Week 10. Final Reflection

6/11/2013, Tuesday. Post-rain, sunny with clouds. 67 degrees. 

Before, small spheres of water were falling from the sky.

It seems that the water in the sky has blown to the east.

Now the sun is shining on almost all the land here.

The surface of the water shines along the gentle wave crests.

Interrupting the shine are these round plants.

These green circles rest on the water in clusters.

There's not an isolated one.

Sometimes they appear to be covered by a gentle wave,

But they always reemerge on the top showing off their greenness.

They are about as large as my open hand, stretched out.

Some are slightly larger.

Some are slightly smaller.

The circle gently float along the shoreline.

Bathing in the sunlight.

A giant beast flies out of the brush.

It stretches out its wings, which I can tell are larger than my arms.

It flies about 10 meters high before dipping back down.

Then, suddenly, another just like the first emerges. 

The grayish-blue second beast follows the same flight pattern.

The first one makes a small loop before starting to fly west.

The second follows this pattern.

Originally, their necks were long, but they've tucked them for in for flight.

Now that both have completed the loop, they fly west together.

They are silent, despite being on of the largest beast in the sky.

This species swim slowly across the surface of the water.

If it wanted to, it could take to the skies., but for now it swims.

There are many, perhaps they are family or neighbors.

They are mostly brown with black and gray streaks.

Several have green heads. 

While most swim 10m out in the lake, 

Some swim in shallower waters.

One watches over the young along the shore as they feed.

This species is very communal.

In my 10 prior years in Seattle, I’d never taken the time to explore Union Bay Natural Area. I considered choosing a more familiar spot for my observation site, but I decided to try something new at the back at the beginning of the quarter. I don’t regret the choice at all. I feel like I could learned just as much about a more familiar park, such as Ravenna or Interlaken, but instead I had an opportunity to learn just as much about a foreign ecosystem. Being a rock-geek, I was less familiar with shoreline environments. By returning to UBNA week after week, I had was not only able to (personally) discover new species but to see how life changed in that little niche of Seattle. All always have a fond memory of the time I spent in that park and I plan on making time to return when I’m in the neighborhood.

Prior to this class, I’d only studied the geologic and human history of the Puget Sound region, never the natural history. Now I have a much better idea of the different native species to the area and how they coexist with on another. By taking this class,  I was able to get exposed to many species, learn their names, families, what kinds of environments they like, etc… but we only skimmed the surface. One of the things I learned from this class is every species has it’s own characteristics and way it relates with the outside world. There are so many things that could be extensively studied because of this, such as bubble bee populations in urban environments. This class also reinforced I belief I have that is: “humans need to be more in touch (literally & figuratively) with nature.” 

When I reflect on the Union Bay, I suppose if I were charitable, I could say I know my sit spot intimately. I think to know a natural spot intimately, you not only have to be able to identify the surrounding features within it by name, but you have to have some experiential memories with it. I wouldn’t say I know the natural Puget Sound region intimately. A professional naturalist could visit UBNA for the first time in her life and name every species as well as tell me more than I already know about them. But I have the advantage of having spent time within UBNA. I’ve sat in the rain and watched the grass grow. I’ve watched the shoreline change and mothers feed their ducklings. I’ve overturned logs and have hunted for mushrooms. I’ve seen Great Blue Heron’s land in the lake and listened to House Finches. I’ve watched and listened and sat in UBNA.

Week 8: The East Side

5/25 Saturday. Ellensburg, Sunny with clouds. 62 degrees.

Having a chance to get out of gray Seattle to the the warmer east side of the Cascades to observer the local phenology was a great opportunity. The day started early, but we had nearly reached our destination by 10am. At our first rest stop we were lucky enough to see a Red-Tailed Hawk riding a warm current to get some elevation. When we got to Yakima River Canyon just south of Ellensburg we saw a Great Blue Heron! I cheesy as it sounds, I was really excited to cross the foot bridge to enter the natural area.

Some musing I did about the geologic history. The dates were wrong.. (10-15mya)

The east side of the Cascades receives about 20in of rain/year. Because of this the vegetation is quite different. At Yakima Canyon I observed a lot of Sage Brush and Rabbit Brush; I noticed there was a pretty even distribution there. The identifiable difference between the two brushes is the Sage Brush has three little toes at the end of its leafs, whereas the Rabbit Brush as uninterrupted leafs. There’s also Antelope Brush, which has smaller, greener leafs, and is leaf frequent. Along with the brushes, I noticed more rushes mixed in the grassy areas. In a small meadow we found Sarah identified these pretty distinct flowers growing called Yellow Salsifies, which can be identified by their stems which remain cool despite the heat. We also found one cactus in the valley, which looked like the Fragile Prickly Pear from the National Audubon Society Guide., but it could be something else. Other vegetation in the canyon consisted of Nootka Roses and  Pondarosa Pines, which both grew closer to the river. It was cool to see some vegetation that grew on both the west and east sides.

Such a cool flower. Yellow Salsify, Tragopogon dubius  

This was the first cactus I've seen in WA. Could be the Fragile Prickly Pear,  Opuntia fragilis.

 As for the fauna at the canyon site, we did a lot of bird watching. One of the first birds we saw was a Black-Headed Gross Beak, which is orange, black, and white and has a intricate song. We also saw an American Goldfinch and a Lazuli bunting, which looks like a blue-headed sparrow. We spent a lot of time looking for Chats, which we could hear but not find. One eventually flew out, as if to display itself to us, then in less than a minute, dived back into the bushes; they’re so elusive! We managed to see a lot of Cedar Waxwing’s socializing in a dead tree by the river (over five). You could hear crickets the whole time, but they were hard to find in the shade of the bushes. There were quite a few of these small butterflies, which could be the Western Blue-Tail based on their size, location and season. Just before we left, Carter caught a Gardiner Snake which added to the diversity of species observed. 

The Lupine, very pretty. We have these in UBNA as well!

Our second stop was at the top of one a plateau, roughly 1000ft higher than the base of the canyon. The first thing I noticed was how moist the ground was. Everyone was tracking foot prints, it must’ve rained in the past two days. The top of the plateau had just as much Sage Brush but no trees. Some other shrubs in the area were the Lupine, Balsamroot, and Douglas Aster. There was Crustose Lichen on some of the bare rock and shrubs. I quickly noticed the Tent Caterpillar  outbreak and avoided the hives. I’m a slightly terrified of bugs and did not enjoy the outbreak in Seattle about ten years ago. The only bird my group saw at the site was a Sage Thatcher, but we did hear a California Quail which sounds really funny. Apparently the other group found a lizard...

Best shot of the waterfall that I got. I was impressed that the shrubs could grow on the cliffside. The rocks look like they've experienced quite a bit of freeze-thaw weathering.

Our final stop of the day was at the Columnar Basalt Waterfall. I was really excited to see the Basalt columns so I spent most of my time trailblazing to the end. Because we were hiking along a creek, the vegetation was not only more dense, but greener. There was about 100ft along where the trail went through a field of Nootka Roses. Most of the trees were Pondarosa Pines, but towards the end of the trail I noticed a couple of Douglas Firs. The waterfall was only about 30ft tall but fell into a small quarry shaped depression. I liked Tim’s suggestion that the bowl like shaped could’ve been formed by a fault. I spent my final moments at the end of the trail journaling about what I’d seen over the course of the day. It was long, but the east side is beautiful, which makes being outside quite enjoyable. Thanks for another great trip!

I like to sit on rocks and think about life!