Diario de ashersh

Location 47.66125000000, -122.41150000000, Discovery Park
Time - around 2 pm
Weather - somewhat chilly, 57 degrees, slight breeze, overcast
Date - June 4th, 2012

For my final location, I went to Discovery Park and did my observations there. My location was in a sheltered forested area, dominated by Big Leaf Maples and Deodar Cedars. The ground was wet and soggy, as the area was shaded and it had previously rained, and walking around on the understory meant a lot of sinking shoes in leaves and breaking rotting branches. At the beginning of the walkway that I entered I noticed a large Western Redcedar surrounded by Big Leaf Maple, along with several Deodar Cedars to my right. Indian Plum and Vine Maple were interspersed with these as well. On many of the branch intersections I noticed spit like substances, which I identified as spitbug nests.

I made my way off the trail to look at the understory and some fallen logs in more detail. On my way in, I saw several tall Oregon Grape plants, some lichen covering a trunk, and some grasses, which looked very similar to invasive Sweet Vernal Grass that we identified on the last field trip. Some interesting looking red flies were sitting on all of these plants, and were hard to disturb, only flying away when I got extremely close to them. On a fallen log I saw some black fungus, which I identified as hypoxylon, based on what I learned from the fungi tour of UBNA. Next to this, on a living tree, I spotted a fungus that looked a lot like a Turkey Tail, with green on top. I also spotted several black slugs that could have been European Black Slugs.

I continued to walk through my site until I came to a small path lined on either side by Oregon Grape. Here I noticed an English Holly Plant, and a tree covered in Oyster Mushrooms (about twenty of them traveling up the right side of the tree). There was also a birch tree, and a Redcedar that seemed to be torn/scratched into pieces. I wonder if it was a human that did this damage to the tree.

Species List

1. Big Leaf Maple - Acer macrophyllum
2. Deodar Cedar - Cedrus deodara
3. Western Redcedar - Thuja plictata
4. Vine Maple - Acer circinatum
5. Spitbug/Froghopper - Cercopoidea
6. Indian Plum - Oemleria
7. Tall Oregon Grape - Mahonia aquafolium
8. Lichen
9. Hypoxylon - Biscogniauxia
10. Turkey Tail - Trametes versicolor
11. European Black Slug - Arion ater
12. English Holly - Ilex aquafolium
13. Oyster Mushroom - Pleurotus

Location - Mary Gates, UW Greenhouse, Medicinal Herb Garden, Near Allen Library
Time - 1:30-3:10

First, we had a video on squirrels for the mammal group that we watched in the classroom, then split up into groups to go to different stations. The first station had several stuffed squirrels and chipmunks, and the natural history and characteristics of these were discussed. We were then sent outside to look at squirrel trapping techniques and observe some robot squirrels that are used for studies by graduate students at UW. We talked about mark recapture, and saw the receivers that would be used to track tagged creatures. Then, we headed towards Allen to feed squirrels in the grassy fenced off area, learning about scent marking, foraging and storing habits, and the invasion of the larger invasive Eastern Grey Squirrel.

Next we split up into different groups and went to the medicinal herb garden to learn about beetles. We were handed several specimens collected by the group and discussed how different beetles are important for our local ecosystem, as well as the overall diversity and abundance of beetles. There is a beetle for pretty much every important ecological aspect, decomposing, etc. Next, we went into the Botany Greenhouse and were taught about local butterflies and moths, and the processes of pollination. Finally, we ended up outside by the hives to learn about bees. There was a student tending to the bees while we were there, which was interesting and a good example of how humans utilize their amazing adaptations and have learned to interact safely with them.

Location - Union Bay Natural Area
Weather - warm, 70s, clear skies
Time -1:30-3:10

The birds group went first and split us up into sections to find birds to show us. The first one we saw was a swallow, and we talked about the different kinds, one which could be a barn swallow with a yellow belly and a forked tail, or a purple swallow. We saw some crows, and heard an interesting story about an experiment that showed crows can remember the faces of people they find threatening, and pass this information through several generations. Next we saw a virginia rail, with a long orange beak and a blackish/blueish/green color. Also an American Goldfinch, hummingbird, and cedar wax-wing (pale yellow belly and breast with a yellow stripe on the tail) were spotted. Black cat chickadees are very common to the area, as well as red winged blackbirds (which are heavily parasitized by cowbirds).

