A Walking Tour Through Ravenna Park

Located in Seattle, Ravenna Park is a popular spot for visitors and residents living nearby, a relatively short walking distance to both University Village and the University of Washington. 

Below is a brief outline of the ten stations I will address below. 

Station 1: Land-use history

Station 2: Plants

Station 3: Invertebrates
Station 4: Ecological disturbances
Station 5: Fungi
Station 6: Ecological interaction between species

Station 7: Birds

Station 8: Animal behavior

Station 9: Geology/geomorphology

Station 10: Human interactions

Moving on to our first station, allow me to give a quick historical overview of how Ravenna Park has come to be in its current state. 

Station 1: Land-use history

William Beck at entrance of then-named Ravenna Natural Park

Essentially a forest within a park, Ravenna Park is one of the oldest of Seattle's destinations with an abundance of old-growth Douglas Firs. Since there is a large abundance of old-growth trees in this area, logging operations were common here. If these operations had not been stopped and trees were not preserved, the old-growth Douglas Firs, giant alders, cedars, and willow trees would have been heavily affected. 

Due to its unique habitat, there is a broad history associated with Ravenna Park. Officially opened in 1887 by William and Louise Beck, it was named Ravenna Springs Park as a privately operated destination. It was known for its healthful qualities, ranging from its nature trails and mineral spring waters. As it was located nearby the Green Lake Park, a Native American village lived on the western shore of that bay. It is probable that this community knew of the sulfuric mineral springs - that was essentially known for having healing properties people raved about. 

It went through a number of different names such as Big Tree Park, Twin Maples Lane, and Ravenna Natural Park before finally settling as Ravenna Park. It was only in 1911 that Ravenna Park became a government park to be used as hiking trails, picnic areas, and sports activities. 

For more information on the history of what is now called Ravenna Park, this link is a great source:

Ravenna Park. Historylink. Retrieved June 9, 2015 from http://www.historylink.org/index.cfm?DisplayPage=output.cfm&file_id=9559

Station 2: Plants

We will now begin our physical walking tour by starting at the trail near the sports field. After about a five minute walk while encountering the various visitors of this park, we finally arrive at our first station - the plants station. Surrounding a bench and one section of Ravenna Creek is a variety of different plants that ranges from swordferns, lady ferns, and salmonberries. My personal favorites at this station are the salmonberries since it is especially easy to observe the differences of this plant species overtime. Throughout the time span of less than three months, I was able to observe the salmonberries in its flowering stage, to the non-ripe yellow berries, and then its ripened orange red color.

Salmonberries - flowering stage

Salmonberries - flowering stage

Salmonberries - green berries stage

Salmonberries - yellow berries stage

Salmonberries - almost ripening berries stage

Despite having witnessed ripe salmonberries during one of my visits, I have yet to actually try one of these berries. Although these berries are certainly edible, they are too soft to dry properly. Salmonberries is a common food source for Native Americans (as are most fruits) both in the past and in the present. Some common uses for these berries (that does not include drying them) involves freezing them, canning them, and/or consuming them in the form of jam and jellies.

For more information about salmonberries, consult the following source:

Salmonberry: Rubus spectabilis Pursh. USDA NRCS National Plant Data Center & Oregon Plant Materials Center. Retrieved June 9, 2015 from http://plants.usda.gov/plantguide/pdf/cs_rusp.pdf

Station 3: Invertebrates
Moving on to Ravenna Creek, only a few steps from where we are is our third station consisting of invertebrates. With lots of clearing for the sun to shine through past the trees and plants, it's much easier to spot the variety of insects in this area. Just last week, I spotted a pill bug crawling over the dry and rocky ground near the creek, curling up as it sensed my presence getting closer.

Pill Bug

Occasionally, there will also be the common flies and bumblebees flying back and forth from plant to plant. Another one of my favorite insects or (signs of insects) to find are spittlebugs, also known as froghoppers. As seen in the picture below, spittlebug nymphs secretes liquid that eventually foams into bubbles once they start pumping their body. The purpose of this foam is to cover themselves from predators, helps them from dehydrating, as well as helping them adapt to different temperatures.

If you are interested in more information regarding spittlebugs, here is a helpful link:

Iannotti, M. Spittlebugs. About.com. Retrieved June 9, 2015 from http://gardening.about.com/od/insectpestid/a/Spittlebugs.htm

Spittlebug

As we move a few steps closer to the creek and turn over several rocks, we can easily spot a number of mayflies (order: Ephemeroptera), caddisflies (order: Trichoptera), as well as stoneflies (order: Plecoptera) either clinging to the rock or in the water.

Station 4: Ecological disturbance

Not far from where we are observing the invertebrates is where we can also look at signs of ecological disturbances. There can be a number of factors contributing to the collapse of trees, most likely due to natural conditions such as wind or snow storms. In our case, the pictures below shows an abundance of trees decaying to the extent where they are forced to fall over quite dramatically. There is evidence of both snags and tree trunks scattered all over the ground. We can see signs of moss beginning to grow, covering the dead branches in the first picture.  

Evidence of ecological disturbance

Despite these evidence of clear ecological disturbances, it does not seem to have affected the overall ecosystem that much. For one thing, there is still an abundance of dominant trees such as Douglas Firs or Western Hemlocks. Compared to the trees still standing, these fallen ones seem much weaker, thinner, or at least younger overall. Another thing to note is that these fallen trees are closer to the pathway where children, dogs, and visitors often pass through which may also speed up its demise even more. (I have often seen children picking up stray branches and chasing each other with them or dogs peeing and/or carrying whatever catches their attention). Meanwhile, the older and healthier old-growth trees are located farther away (a few minutes farther so not by much) from the pathway. 

More fallen tree trunks

Station 5: Fungi

After we finish observing the ecological disturbances and various invertebrates on our tour, we will start walking on the main path again. About two minutes from when we started walking, we will eventually reach a fairly damp log on the right side of the road. Within the log is a number of fungi clumped together as well as another clump of fungi nestled underneath the top rotting layer.  

Fungi within log

Once you learn to pay more attention towards the wetter and damp parts of the earth, it becomes much easier to spot fungi. If we walk further off the road and look underneath this large Douglas Fir tree, we can find another type of fungi nestled among a damper patch of vegetation.

Fungi beneath Douglas Fir tree

In addition to these two types of fungi, the third fungi we will hopefully spot is the Mycena mushrooms, the location similar to the first set of fungi we found since it was also located on the top layer of a different log.

Mycena mushroom

Once we are ready, we will take a left and walk closer to the other side of the road until we find a large gathering of trees. Out of the numerous mushrooms I observed over the past weeks, my favorite is the Artist's Conk. On the side of one of these tree, we can find at least five different Artist's Conks, the color brown on the top surface and white on the bottom layer. An interesting fact to know about these fungi is that if you cut the specimen in half, the number of layers can reveal the age (just like tree rings). 

Artist's conk

Station 6: Ecological interaction between species

After learning about the Artist's Conk as a common fungi at Ravenna Park, it makes sense that we should also begin to learn about the ecological relationship between this fungi and the wood it is growing on. For one thing, these fungi thrives at the expense of the surface it is growing on. It is possible for it to grow on dead wood but in this case, it is essentially a parasite weakening the living tree that it is growing on. After weakening the wood, it creates spaces and areas for creatures such as insects as well as woodpeckers to peck holes in. 

Not far from station 5 is our sixth station, where we can learn about another ecological interaction between species. After walking a few steps, we can easily find a nurselog on the left side of the road. It is about five feet from the side of the road but there is a large log covered entirely in moss as well as small bigleaf maple trees beginning to sprout from this nurselog. 

Bigleaf maple trees sprouting from nurselogs

The relationship between nurse logs and seedlings from other trees is quite interesting. Once a tree falls over and slowly decay, they can still provide an abundance of water and nutrients to a seedling. The tree provides height for the seedling to have a better chance at getting enough water to germinate, and the bark holds the moisture further helping the seedling. Even if fungi were to grow on this dead log causing it to rot even more, the nurse tree would still provide the needed nutrients for these young trees. 

For more information about nurse logs, this is a great source:

Nurse logs provide new habitat: Western Hemlocks. AskNature. Retrieved June 9, 2015 from http://www.asknature.org/strategy/e0c8517027aa8edf4507a8624425e89f#.VXaki89Viko

Station 7: Birds

As we move farther down the road deeper into the forest, it becomes much easier to hear the sounds of birds - most notably the American crows cawing incessantly. They tend to be perched on high branches, sometimes two are grouped together on one branch while other crows can also be found individually. If we walk closer to the right side of the road and look down onto the direction of the creek, crows can sometimes be seen perching on the logs there or bathing themselves in the creek. 

