Week 8

November 19^th, 2014

3:00 pm

Ravenna Park

Sunny Weather

This week I returned to my Ravenna Park location. The past few weeks have had no rain, so the amount of mud at my location was greatly decreased. I found myself not having to worry about getting stuck in the mud, which was a benefit for me. Unlike last week, this week did not show many changes at my site. The majority of leaves have fallen from the trees in the area and leaves have piled on the floor of the forest. The water flow was lower than normal, again due to the lack of rain. Ravenna Park creek gets much of its water from city run-off. When it does not rain in Seattle, the water level lowers greatly. Many of the plants that I had identified, like the western sword fern by the creek, were almost completely dried out. The branch from the western red cedar appears to have grown an inch, which made it difficult more me to observe the entire Ravenna Park location. It is a constant battle between my head and that one branch. Lastly, I walked around my area trying to find new plants. I found a dying vine maple amongst piles of leaves.  

Panoramic picture of the observation site.

A picture of the Western Sword Fern directly next to the creek.

A close-up of the Western Sword Fern by the creek.

Vine Maple growing on the ground.

Bird Observations:

I began the assignment to find birds by standing silently by some trees. Hearing birds moving around, it is not difficult to find birds in sunny weather. If you are listening closely, there are many birds chirping around you in the forest. I am still in the process of learning the birdcalls; therefore it was difficult for me to identify what birds I was hearing. As I stood I heard rustling in the bushes to my left. I slowly inched towards the bush and fern filled area to look for the bird. The bird kept jumping from branch to branch and was just out of site. I remained quiet and waited for the bird to come to me. Within a few minutes, a bird was jumping on branches directly in front of me. It appeared to be looking for food because it was not making any chirping noises. Also, the bird moved from branch to branch quickly, looking in all directions. It remained in the plants close to the ground. Once it was closer to me, the bird noticed I was standing there and did not seem phased. I tried to identify it in the field and guessed a song sparrow, which was wrong. After doing some research later, I decided the bird I saw was a pacific wren. It was a dark brown color with a puffy stomach. Unlike many small birds, its stomach was larger and more prominent. I wanted to see how the bird would react to the call of its own species, so I played a song sparrow call from Youtube on my phone. Due to the fact that I miss identified the bird, playing the song sparrow call caused the pacific wren to fly away. The bird immediately heard the call of another bird and flew towards some ferns by the creek. This means that the two types of birds do not socialize with one and other. The song sparrow, which also eats seeds in the bushes, is a direct competitor with the wren. From the experiences I have had with song sparrows, they are territorial. The pacific wren heard the call of the sparrow and did not want to engage in a fight. As the bird flew away, the flight pattern of the pacific wren intrigued me. It flew close to the ground and moved quickly. The pacific wren flaps its wings twice then soars, flaps its wings twice then soars; it repeated this as many times as necessary. I continued to play the call of the song sparrow and after awhile the pacific wren came back to its original feeding location. It quickly learned that I was playing the call of the song sparrow from my phone. 

When standing in the forest I heard a call from one barred owl to another. For about 20 seconds, in the distant trees, I heard the distinct noise of the barred owl. I easily identified the call because it is distinct. The call starts with owl sounds and has what sounds like monkey noises included in it. Once I heard the barred owls, I was determined to find them. I quickly made my way towards the area and scanned the trees above me. Unfortunately, I was unable to see the barred owls but it was still an amazing experience to hear them in a woodland habitat.

Gesture Sketches:

Pacific Wren looking for food

Pacific Wren in flight

Week 7

November 12^th, 2014

2:30 pm

Ravenna Park

Sunny Weather

This week, I went back to my favorite spot in Ravenna Park. Unlike most days, it was less than 40 degrees (Fahrenheit), so I had to layer many of my jackets. To be honest, I was just happy it was not raining. Before I left, I put on my rain boots. After many mistakes of wearing the wrong pair of shoes to my muddy observation site at Ravenna, this day I was prepared. I walk through Ravenna and finally arrive at my site. Like every time I visit, I somehow managed to get my entire foot stuck in the mud. Luckily the rain boots were tall enough but for about 5 minutes I was trying to get my rain boot out of the mud. As I crossed the nurse log with a foot inch deep mud on each side, I arrived at the Western Red Cedar I call my observation point. I looked around the site and without realizing said “wow.” The changes from last week to this week were significant. The trees had lost almost all their leaves. This resulted in piles of leaves across the floor bed. The canopy visibility was increased and I could see further in all directions. It was shocking to me how many leaves had fallen since I had last been at the site. We have learned that deciduous trees loose their leaves due to the cold. Recently, the temperature has been below freezing at night. I think this may have a correlation to the number of leaves that had fallen. One of the plants that I have consistently checked on is a Bracken Fern, next to the creek. The fern was mostly brown, with a few green leaves scattered. Everything was dying. Even the Giant Horsetail I identified only a few weeks ago was mostly dried out. All the leaves that had fallen were dried out. When I went searching for mushrooms, I noticed a leaf pattern. The leaves on the top, the most recently fallen, were dry and brown. As you continue to uncover leaves, they become more wet and decayed. To find mushrooms, the moist leaves are the perfect place to look. It was also interesting to me how quickly these leaves had decayed. I remember at the beginning of the quarter, there were not any leaves on the ground at all. Now the levels at the bottom layer of the pile are almost decayed. 

