Temperature: 76°F, sunny weather
Date: June 5, 2015 at 4:33pm
Part 1: Phenology and repeat photos
As shown in the GIF below, a lot of changes has occurred at my specific site in Ravenna Park (my most recent picture is the last one with the dark black background). Compared to the first week, there is a larger amount of leaves and plants thriving on the forest floor. As the vegetation thrived overtime, it began to cover more of the trees in the background with its tall height.
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| GIF of overall site |
Stepping into Ravenna Park, one of the first changes I immediately noticed was that the petals from the thimbleberries are starting to fall off. There were also a few berries beginning to ripen as it was still in its yellow color phase.
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| Thimbleberries - signs of petals falling off |
As I walked further down the road, I spotted a log where the fungi I saw the previous week was now gone. I'm not sure if someone had just knocked the fungi off of the log or something had eaten it, but there were no longer any traces of it left. Instead, there were new signs of lichens on the surface of the log. In addition to the lichen, there was also a small ant crawling over the surface - moving fairly quickly in my opinion.
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| Lichen on log |
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| Ant crawling over surface of log |
In addition, I also noticed that the salmonberries no longer had its pink flowers, it only had the yellow berries that were still ripening. Since I was not able to see any ripened berries (I saw ripe ones two weeks ago), I assumed people had picked them already since I did see a mother and her three children picking berries with a fruit picker tool when I was leaving Ravenna Park.
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| Salmonberries |
As I walked past the salmonberries, I spotted a spider resting on top of a leaf. It was barely moving and didn't even twitch as I took the picture (although I was fairly worried it would jump or run off as I was taking the picture).
Other interesting things I noticed from Friday was a random bike wheel resting on top of a log on the left side of the road. Did someone's bike break apart and they decided to just leave a wheel there? Regardless what happened, I also spotted a black feather near the bike. I figured it was either a feather from a crow or a raven.
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| Abandoned bike wheel |
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| Feather from crow (or raven) on the ground |
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| Tree sap As I continued walking further down the road, I was eventually surrounded by a gathering of trees. Every time I looked up, I would only see trees and small areas of the sky. I heard the sounds of crows cawing and saw a raven flying past from one branch of a tree into the distance. I also observed four black crows, two sitting on the same branch of a tree while the other two sat top of their respective branches. |
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| View looking up - crows not captured on camera |
1. At the beginning of the quarter, I was not particularly convinced that I would be able to witness extreme signs of phenological changes at my site but that changed as the weeks went on. I became more observant of the plants and trees around me, ranging from the salmonberries, lady ferns, to the bigleaf maple trees. I noticed when certain trees or plants were losing its leaves or when it was beginning to flower. I was able to acknowledge more changes around me and I became more interested in the actions of insects and birds. I wondered to myself what these insects or birds were doing, made observations on how quickly or slowly they were moving, and noticed whether they were interacting with other species or not.
2. Furthermore, as my ability to better observe my surroundings improved, it has also enhanced my appreciation for the Puget Sound region. Learning about the different mountains, forests, waterfalls, and prairies that are available in this area made me realize how fortunate I am to be living in Washington. Whether they're local places or a few hours away from the city, there is an abundance of areas I can easily explore with my friends or by myself I wanted to.
3. To intimately know a natural place is to recognize the relationships between different species or at least, having the desire to learn and figure out the relationship. Doing a close observation of one site can be just as valuable as experiencing majestic views of mountains or waterfalls. Sometimes there is even more value in being more in tune with the things around you because there is just as much beauty in the small things that are often overlooked as the grand places people often travel far distances for just to experience for themselves. It can easily be found right at home and I am certainly more appreciative of the small parks and wildlife near me.
4. Personally, the main outcomes from taking this class is being able to better identify nature and wildlife around me, more specifically the variety of trees and birds thriving in the Puget Sound. I value the ability and fascination with learning more about my surroundings now, especially learning about the various reasons why things work the way they do. I especially enjoyed learning about the birds and I try to identify birds when I'm hearing them now.
5. My overall perception of nature and natural history has certainly changed this quarter in helping me achieve a closer relationship to it. I try to spend as much time outdoors as I can now, I have been making more plans with friends to hike as well as camping trips instead of our usual plans indoors. My perception of the place of humans in nature also slightly changed after this quarter by reminding me about the impact of humans on nature. During the second field trip to Eastern Washington when we were looking for scorpions and lizards, Tim would always remind us to leave the rocks back in place after we turned it over. If possible, it was best if we disrupted their habitat as little as possible, which was what resonated with me regarding human impact on nature. If possible, we should always consider how we're changing our surroundings and adapt our actions as needed to make as little impact as possible.
