Week 7: Fungus and more Birds

5/19 4pm. Weather: sunny with clouds. 63 degrees.

White hymenium is distinctive of the Artist's Bracket. It's not yet sporing.

This week we studied fungus in class so I’m supposed to look for fungus around UBNA. After looking around much of the park, I was only able to find one growth of fungus, which I identified as an Artist’s Bracket, Ganoderma applanatum. The  Bracket was on the east side of the park about 60ft south of the main trail in a wooded area. I three growths of it on a fallen log. At first it looked kind of foreign and ominous, but I quickly identified it because of the it’s unique shape and size. The one I found was roughly 20in wide. The white hymenium made the identification that much easier as well. After spending a few moments identifying the fungus, I’d developed slightly more appreciation for it, partially because of the layers it appeared to have, and partially because it was the only fungus I was able to find.

It hasn’t rained much over the past week and it’s starting to show. Although it drizzled a little on Saturday, and there was that crazy storm on Monday, the water in the ponds is lower. Some of the streams that the ponds into the lake are dry. When I went to the shoreline behind my spot to look for ducks, I noticed this green scum in the water. I think this might be caused by the landfill that UBNA is built over, but I imagine the lack of rain doesn’t help keep the water fresh. 

As I’ve mentioned previously the grass has grown considerably. I passed by the spot that we all practiced sketching in UBNA this week. The photo doesn’t really do it justice, but if we were to return to the same spot and sit in a circle, the grass would easily exceed our heads.

yuk... That doesn't look good for anyone

For the rest of my time in UBNA this week, I observed birds. From my spot, I saw the same Red Winged Blackbird that I’d mentioned in previous weeks that has a territory is the tree and cattails in front of me. I also noticed two Great Blue Herons that flew over Lake Washington towards a likely nest east of my spot. I saw a Song Sparrow close to the entrance of the park. I wasn’t able to identify it at the time because it was so far away, but I took a short video of it so I could match the call later. WARNING, the video is very quiet, so adjust volume accordingly before/after listing to it. Finally I watched these three Tree Swallows flying together very harmoniously. I noticed a lot of Nat swarms around the park, so they could’ve been hunting but it almost looked like they were playing. They were flying very fast so I couldn’t take a picture but I tried to sketch their shape. I’m not positive about the idea, but they were great flyers with dark backs and white chests, which fits the Tree Swallow description pretty well.

Supposed to be a Tree swallow in flight.

Well, that’s all for now. Til next time.