber.  Ravenna Creek locates at the west side of the ravine alone Brooklyn Avenue NE. The Cowen Park Bridge crosses the park from north to south on 15^th Avenue. 



1. Geology (The big rock)
The Ravenna Park was formed when Vashon Glacial Ice Sheet melted and formed Lake Russel and cut ravines through new glacial fill. Then Lake Russell disappeared when the Ice Sheet retreated north of the Straits of Juan de Fuca, but various features remained, including the Green Lake basin.


2. Land-use History

3. Birds(Canopy/ or trail along the stream)

You can observe many American Crow, Song Sparrow, Creeper, and can hear many woodpeckers.

4. Plants (Under the bridge)

5. Invertebrates(stream)

6. Lichens/ Fungi 

Artist Fungus 

7. Ecological interaction (Mutualism)

8. Ecologic Disturbance 

9. Animal Behavior (Birds sing on the tree to mark their territory) 

Week 8, May 27

Ravenna Park Observation
Wednesday, May 27
Sunny, 72 degrees

I went to Ravenna Park this afternoon. Again, the grasses and horsetails are getting taller than last week. Some old flowers have fallen off, and flowers such as Western Buttercup have spread all over the park along the trail. I also spotted Thimbleberry's blooming this week. It has 5 rounded white petals as the picture shown below. Salmonberry has also grown out the berry,  but they are not ripe yet.

Western Buttercup, Ranunculus Occidentalis, Buttercup Family

Thimbleberry, Rubus Parviflorus, Rose Family

Salmonberry, Rubus Spectabilis, Rose Family 

There were many small bugs flying above the stream. I flipped over a rock, and I think I saw many Mayfly in the Order Ephemeroptera on the rock. They all have long and thin tails, two antennas are on the upper body, and the whole body is black. I then used a jar to see if I can collect some insects, I think I collected many Spiny Crawlers, below is very blurry picture, it's so hard to catch them in the photo!

I also saw many flies. I was able to take a picture of one of them. This fly is possibly under the Diptera Order.

I saw a beautiful butterfly in the Lepidoptera Order as well. It took me so long to wait it landed, and it couldn't stop flying around. 

My poem is about this butterfly:

Dancing in the wind,

You blend your body in the colorful spring,

Stay longer! 

Float near me!

You are the inspiration of every poet. 

Week 7, May 20

Weekend field trip
Saturday, May 2
Mostly clear

We drove down to the Nisqually Delta for the second field trip. The Nisqually Delta has special landscape because of the salt water marsh one the one side, and fresh water marsh on the other side. The U shaped lake is the evidence of this area has been cut down by the river. The Nisqually River flows through the wildlife refuge, and this is the place where one could observe many different species of birds and animals. We saw barn swallow, tree swallow, Redwing Blackbird, frogs, Northern Shoveler duck, Canadian geese, many sparrows, and even a coyote.

The brownish mud floods on the salt water marsh side is the evidence of iron deposits. I can clearly see the difference in vegetation on two sides divided by the trail. More plants and animals habitat on the fresh water marsh side, whereas the muddy bare ground on the salt water marsh side. I can also smell the sea-like salty water in the air. I did not have the chance to look closely at the mud, but I learned from the signs that there are thousands of tiny holes, tracks, and droppings on the mud, which are the evidence of bustling activity. The animals that resident in the estuary must cope with a constantly changing environment because of the tides. Here are the two landscape pictures I took and you can see how different are they only at a close distance.

There are many tree swallows, cliff swallows fly around the two barns. These swallows build their nests under the barn's roof. The tree swallows have bright blue back and white underparts. The cliff swallows have brownish back and white underparts as well.  

We then drove down to the South Sound Prairies, where is good place for observing wildflowers and butterflies. I saw Western Buttercup, Camas, and possibly Woodland Strawberry.

The picture below is a Common Camas. It has bright blue flowers with flat spreading petals. The Woodland strawberry has white 5 rounded petals, red hairy stalks and serrated leaves.

 
Our last stop was the Mima Mounds, formed roughly after ice age glaciers began receding. I found this place was my favorite one for this field trip because the interesting mounded landscapes. I have never seen this topography before. It is hard to believe that these circular and about same size mounds are formed by the nature. I love hearing all those mysterious theories that explain the Mima Mounds.

Week 6, May 13

Ravenna Park Observation
Wednesday, May 13
Cloudy 55 degrees

I went to site my this morning to see any changes. After a rainy day yesterday, the sky is still grey today but I felt the fresh breeze in the park, and I can see that Ravenna Park becomes so muddy on the ground. I was surprised everything is growing so fast in two weeks. Many wild flowers are blooming now as well. The most obvious changes are grass and horsetail. I can still remember when I first visited the site all those horsetails are about 5 inches, but now they have grown to 40 inches tall. The false lily of the valley has also grown bigger and taller. The skunk cabbage along the stream has grown crazy since I first spotted it. The yellow flower has gone, only remains the giant green leaves. After a few weeks studying on plants ID, I identified red osier dogwood with dense white flowers at my site within 5 square meters. Opposite, elliptical leaves with subtle curved veins, small white 4- petaled flowers. The picture is shown below:

I compared the photo I took in first week with the one I took today at approximately the same spot. It is amazing to see these changes.

