Weather: Mostly Cloudy - Off and on rain
Temperature: ~ 50 degrees F
Time: 6:00-7:00 PM
Location: Yesler Swamp
This quarter I will be making observations and blogging about my findings in Yesler Swamp. I was first introduced to this area Fall quarter on a mini-field trip with my ENVIR 100 class, and has since become my favorite spot to take a break half way through my very infrequent jogs. One great thing about the Yesler Swamp is that it has good signage to give a little background on the area. There is currently a Capstone group working on removing English Ivy, Himalayan Blackberry, and Reed Canary Grass. These are all non-native invasive species that will be replaced by natives planted by the Capstone students. There have also been Capstone students in previous years that have done similar projects in other areas of the swamp. I'm really looking forward to learning this swamp inside and out because there is a similar spot near my house in South Seattle that I really enjoy as well. If I get some free time maybe I'll compare and contrast the two sites sometime this quarter and share my findings in a blog post!
I bundled up and made my way to Yesler Swamp around 5:45. It had been raining nearly all day and it was just about dusk so the swamp felt extra swampy. Each step on the trail was somewhat of a dance in order to dodge the puddles. It was often difficult to tell if it was raining because there was so much water trickling down from the trees and shrubs. Ripples on standing water in the swamp made me think that there were insects or spiders on the water, but in reality it was mostly just water droplets falling. The sounds of the swamp - aside from the occasional plane over head - was dominated by birds. I had a difficult time spotting them because of the lighting and the overall denseness of the plants. There aren't many birds I can identify with birding by ear, but I know I heard a Bald Eagle make it's call at some point. The smell was generally a fresh, clean smell, but I noticed when I was around the middle of the swamp there would occasionally be a thick and musty smell - almost like manure sometimes.
Most of the plants I saw in Yesler Swamp I am currently unable to identify, but I noticed that I saw a few of the same plants that my professor Tim identified in his blog (http://envir280.blogspot.com/). One of which was Skunk Cabbage. It seemed really out of place because it wasn't very close to any other plants and the big yellow part of it was very vibrant compared to everything else. I had camera difficulties, but I'll try getting a picture next week. Another plant I found were Horsetails. These were all over the place and tended to be pretty small - maybe about 6 inches tall right now. I also saw some Sword ferns but many of them didn't seem the rich green I would expect. There was some brown in their fronds giving them an unhealthy look. Here are some of the pictures of plants I was able to get:
One of the many horsetails in the swamp.
I should definitely know my trees better. I believe this is a Douglas Fir, but I'll confirm that before bolding it.
Here is an interesting plant I found. It has many little fuzzy looking fronds coming off of it, and some hard sticky brown seed-like things.
I believe this is the non-native invasive reed canary grass, but I'll need to confirm this one later as well.
Here is the sword fern with the brownish color on some of the fronds I was talking about.
Not sure what this is. Shrub-like and has red and blueish-black looking berries.
Lastly, some more animals! I came around dusk in hopes of seeing beavers that I heard lived down here. Sure enough, they do! I walked along the path and as I approached the water I tried to be extra quiet so that if there were any birds I might be able to get a good look at them. A Great Blue Heron heard or saw me first and started squawking very loudly as it flew away under the power of its massive wings. Then once I got up to the water I spent some time looking for other birds or a beaver and I saw plenty of both! A few Mallard ducks flew by, as well as some American Crows. After a couple minutes of roughing the very cold steady wind, a beaver (specific specie of beaver maybe?)popped up and swam around. It kept it's distance from me, but it was still a lot of fun to watch him swim and dive.
My view of the beaver and the lake. Also, some kind of long wheat-like grass in the foreground.
Here is the spot of my small plot I'll be revisiting throughout the quarter. I don't expect it to be this wet throughout the quarter because it had been raining a lot before I visited.
Can't wait to be back next week and really start being able to identify more and more!
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