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: