Tuesday May 24th 2016
11:30-1:00 PM
Overcast
61-63 degrees Fahrenheit

I spent a lot more time here than I originally had intended today. I didn't anticipate actually enjoying following bird movements but it was surprisingly mesmerizing. After last weeks blog post, I learned its better to sit down and let the bird come to me rather than me seek out them. I decided to sit next to the log at my sit spot and stare at the Western Red Cedar across the trail. I could hear the birds singing but couldn't identify them from their calls until I noticed some movement in the brush about 4 meters from the tree. I gently walked over to see what was playing around in the bushes and was pleased to find a Bewick's Wren. I was able to identify the small bird by its sharp upright tail and seemingly white eyebrows. After observing it for 2 minutes I now know and can identify its sharp and short whistles. Then wren hopped from branch to branch and eventually took flight into the Western Red Cedar. I wasn't able to observe the bird capture or feed on anything, but I was able to notice that this one enjoyed perching on branches and flying short distances at a relatively moderate height. The constant movement made it difficult to get a decent sketch of the wren but I did my best to pay attention to it's key features.

Bewick's Wren

Being an incredibly territorial bird, the song sparrow soon appeared, pushing out the wren. I was able to identify it not only because of the markings and brown spots of the bird but also because of its "tweet chirp chip chip tweet" call. I am a beginner at bird watching so I'm not sure if this is an accurate description of the call but that was how I was able to identify it. I tried my best to follow it and by my best I mean I almost fell into the stream when he flew across the path.

Song Sparrow

The easiest birds to identify in my sit spot, or really anywhere else, was the crows. With their loud, shrill squawks, you really don't even need to see them. Even though I didn't need to see the bird to identify it as a crow, it was more than willing to fly down next to me and prevent me from listening to any other bird calls. I have come to realize that crows are the divas of the bird community. Not that I wanted to, but I was able to follow this bird the longest because he just really didn't mind my presence. I was able to observe him for about 5 minutes before I got tired of watching him hop around the ground looking for food.

Trying to get away from the crow and avoid its ridiculously loud call, I was forced to stray about 6 meters from my normal sit spot. After about 7-10 minutes I was welcomed by Pacific Slope Flycatcher. I wasn't able to identify it immediately so my sketch came in handy when I got home and had to look it up. The little guy was a greenish/grey color with brown wings. While identifying the bird I learned that the species migrates south to Mexico during the winter and can compete for territory amongst each other. Their nests are usually near or on the ground which I found interesting because most birds nests I've seen have been high up in trees. I hope to find some nests in Ravenna eventually. 

Pacific Slope Flycatcher

My favorite bird I saw today was easily the Wilson's Warbler (Cardellina pusilla). I loved the bright, vibrant colors and it's high pitch, fast speed chirping song. I wish I could have gotten closer to this bird but I had barely enough time to even sketch him out. I was able to identify it as a male because of the black cap right above the eyes and beak. Like the Pacific Slope Flycatcher, these birds migrate to Mexico during the winter.

Wilson's Warbler

Since I was previously gone for a few weeks, a lot of different shrubs in the area started to flower, making them to identify. One shrub that I was able to identify was Thimbleberry (Rubus parviflorus). Unfortunately, they haven't started to grow berries quite yet. They looked like they were getting close so I'm going to check the progress next week before my final project.

Thimbleberry

 

Wednesday May 18th
Cloudy
63 degrees Fahrenheit
2:00-3:00 PM

Today I spent quite a bit of time at my site crawling around the creek, turning over rocks and small logs, hoping to find an ant or worm hiding. It was much more difficult than I thought it would be. After a while of unsuccessfully searching I decided to sit down on the nurse log that branches across the creek. I sat there for about five minutes, still and silent, and was lucky enough to spot a Pillbug (Order: Isopoda), or more affectionately known as roly poly bugs. These bugs are known for curling up into balls as a defense mechanism against predators. They can be easily identified by their 7 distinct segments and sharply-angled antennae.

Pillbug

After my success with the pillbug I thought I would test my luck with an unidentified plant about 5 meters across the path from my sit spot. While hoping to find some ants on the leaves of the plant I spotted a Crane Fly (Order: Diptera), also known as mosquito eater. I was able to quickly spot and identify it as it flew through a group of Gnats (Dipterid suborder). It's large wing and 3 leg pairings made it easily identifiable amongst the small, almost invisible gnats. 

Crane Fly

After about 15 minutes of unsuccessfully wading through the endless amount of gnats, I was able to find a beautiful little lady bug (Order: coleoptera) resting on a sword fern about 2 meters away from a Western Red Cedar. At first glance I was able to identify the antennae and legs but wasn't able to identify the hard red shell or the white spots on the head, which at first glance looked like eyes. After getting home and looking up the anatomy of the lady bug I was able to identify the hard shell as the Elytra and the white spots as Pronotum. Under the Elytra you can find the wings of the lady bug. I got to see the process of the elytra separating and the wings coming out when I accidentally spooked my small friend, resulting in them flying to another plant.

