Witnessing signs of flowering + sketches!

Temperature: 45° F, cloudy weather

Date: April 14, 2015 – 11:27AM

Zoomed out view of the site

Since my last visit to Ravenna Park, I do notice small changes in this area after only one week – some caused by humans and some caused as a part of nature. One example of a change caused by humans are the two stray branches on the ground. When I got to my site, I noticed a small group of children dragging these branches to their father from a small enclosing next to a cluster of trees. Their father yelled at them to leave the branches so it ended up about five inches from the creek. I guessed the branches simply broke off on its own, there is no signs of budding or flowers on the branches. After the father and children disappeared, five minutes passed before I heard sounds of crows cawing and other birds chirping surrounding the area. I have yet to see an actual bird though. For this visit, I decided to walk farther away from the trail/area where I sat last time so that there would be less disturbances from joggers and dogs. After about two minutes, I settled down and started observing as much wildlife as I could around me. 

As I looked closer at my surroundings, I tried to find signs of aging or flowering. 

One of the first signs of budding I found was from a shrub with a cluster of drooping leaves. Although it had not completely finished transitioning, there was a section in the middle of the stem that looked like either a new leaf was unfurling or signs of imminent flowering. With sharp and jagged edges, it splits off into multiple sections. It looks similar to the redflower currant to me, except droopier leaves than the examples in my field guide.

Signs of budding, unidentified (redflower currant??)

As I moved on to other areas of the site, I observed a patch of vegetation near the bottom of a moss covered tree leaning and slanting to my left. The oblong leaves are turning brown with the edges around the leaves curling into itself. The changing colors has the effect of blotches of brown as well as green all over the leaves - it does not change uniformly. Many parts of the leaves are also missing as small pieces are broken and falling off. They all grow out of one area in the center. (There is also a random lemon on the ground.) 

Signs of its leaves dying, unidentified.

Zoomed in image of the dying leaves

After having spent around fifteen minutes at this site, I began seeing multiple crows flying around the area.

Moving on to the next observations, I saw signs of flowering from what I personally identified as salmonberries. The flowers has a regular shape with four petals total. I also noticed that there are small thorns on its thin stems. The leaves has a lobed shape with three separate leaves encompassing the main leaf. The leaves has jagged edges, each section of the leaf meeting at its middle tip. The leaves are a bright green color, no signs of discoloration whatsoever. I believe these are salmonberries after my last lecture involved identifying common species at Ravenna Park.

Signs of flowering, salmonberries?

Below are some of my practice drawings using Leslie Field's recommended field sketching techniques.

Memory Sketch of Figure 1

Contour Sketch of Figure 1

Gesture Sketch of Figure 1 (5 seconds)

Gesture Sketch of Figure 1 (15 seconds)

Gesture Sketch of Figure 1 (35 seconds)

Diagrammatic Sketch of Figure 1

Experimenting with a pencil line (shading) for Figure 1

Combined sketch (combo of techniques) for Figure 1

Quick sketch of Figure 2

Quick Sketch of Figure 3

Quick Sketch of Figure 4