Small Field Due East of McMahon Hall, University of Washington Seattle Campus, 2012/5/28
Small Field Due East of McMahon Hall, University of Washington Seattle Campus. 11:00.
Well, I had planned on coming here when we had a bit of sunny weather, but this will have to do. It is roughly 60 degrees Fahrenheit outside and rainy, but this weather allows me to compare the visit to my previous time here.
It appears that the Himalayan Blackberry (Rubus armeniacus) thicket has spread out in the northwestern and southern parts of the field. Also, I am now noticing Trailing Blackberry (Rubus ursinus) in much of the grass in the area.
Due to a slight northwestern breeze, the large Western Red Cedar (Thuja plicata) that offered me shelter before is not doing as good of a job. The rain is light, but certainly enough to make a person cold!
The Salal (Gaultheria shallon) that also makes up the Blackberry thicket seems to be healthy, but it is not spreading as fast as the Blackberry. I wonder why there is so little plant diversity in the middle of the field? Perhaps the Blackberry would dominate the whole place if it were not for anthropogenic intervention.
There are no more Dandelion (Taraxacum officinale) heads to be seen right now. It appears as though they are done fruiting for the Spring season.
There are three American Crows (Corvus brachryrhynchos) picking at the ground and another cawing on top of a fence. It looks as though the Crow on the fence is keeping lookout for the others.
There is a bit of Scotchbroom (Cytisus scoparius) here around the edges of the field as well. It was not here last time I visited. Perhaps we will see more of it next year/during the summer?
I look forward to coming back here in a few months to see the future developments of plant succession!
Species Observed:
Cytisus scoparius
Gaultheria shallon
Rubus armeniacus
Rubus ursinus
Taraxacum officinale
Thuja plicata
Corvus brachyrhynchos
Comentarios
Agregar un comentario