American crow perching on log

Same American crow bathing itself 

A number of different birds can be spotted at Ravenna Park, we just have to pay attention and listen to them since there is so many places they can hide in from us. On this route we are currently taking, I usually see a lot of American robins, black-capped chickadees, ravens, and large groups of crows.

American robin
Source: allaboutbirds.org

For example, American robins are fairly common birds. They are easily distinguishable by their orange breast and early song. They can be easily found on people's lawns, forests, or in this case, city parks. Their population numbers are certainly stable and is number 5 on the Continental Concern score. Although they can be found in towns and cities, it is not uncommon to also discover them in forests or the wilderness.

For more information about American robins, allaboutbirds.org is a great source to learn about them:

American Robin. Allaboutbirds.org Retrieved June 9, 2015 http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/American_Robin/lifehistory

Station 8: Animal behavior

Apart from the large number of dogs that I encounter during my weekly visit here, most of the animals I observe are squirrels and birds. Squirrels are fairly common at our location.  During one of my visits here, I was able to observe a Western gray squirrel sprinting across the road I was walking on and scampering up a tree. As I got closer to the squirrel to snap a picture, it froze during its journey up the tree. I was quite surprised that it stopped moving outright but I simply considered it good fortune. After I finished taking my picture, it seemed to gather its senses again and quickly climbed up the tree again. It moved fairly quickly and used the various branches of the tree to blend itself into the backgrounds. 

Western gray squirrel perching in tree

Its behaviors reminded me of the bird I once encountered while trying to observe bird behaviors. There were two small birds that resembled female House Finches in the middle of the road. As I got closer to these birds, the one on the left immediately flew away towards the top of a trees while the one on the right dove straight into the middle of branches as a form of camouflage. If it weren't for the sounds it made as it moved from branch to branch, I would not have known the general direction of where it was.  

Female house finch
Source: allaboutbirds.org

Station 9: Geology/Geomorphology 

Glacial erratic - zoomed in view
Source: Wikimedia Commons

As we wound deeper into the forest, we eventually land on a wooden pathway located right next to an erratic. This erratic is one of the last evidence of how the Ravenna Park ravine was formed when the Vashon Glacial Ice Sheet melted, eventually forming Lake Russell. As the Ice Sheet retreated from the Straits of Juan de Fuca, Lake Russell disappeared yet the Green Lake drainage basin remained. Greek Lake ended up being incredibly important for being on the receiving end of a variety of water sources. 

This glacier is essentially a large granodiorite rock carried by the glacier and left here. Although it may have seemed out of place at first, it has adapted over time with moss and lichens beginning to cover its surface. Children often climb over what they assume is basically a giant rock, their parents taking pictures every so often. Dogs often sniff this area too, most likely wondering what it is because of its immense size. It is a natural part of Ravenna Park now and it is certainly not going anywhere soon.  

For more information on the geomorphology of Ravenna Park:

Ravenna Park. Seattle Parks and Recreation. Retrieved June 9, 2015 from http://www.seattle.gov/parks/park_detail.asp?id=391

Glacial erratic - zoomed out view
Source: Wikimedia Commons

Station 10: Human interactions

Despite Ravenna Park feeling more like a forest than it does a park at times due to the numerous old-growth Douglas Firs, an abundance of people still visits this location everyday. Everytime I drop by this park for my weekly journals or class sessions, I regularly encounter a number of bikers and joggers, most often than not with a dog running alongside them. Ravenna Park is not strict on their leash policy so most of the dogs I see are not on a leash, running leisurely alongside their owner. If excited, they would immediately jump into the creek splashing water everywhere and potentially overturning branches and rocks (ecological disturbances). 

Families and classes often go here as well, spending time together as an occasion to bond. I have seen numerous groups of elementary school kids with their packed lunches while one or two adults are in the background supervising them. With branches already broken off by various reasons such as wind, these kids would run around holding these sticks until their supervisors would remind them not to play with these dangerous tools. As for the children with their parents, I have seen people picking berries with actual berry pickers. 

All of these combined human interactions contribute to the overall state of Ravenna Park, some minimal, some drastic effects/consequences that may accumulate over time. 

This is where we end our walking tour. I hope you decide to visit Ravenna Park sometime in the future!

Jogger with dog
Source: earspawstail.com

Children at creek
Source: cumberlandhcp.org