Observe Ravenna Park: Week 1

October 1^st 2014

4:00pm

Ravenna Park,

Mostly Sunny with a few clouds in the sky

Observation site: Ravenna Park

The observation site I chose was Ravenna Park. Walking through the woods in Washington is a new experience to me. I am from San Diego, California and the terrain is far different than the woods here. My natural experiences have been with eucalyptus trees and coastal shrubs. Although I have been camping several times, the majority of my experiences in nature have been during hikes. On a hike, I would notice rabbits and hawks. If I looked across the hills, I saw shrubs covering the hills, with scattered burned areas. The Seattle terrain is much different than what I am used to. Last year, when I found myself surrounded by trees, I would just stand in amazement. Why are the trees so densely packed together? Why can I not see for miles at a time? It has always been difficult for me to compare my two nature experiences. To help my broaden my understanding of the Seattle landscape, I am constantly trying to learn more about specific plants and terrain. This project should allow me to broaden my natural view of Seattle and give me the chance to observe my surroundings.

To start my exploration, I strolled down the Ravenna Trails. As I walked, each trail split into more trails. I followed the maze, slowly surveying the areas around me. I did not have a specific area type in mind but I found myself inherently attracted to the sound of water rushing down a stream. It became my immediate interest to find where the stream was. Further I traveled down the path and stumbled upon a fallen log adjacent to the creek. Peeking through the branches, I saw the stream covered by branches. This would be my observation spot. To get to the creek, I had to dodge protruding branches and step through muddy ground.

As I stood on a decomposing tree trunk I began to study the area. Directly behind me, centimeters away, was a large western red cedar. The tree looked healthy, with few dying leaves on its’ branches. The leaves were thick and closely connected to one and other.

Next I began to analyze the area directly around me, within 10 square meters. I took note of: the creek’s constant flow, several bigleaf maple leaves on the floor, and a western sword fern. The creek was filled with different sized pebbles and floating leaves. I looked for aquatic life in the creek but was not able to see anything. After I looked at the water, I tried to draw conclusions about the leaves on the ground. As I scanned my muddy surroundings, I saw a mix of fallen leaves but the majority was from the big leaf maple tree. This information has allowed me to infer that a maple tree goes into hibernation before other trees in the area. During the same time I was looking at fallen leaves, I noticed one western sword fern. Unlike many of the plants in the area, there was only one fern, within 10 square meters, that was located directly next to the stream.

Finally, I scanned the area within a 50 square meters radius. Across the creek, I noticed fallen trees; some trees were covered in green moss and have eroded. Directly on top of the eroding trees were the newly fallen trees. The one new tree I noticed had not decomposed, which meant it had fallen several months ago.