A picture of a decaying Douglas Maple Leaf on a Bracken Fern. 

Fungi:

Trametes Versicolor

I found many of these mushrooms on a nurse log at my site. It is in the family Polyporaceae and has a common name of Turkey Tail. The species name versicolor means “several colors.” It is a polypore mushroom and this means it grows on the side of wood without a stem. The colors of the head have striped color. The colors tend to be rust brown to darker brown, with a white outer stripe. The caps are 1-3 millimeters thick and have a leathery texture.  Unlike the other mushrooms, the underside of this mushroom has light brown pores. An interesting fact about the turkey tail is that the mushroom is actually edible.

Marasmius androsaceus

I found this mushroom under many leaves on a moist nurse log. It is in the family Marasmiaceae and has a common name of a Horsehair Fungus. It was difficult to tell what kind of wood the mushroom was growing on, but I had to remove piles of leaves to find it. The mushroom forms a dependence on this wet environment under the leaves because it allows for the mushroom to get sufficient moisture. To characterize this species, you look at the membraneous caps. The overall shape of the head of the mushroom is convex. Each mushroom is a white color with a widely-spaced gill underside. The black hollow stems can measure up to 8.0 centimeters, but the one I saw was no more than 3 centimeters. My research of the mushroom says that it grows in groups, but I only found it alone on a nurse log.

Mycena subcana

I found this mushroom on a nurse log surrounded by moss. It is in the family Mycenaceae and has a common name of the Neutral Gray Mycena. Interesting fact: Mycena comes from the Ancient Greek word of mushroom. These mushrooms can grow from 3 to 7 centimeters long. I found many of these mushrooms and I found they grew no larger than 4 centimeters. The stem itself is fragile with a medium gray hairy base. Although I did not try it, removing the stem from a nurse log can give off an odor of bleach. The mushrooms tend to grow in a scattered formation on soil or in moss under conifers. The cap is a bell-shape with a gray-brown color. It has gills that are broad and pale gray. It tends to be difficult to identify the specific mycena due to the fact that there are so many types.

Mycena capillaris

I found this mushroom on a nurse log of what appeared to be a fallen big leaf maple. It is in the family Mycenaceae and has a common name of Miniscule Mycena. The cap varies from 5-7 millimeters and has a bell-shape. Also, the cap has a soft light brown color and gets darker towards the center. The gills on the underside of the mushroom are light tan. The fragile stalk grows from the center of the mushroom and can grow from 2.5-6 centimeters. The mushrooms I found at my site were no larger than 3 centimeters. I found these mushrooms all over the fallen wood.

Mycena stylobates

I found this mushroom on growing on the leaf of a deciduous tree, specifically an alder leaf. It is in the family Mycenaceae and has a common name of the Bulbous Bonnet. It is found in North America and is inedible to all humans alike. The body of the mushroom is white with a bell-shaped cap. These are the smallest of the Mycena I found with less than 15 millimeters in cap width. The mushrooms grow in clusters on the leaves of deciduous or coniferous trees. The mushroom has white gills on its underside. The stems are fragile and grow no more than 60 millimeters. These specific mushrooms were difficult to find due to their small size.

Lichen:

Parmelia sulcata

I found this lichen on a nurse log at my location. It is in the family Parmeliaceae and has a common name of Hammered Shield Lichen. This specific type of lichen is widespread and very tolerant of pollution. Also, it grows all year round. Lichen has lobes and the Hammered Shield Lichen specifically have elongated separate lobes. The upper surface of the lichen is smooth and shiny. The lower surface of the lichen is black. Hammered Shield Lichen grows on deciduous and coniferous trees in coastal or mountainous areas.

Repeat Series:

Panoramic picture of the observation site.

A picture of the Western Sword Fern directly next to the creek