Week 2

Sunday, 3pm, 4/14. Sunny with clouds. 52 degrees.

I’d say I now have a much better idea of why all the ENVIRO students are doing this journal project. We’re documenting our observations of the natural world. It’s important for us to spend a lot of time in one place because it takes time for the detail to sink in.

This is my second week at my spot and I feel like I’ve only noticed a few more species. However, this is about as good as the weather gets in the spring in Seattle, so I can dedicate more tine to this journal entry. My goal in this post is to describe my surroundings in great detail and to practice sketching plants (in order to fully observe them). 

My spot is just off the outer loop trail of UBNA. If you were to walk counterclockwise around the loop, the second bench facing Lake Washington is a good landmark for my spot. Short grass surrounds the bench and three rocks lie in front of it. There’s a small trail about 20m long that leads through the Bluebunch Wheatgrass down to Lake Washington. There are many Broad-Leafed Cattails along the waters edge. To the right of the bench there is a small pond, which drains into Lake Washington via a small creek. The plant diversity along the creek is greater than much of the rest of the diversity around the rest of my spot which is dominated by grass, so many of my species ID’s will come from the creek-side. Both Scouring Rush and Giant Horsetails grow near along the creek-side. Unfortunately, there’s a lot of Himalayan Blackberry bushes around the water-proximal zones of my spot. Based on what I’ve heard about the history of this park, I imagine there was once a lot more [blackberry], but it’s still sad to see an invasive species thrive. I haven’t noticed any mammals yet and the only insects I’ve seen are small gnats. Fortunately, there are many birds in this park and even though I’ve only seen a few species, including the Red-Winged Blackbird two weeks in a row, I can hear many more [bird species]. 

With the exception of the weather it doesn’t appear much has changed here in the past week. Perhaps I’ll try to come at different times of the day in future weeks to see it that makes a difference in which bird species  I see... That’s all for now, time to sketch!