4/24/12

Location: Raveena Park

Coordinates: (Lat: 47.6715421, Lon: -122.303767)

Weather: It was in the mid 50's that day. It was overcast, cloudy, and sprinkled rain slightly. I went from around 5pm to 7pm.

Habitat: The habitat along the trail in the park was very forest-y and woodsy. There were tall conifers and small creeks where I expected frogs to live, but never saw any. There were many ferns and horsetails. The area was rather quiet and there was not a lot of human traffic. I only saw the occasional jogger or dog-walker. I saw some colorful, flowering plants, but there weren't many. The tall trees provided too much shade from their canopy to let enough light in to led all the small, forest floor plants get big and flowery. When just standing and listening in the forest, I could hear woodpeckers and the songs from small birds trying to attract mates. I didn't see any mammals along the trail. I could hear a lot of birds singing way high up in the trees, but could hardly see any. The forest trail lead to a park with a baseball field that led back to civilization with streets and cars and food. Everything at the end of the trail was definitely planted.

Vegetation: The vegetation was probably half conifers and half deciduous trees. There were also small wetland plants growing around a small stream that ran along the trail. These plants included horsetails, skunk cabbage, aquatic grasses, and other things. Many of these might have been planted in order to maintain native species. I also saw many berrying plants like blackberries, huckleberries, and salmonberries.

General Comments: The most awesome creature I saw that day by far was the Barred Owl. A jogger along the trail had told us that she saw an owl a ways away so I went to go look for it. It ended up being pretty much at eye level, blending into the tree behind it. It was sleeping on a branch and when I stopped to stare, it opened its eyes and would blink at me. I was surprised that it never flew away or made any sounds. I learned that it may have been so silent and camouflaged in order to keep small birds away. Apparently during the days, when owls are blinded by the sun, they are quite vulnerable. Small, vicious, songbirds like to come peck at and harass owls and other birds of prey during the daytime. So I assume it was very tired and that I wasn't worth the effort to fly away and risk being seen by birds that could bother it. I really enjoyed seeing this owl as I have never seen one in the wild before and it was the highlight of my adventure. I hope to see more birds I have never seen before and learn about them.

Species List: Common lilac (Syringa vulgaris)
Japanese Cherry (Prunus serrulata)
Skunk Cabbage (Lysichiton americanus)
Western Lady Fern (Athyrium filix-femina)
Barred Owl (Strix varia)
Salmonberry (Rubus spectabilis)
Moneyplant (Lunaria annua)
Serviceberry (Genus Amelanchier)
Red-flowering currant (Ribes sanguineum)
Lesser stitchwort (Stellaria graminea)

Publicado el 01 de mayo de 2012 a las 08:41 AM por velizo