The waterfowl group also split us up into sections. The first part was where we learned about dabbling ducks. Dabbling ducks do not dive, expect for merganzers, which are fish eating ducks that fully submerge themselves when they eat, and use a cerrated bill to catch the fish. The most common at UBNA is the hooded merganzer. Cinnamon teals have bright red eyes and are sexually dimorphic. Next we talked about canada geese, which have 11 subspecies and weight up to 23 pounds and live 10-25 years. They are often harvested by hunters due to their excessive populations. Woodducks are the most beautiful of ducks and can reach speeds of 30 miles per hour, inhabiting marshes and swamps. Blue herons spend most of their time in the water as waders and are very methodical in their processes. They eat fish, rodents, and reptiles and swallow things whole. They have special powder that can congeal the oil off of fish in a clump that they brush off. Buffel head ducks are only here in the winter and are the smallest American duck. They migrate north to lay their eggs in woodpecker holes, and are monogamous. Mallards are sexually dimorphic and can be found pretty much anywhere in the world. Females are sometimes gang raped by groups of males without mates.

Location - Union Bay Natural Area
Weather - somewhat warm, partly cloudy, mid 60s
Time -1:30-3:10

This was the second day of class tours, starting off with the fungi group. We were split into sections and taken to different locations around UBNA. The first mushroom we looked at was called leratiomyces percevalii, which had a purplish spore print and was string like. This was growing in the sawdust by the water, and prefers urban environments. Next we looked at parasata plicates, or the Japanese Parasol Mushroom. This one is short lived, only lasting 24 hours after it has rained.There were also going to be some orange jelly mushrooms that look like salmon eggs, but they only show up after previous rain, where they swell up.The next station discussed the history of mushrooms, how they have always been feared, and have symbiotic relationships with over 90% of species . Also, wood chips on campus carry spores from all over the world, and have the potential to introduce a multitude of species. The next station discussed mycorrhorizal relationships, where the glucose and sucrose travel to the roots of a plant where it absorbs it in the mycellium. We looked at a highly poisonous "fiberhead" mushroom that can cause cardiac arrest, a turkey tail which grow in shelves and often used in medicinal tea, and lecaria, which can form on the roots of plants. Next we saw an artists conk, the third biggest type of mushroom, which is very common and is a white rot decomposer. Finally, we saw sterium, which are known as bleeders or nonbleeders, and hypoxilin, a black mushroom that looks like lava rocks, and trimedes.

The next group was forbs. We looked at white clover, a nonnative trileaf plant that is edible and often used for livestock, can grow in a variety of temperatures, and should not be ingested if damaged or wilted because it can cause cellular asphyxiation. Next we looked at tall buttercup, which can grow up to three feet and is a non native weed of concern. Next we drank dandelion wine and learned that most of the "wildflowers" on campus have actually been introduced. We talked about skunk cabbage, which can actually generate its own heat. Finally, we learned about vetch and thimbleberry, an edible plant which can be used for jam and also for medicinal purposes.

Time - 1:30-3:10
Weather - Slight drizzle, low 50s, slight breeze

This class period was the first of our campus tours. My group, trees, was the first group to go. We split up the class into five groups, for five different stations, and passed the groups between them. Each of us had two trees that we were to discuss. I was station five and my two trees were Western Redcedar and Giant Sequoia. Skylar was station one, with Big Leaf Maple and Horse-chestnut, Bearden at number two with Douglas Fir and Madrone, Jessie at number three with Bigcone Pine and Deodar Cedar, and Sarah at four with Gingko and English Elm.