Ladybug

Today marked substantial growth with my fear of spiders when I spotted a Daddy Long Legs (Arachnids) in a patch of buttercup flowers. I was initially very happy to spot the buttercups because 3 weeks ago when I had last been at my sit spot they hadn't bloomed yet, so I hadn't previously noticed them. This excitement quickly turned into terror when I spotted this spider-like insect crawling a few inches from my feet. I faced my fear long enough to sketch the long legged creature. After looking further into the insect I found out that Daddy Long Legs aren't actually spiders, they only have one pair of eyes, don't produce silk, and aren't venomous. After finding this out, I wish I would have gotten closer, as you can tell from my sketch, I admired this arachnid from a comfortable distance. 

Daddy Long Legs

Haiku: My Not So Furry Friend

Long and slow paced

Leaving a translucent track

Hidden from sunlight

If you're still wondering, my haiku was about a Banana slug (family: Ariolimacidae) I found near the creek under the canopy of a Western Red Cedar. 

Over the past couple of weeks I've been wondering about how my salmonberry plants were doing and I'm very excited to announce that they finally starting sprouting berries! One of the berries I found looked like it had been recently scavenged by possibly a bird or local insect. 

Salmon Berry

I was surprised to find that my horsetails had grown almost a foot since the last time I saw them. I'm excited to see how tall they grow by the end of the quarter. 

Giant Horsetail

Ebey's Landing

Whidbey Island Field Trip
Saturday May 7th 2016
Sunny
Mid 80 degrees throughout the trip

The day started out with a trip to Skyroot Farm where we got to meet a lovely professor from UW that decided to start Skyroot Farm with her undergraduate colleague and friend. As we started walking through the brush on the farm the farmer/professor told us about how the brush looked completely different a couple of years ago. She went on to tell us how she lets her sheep graze on different patches of the farm to help with regrowth and maintenance of the landscape. While we were walking through the brush to see the bounds of the property I had an unfortunate run in with some stinging nettle or Utica dioica. I was in quite a bit of pain until I remembered that the spores of sword fern have medicinal uses which include reducing pain from stinging nettle. Once we got out of the more forested areas I was able to find a patch of buttercups which I believe to be Creeping Buttercups or Ranunculus repent due to the shape and 2-3 foot height of the patch. Creeping buttercup is an invasive european species that is normally found in moist lawns or agricultural fields.

Creeping Buttercups

 At the beginning of the trip Tim gave us containers and told us to try to find an insect/living creature and bring it to the discussion at lunch. While hiking around the forested areas we found a Pacific Banana Slug or Ariolimax columbianus. I was able to identify it as the Pacific Banana slug due to it's black spotting and large size. We ended up naming him Karl and several students licked him to see if their tongues would go numb. I asked Alex how he felt and he replied "unpleasant" so I'm not sure if that means numb, but after watching the facial expressions of those who tested it I can conclude I won't be trying any banana slugs anytime soon.

Karl the Banana Slug

Once we left Skyroot farm we headed over to Ebey's landing to look at cacti and other organisms. We stopped about half of a mile up the road from the beach to try to hear some bird songs. While I wasn't able to identify or get any pictures of any birds I was able to identify patches of Nootka Rose or Rosa nootkana, Dwarf Oregon Grape or Mahonia nervosa, and Salal or Gaultheria Shallon. All of these plants were within 2 meters of each other and are commonly found in sea level areas. The 2 meter area was subject to quite a bit of sun light but could also find shade during certain hours of the day due to the large patch of trees across the road. 

Dwarf Oregon Grape

Nootka Rose

Salal

While walking on the beach I was able to spot what I believe to be Mt Rainier. About 3 meters from my view of Mt Rainier I was able to identify some prickly pear cactus. After looking into the subfamily of the cactus I was able to identify it as Brittle Prickly Pear Cactus or Opuntia fragilis. It earned the name brittle or fragilia because it is known to break with very little force. It can only grow in drier areas which is why we were able to find on Whidbey Island within the olympic rain shadow.

View of Ebey's Landing with Mt Ranier in background

Brittle Prickly Pear Cactus

As we were about to leave a Red Winged Black Bird or Agelaius phoeniceus. This bird was much more brave than any of the others that I had seen that day. It landed about 4 meters from me and stayed despite the large group of people nearby. I was able to identify it as a red winged black bird because of very distinct red wings and its call. 

Red Winged Black Bird