The wild flower I saw was a western buttercup. It has 5 yellow petals, and 3-lobed leaves. 

Unfortunately, I only say two kinds of birds at Ravenna Park, but I definitely heard many birds were singing and chirping on the trees. I think Ravenna Park has relatively taller trees and narrower space than the Union Bay Nature Area, so it was hard to follow and observe birds. I saw two song sparrows and many American crows, which are all common species in the North America. A song sparrow was perched right in front me on a branch. It was singing loudly and soon I heard another song sparrow answered its territory call. The song sparrow perched and sang on the branch for 5 minutes and then flew down to the ground along the streamside. 

4 gesture sketches of song sparrow:

Week 4, April 29

Ravenna Park Observation
Wednesday, April 29
Sunny, 60 degrees

It was a clear and warm day. I went to my observation site after a rainy day from yesterday. Now everything is obviously taller and the leaves are growing bigger than the first week I came here. There are some new wildflowers that are blooming. I saw two raccoons climbing the trees near the upper hillside of the park, which was surprising and interesting.

I mostly focused on finding fungi and lichen in the park this week. I found this(shown blow) lichen growing on a tree trunk. I think it is a Hammered Shield lichen(Parmelia sulcata) which is a common lichen in the Ravenna Park. It is grayish/greenish, uneven egdes, and delicate.

This is a Oakmoss lichen( Evernia prunastri) that is growing on the tree trunk as well. It is a pale to greenish lichen, moss-like, and has soft tufts.

This is almost like a green paint on the tree bark. I have not identified this lichen.

This is a twig that I found has two lichens on one branch. It could be another Hammered Shield lichen and a Oakmoss lichen.

I found this growing on a big log on the ground. It has gray/ brown center, white edges, unstalked, and smooth surface. I was not sure about whether it is a mushroom or lichen. It might be a turkey tail because its rounded cup-like cap.

This is Artist fungus(Ganoderma applanatum) in the bracket family that I found on a dead tree. Dark brown at center, lighter brown at the edges. semicircular and convex cap.

I found this mushroom also on a piece of fallen wood that has moss grown on it too. It may be a honey mushroom because its convex cap, slender stalk. 

I walked to my original observational spot to see any changes. I can clearly notice that these horsetails are growing taller and bigger. Now I could identify some of the plants around my spot. I like the shape of the maple leaves. It becomes one of my favorite plants now!

Larger landscape of my original spot

Maple leaves

Week 3, April 22

Weekend field Trip to Olympic Peninsula
Saturday- Sunday, April 18-19.
Sunny

My expectations for this weekend field trip were not only just for learning new species, but also for getting to know other classmates since this is the only class that has the whole weekend field trip I have had in UW. We had a fun time just in our car. I also learned so much about phenology, plant ID, and animal ID.

While we hiked in the forest, there is plenty of evidence that shows it is a old-growth forest. I saw the evidence of competition between species tying to reach a higher position in order to get the sun light. Younger trees in the forest are struggling to survive with the limited sun light. We also spotted a nurse log, which was another evidence of old-growth forest. Evidence of mutualism in the forest we found was the moss grow on the tree. They can hold more water for these trees, and in turn trees provide the habitat for them. As we walked up to the Storm King Trail, you could see the difference in vegetation. I noticed more flowering ground cover plants closer to the river side of the trail. At the higher elevation, the trees have more branches since they can get more sun light. The soil seemed to be more dry and sandier as we hiked up. You can see the plants were more diverse near the river and the bottom of the hill, we saw all kinds of flowers, such as Trillium, Vanilla Leaf, and False Lily of the Valley, but there were fewer flowers when we reached the top of the hill. An interesting finding on our way of walking down was a banana slug! Our peer TA Kelly actually licked it.

Nurse Log

A mushroom we found during our exploration.

Trillium

A Banana Slug!

I was amazed by the stunning view at the Lake Crescent in the morning. I always like lakes more than sea, I guess it is because lakes are always seem more peaceful than sea. The picture definitely cannot show all the beauty of the Lake Crescent.

Lake Crescent

At the tidal pools we can see the evidence of predation. All the mussels onshore were empty shells. It could be the evidence of star fish predation. I saw two types of sea star, one was Pacific Blood Star, and the other one was Short-Spined Sea Star. Other interesting marine animals I found included Green Anemone,Pacific Littleneck Clam, and Pacific Goose Barnacle. The most exciting finding, of course, was the octopus. I have never seen an octopus in my life. I am bragging on this finding everywhere now.

A Pacific Littleneck Clam

Mussels

Green Anemone

A Pacific Blood Sea Star

An Octopus

My sketches:
The huge rock landed on the Salt Creek from glaciers.

A cone I picked up from the ground

A thumbnail I drew near the lake

A type of seaweed in one of the tidal pools.