I discussed the characteristics of each tree, how to identify them (Western Redcedar by their braided needles and their scent when crushed, Sequoia by the fibrous bark and huge stature). I also discussed the uses of each tree (Redcedar was inherently linked to indigenous culture, as it was made into canoes and clothing, and is currently used as bases for perfume, deoderant, and insecticides, while Giant Sequoia is useless for lumber due to the nature of its bark). Finally, I talked about some interesting facts about each tree (Western Redcedar trees are associated with generosity and there is a legend that when a generous man from a tribe dies, a Western Redcedar would grow by his grave to give back to his people. Giant Sequoias can grow to be up to 300 feet tall and over 20 feet in diameter, and once boasted the biggest tree in the world, "Mother of the Forest", who has since died).

After our tour was complete, we split up into four groups and participated in the mosses and lichens tour. The first station I went to involved a clever skit about an algae meeting a fungi and forming a symbiotic relationship at a party. Next we went down Memorial Way where we learned about several different types of lichens, all present on one tree that we examined in detail. Some of these included Antlered Perfume, Shield Lichen, Candeleria concolor, and Tube Lichen. The final station we attended was at the UW Farm, where we identified different types of mosses. These included Common Feather Moss, Red Roof Moss, and Bristle Moss. We learned that during different times of the year, some mosses are easier to identify than others. On the way back to Drumheller Fountain, we got a crash course on moss and lichen biology and reproduction, and learned how to do moss graffiti!

Species List

1. Western Redcedar - Thuja plicata
2. Giant Sequoia - Sequoiadendron giganteum
3. Antlered Perfume - Evernia prunastri
4. Shield Lichen - Parmelia sulcata
5. Candeleria concolor
6. Tube Lichen - Hypogymnia physodes
7. Common Feather Moss - Eurhynchium praelongum
8. Red Roof Moss - Ceratodon purpureus
9. Bristle Moss - Orthotrichum lyellii

UW Campus - May 11th
Weather - warm, high 60s/low 70s, moderately clear skies

Sarah, Jessie, and I met on campus to go through as many trees in the Brockman Memorial Tree Tour as we could to prepare for our tree tour for the class. We printed out the sheet and map of trees and headed out to W Stevens Way by the Urban Farm and Botany Greenhouse where we started trying to find the trees listed.

We discovered that the trees were much harder to find than expected, mainly because there were no GPS coordinates on the tour, as we had originally thought. We spent most of our time looking up pictures of the trees on our phones to compare with ones we thought were in the right location, as well as using our intuition from what we had learned so far. Unfortunately the images on the tour website were unclear or taken at times when the trees had lost their leaves or were not flowering, making it even more difficult to determine whether we were identifying the same tree. Some trees did have labels on them that illustrated they were part of the tree tour.

We noticed that the most common trees on campus were Western Redcedars, Deodar Cedars, Western Hemlocks, Douglas Firs, and Lawson Cypresses.

The tour took us around W Stevens Way past Winkenwerder Hall, all the way to the Hub by Allen Library. We managed to identify about 18 trees in two hours. These trees are listed in the species list below.

Species List

1. Deodar Cedar (Cedrus Deodara)
2. Monterey Pine (Pinus radiata)
3. European Larch (Larix decidua)
4. China-Fir (Cunninghamia lanceolata)
5. Japanese Snowbell Tree (Styrax japonicus)
6. Coast Redwood (Sequoia sempervirens)
7. Bigcone Pine (Pinus Coulteri)
8. Lawson Cypress (Chamaecyparis Lawsoniana)
9. Kwanzan Cherry (Prunus serrulata 'Kwanzan')
10. English Elm (Ulmus procera)
11. Pin Oak (Quercus palustris)
12. Eastern Dogwood (Cornus florida)
13. Ginkgo (Ginkgo biloba)
14. American White Elm (Ulmus americana)
15. Honey Locust (Gleditsia triacanthos f. inermis)
16. Silk Tree (Albizia Julibrissin)
17. Pindrow Fir (Abies Pindrow)

The Brockman Tree Tour link is here: http://www.cfr.washington.edu/BrockmanTreeTour/

Link to our UW Trees iNaturalist Project is here: http://www.inaturalist.org/projects/university-of-washington-trees

The next stop on our field trip was at Money Creek and Leavenworth.
11:15 am
Warm weather, sun, high 60s

We stopped at Money Creek and went down to the water to look for critters. The first one I spotted was a dead Stone Fly stuck on a rock. It was large, has two tail divisions, a segmented abdomen, and inch long antennae. Next, Susan spotted a caddisfly larvae, which make protective cases out of silk decorated with gravel, sand, and debris.

We also saw wild ginger, called so because it tastes and smells similar to ginger, but is not related. This plant has heart shaped leaves and a three pronged purplish flower underneath.

We also saw an inky cap mushroom, oyster mushroom, and brown rot fungus.

Species List

1. Stonefly - Order plecoptera
2. Caddisfly - Order trichoptera
3. Western Wild Ginger - Asarum caudatum
4. Inky Cap - Ardea herodias
5. Oyster Mushroom - Pleurotus ostreatus

Next, we reached Leavenworth. We parked in a dirt lot and hiked up a hill to do make some observations. The weather by this point was very warm, in the 70s with full sun and few clouds in the sky. The time was around 2 pm.

The first plant we saw here was Yarrow, also known as "little feather" for the shape of its leaves. We also saw balsam root (yellow flowers and arrow shaped leaves), some peonies, as well as arabidopsis. Susan told us about the death camus, a toxic plant is dangerously similar to its cousin, the blue camus. The blue camus is a commonly used plant and food staple for Native Americans, and fields that had death camus growing were weeded out carefully in case the wrong plant was picked.

Next was my favorite part of the whole trip - lizard hunting. We had a pole with a small loop of string on the end of it, and were able to hook it around the lizards head without it noticing (it thought the string was a blade of grass). Then the lizard could be gently lifted, and the string removed. I caught two lizards with this device, and was very excited to have found an easy technique to do so in the future! The lizards that were caught were male and female western fence lizards, as well as a baby. They were dark grey on top, with shiny blue bellies.

We also saw ocean spray, a Douglas Fir with a burnt trunk, a fleshy mushroom called that is often covered in slime, indian paintbrush, and several unidentified blue butterflies.

Species List

1. Yarrow - Achillea millefolium
2. Balsam Root - Balsamorhiza sagittata
3. Browns Peony - Peonia brownii
4. Genus Arabidopsis
5. Chocolate Lily - Fritillaria biflora
6. Death Camus - Zigadenus venenosus
7. Western Fence Lizard - Sceloporus occidentalis
8. Ocean Spray - Holodiscus discolor
9. Douglas Fir - Pseudotsuga menziesii
10. Indian Paintbrush - Castilleja coccinea

The next stop on our field trip was to Index, Washington.
Weather - high 50s, somewhat breezy, mainly spent in shade

The first thing we noticed about this location was the intensity of moss, which was indicative of the high precipitation rates in this location, about twice that of Seattle.

We noticed a fringecup, and a big leaf maple with licorice ferns growing off of it. Trillium ovatum was spotted on the ground along with false Lily of the Valley, woodfern (delicate and lacy), and huckleberry (growing out of a nurse log and being provided nutrients from it). We spent some time identifying diaspora, or Hookers Fairybells, which has two small white flowers underneath the leaf.

We also looked carefully at a stinging nettle, discussing possible cures (more nettle juice, or rubbing fern spores on it). The way a nettle works is by inserting microscopic syringes that feel like small slivers of glass into your skin. We saw Devils Club, more bleeding heart (which has a shelf for pollen collection), wild lettuce, and youth-on-age (plant with small white flowers).

We also spotted some polyporus fungus, a wood decaying fungus that will turn brown when scratched. This artist conk will gain a new layer every year, and can be up to 20-30 years old.

Species List

1. Fringecup - Tellima grandiflora
2. Big Leaf Maple - Acer macrophyllum
3. Pacific Trillium - Trillium ovatum
4. False Lily of the Valley - Maianthemum dilatatum
5. Spinulose Woodfern - Dryopteris carthusiana
6. Red Huckleberry - Vaccinium parvifolium
7. Hookers Fairybells - Diasporum hookeri
8. Stinging Nettle - Urtica dioica
9. Devils Club - Oplopanuc horridus
10. Pacific Bleeding Heart - Dicentra formosa
11. Wild lettuce - Lactuca virosa
12. Youth on age - Tolmiea menziesii
13. Artist Conk - Ganoderma applanatum

On May 12th, our natural history class went on a field trip to Leavenworth, Washington, along with several other locations along the way.

Goldbar, WA - 9:17 am
44 degrees in the shade, somewhat clear skies

We first discovered a vine maple next to the parking spot for our van, and discussed the difference in leaf shape and size in comparison to a big leaf maple. We also looked at Cascara (which can be used as a laxative), twinflower (a plant named by Carl Linneas), hazelnut, and saskatoon.

We continued down the path where we observed honeysuckle, thimbleberry, bleeding heart, and japanese knotweed (an invasive plant species). We reached the water where we saw a cottonwood exhibiting advantageous rooting because of the its location on a flood plain. Susan caught a bombus bee which we photographed. Further down the trail we saw scotch broom (with yellow "talking flowers" that require a heavy bee to pollinate), horsetail and indian plum. We stopped to talk about an invasive grass that Susan spotted, which we identified as sweet vernal grass, an invasive grass that is slowly moving north from California. We also spotted an American robin, hermit warbler, and flowering dogwood.

Then we packed up and headed to our next location.

Species List

1. Cascara - Frangula purshiana
2. Twinflower - Linnaea borealis
3. Hazelnut - Corylus americana
4. Saskatoon - Amelanchier alnifolia
5. Orange Honeysuckle - Lonicera ciliosa
6. Thimbleberry - Rubus perviflorus
7. Pacific Bleeding Heart - Dicentra formosa
8. Japanese Knotweed - Fallopia japonica
9. Cottonwood - Genus populus
10. Scotch Broom - Cytisus scoparius
11. Bombus Bee - Genus bombus
12. Great Horsetail - Equisetum telmeteia
13. Indian Plum - Oemleria cerasiformis
14. Sweet Vernal Grass - Anthoxanthum odoratum
15. American Robin - Turdus migratorius
16. Hermit Warbler - Setophaga occidentalis
17. Flowering Dogwood - Cornus florida

April 19th, 2012
UBNA and CUH
Temperature - Overcast, mid 50s, no rain
Time: 1:30 - 2:45 pm

Today I visited the Union Bay Natural Area, as well as the Center for Urban Horticulture. I crossed the bridge to get to the parking lot before UBNA starts, and noticed some lily pads in the water. I continued on and observed Himalayan Blackberry, though significantly reduced since last year, enclosed by several wooden posts.

When I reached the wetland area, the first thing I noticed was a lot of cattails in the water, and red winged blackbirds perched on them. They were making loud shrieks at each other, and one chased the other around the nearby air for a few minutes before they both settled down and sat quietly. A great blue heron was stalking some fish in the small bay to my right, and I watched as it stood carefully waiting for several minutes.

I started walking towards the CUH, and noticed Great Horsetails were also nearby, as well as creeping buttercup, both growing in abundance alongside the path. Once I reached the farm space, I noticed a field of grass and vetch, which I could see was being used to make a compost heap for the crops to provide nutrients. Vetch is a type of legume, which create symbiotic relationships with bacteria, allowing them to fix nitrogen very well into the soil. This makes them very valuable for increasing fertility of farm soil.

Species List

1. Himalayan Blackberry - Rubus armeniacus
2. Cattails - Typha latifolia
3. Red Winged Blackbird -Agelaius phoeniceus
4. Great Blue Heron - Ardea herodias
5. Great Horsetails - Equisetu fluviatile
6. Creeping Buttercup - Ranunculus repens
7. American Vetch - Vicia americana