Journal #8: Indentifying Birds

During my time at my natural area I noticed that not much has changed with the emergence of cold temperatures and dry air. There are almost no strong fungal formations that are easily seen while waking through the forested area. All the mushrooms I have seen are either dying or damaged in some way from another source. With the decline of fungi, the moss in my area seems to be thriving and there are almost no changes in its growth. It's lust green color is still present and has even spread farther out to some decomposing logs in the area. On top of all this moss is the leaf litter of broadleaf trees such as bigleaf maple and red alder. The Devil's club in the area is pretty much completely gone as well as the skunk cabbage. With the weather being quite dry and very cod in the past week, the moisture in the forest has dropped drastically and some previous swamp-like characteristics are now nonexistent. There are no areas with deep mud and wet puddles and all that remains now are hardened icy dirt and soggy patches of land. Also, many ferns have started to die off and the population of ferns have declined and thinned out. This cold be due to the cold temperatures and the start of winter coming soon. Even though the temperature has begun to drop, the chipmunk community is still highly active in search of food to store for the upcoming winter months. Many could be seen scrambling around the forest trail hunting for seeds and nuts scattered around the ground layer of conifer litter. Along with these chipmunks, birds such as song sparrows, american robin, and black-capped chickadees are communicating and vocalizing in various trees.

This drawing illustrates a Song sparrow or Melospiza melodia climbing along a branch within a thicket of twigs and branches next a pond in my natural area. This bird was constantly moving and hopped/flew to various branches making no noise besides the movement of sticks and wings flapping. This small bird also would creep along the ground and twigs to get from one side to the other. When on the ground level amongst the leaf litter, it would pick up objects such as small twigs or leaves. It would then bring these objects to an under covered shelter area. This sheltered area was only about half a foot off the ground and had a dense thicket of branches engulfing it. This bird didn't seem to be hunting for food since it remained in the same area for an extended amount of time. Also, this small sparrow was completely alone at the time and was not communicating with any vocalizations with other birds nearby. It finally flew away over the pond when it noticed my presence.

While walking through the watershed preserve, I heard a constant hammering noise against some hollow object. I instantly knew it was a pileated woodpecker (Dryocopus pileatus) from its obvious pecking  sound that it emitted across the forest as well as my previous sightings of this woodpecker before. This bird was on a dead tree that was about twenty feet high and only had a few thick branches and  exposed areas with bare wood. It was not communicating with any other birds and only produced a loud pecking sound against this hollowed out decomposing tree. There were no bird around or even on the same tree as this bird and I have never seen multiple pileated woodpeckers in one area making it seem as though they are solitary creatures. I observed this bird for about thirty minutes until it flew away in the other direction. It stayed on this tree for a while and would hop up and down using its talons to grip the bark in order to hold on. The pecking was not constant either and the bird would take breaks and then continue to peck at the wood of the tree.

Journal Entry #7: Fungi Drawings

During my time at my natural spot the weather was great and there was absolutely no rain and clear skies. But with these clear skies, it brought very low temperatures and dry cold air within the forest. While I walked through the conifer forest in the early afternoon, birds were singing everywhere and robins could be seen flying from branch to branch. As I stepped over fallen logs and decomposing plants to reach my specific observation area, I noticed many new species of small fungi have emerged from decomposing logs and wood scraps from recent windstorms. There were still spots that were covered with yellow bigleaf maple leaves but many of them have started to rip apart and die off for good. As I sat down and looked at my surroundings, I noticed that many logs have lost there bark and have exposed rotting wood sections. This might be due to some animal activity or just weakening in the wood that caused it to fall off as it decomposed. The moss of the forest floor was still prominent and showed no signs of dying or weakened growth. The Devil’s club in the area was almost completely gone and the Skunk cabbage has begun to die off as well. Brown holes have appeared in the large wide leaves of the skunk cabbage as it droops downwards. It seems that most of the skunk cabbage that’s dying is in the wettest areas. This could be due to fungal infections of just temperature changes that are causing the death of the skunk cabbage. I walked over to the pond in my area after I took notes and wrote down my observations of my natural area. Once I got there I saw a male and female Mallard duck. I recognized the distinctive green head of the male and the brown feathers of the female. It is important to distinguish the mallard from the merganser because they have similar colored heads in the males yet the beak of the merganser is curved down towards the tip. The chipmunk activity wasn’t too high during my time there most like due to the large amount of people in the reserve.

One of the most prominent mushrooms in this area would be the Shrimp Mushrooms or Russula xerampelina. This fungus has a reddish pink cap with a darker disc or center in the middle. The color of the cap becomes lighter as it nears the margin or edge. The cap is slightly sticky and slick especially after a recent raining. The gills of this mushroom attach to its creamy white stem and annulus that usually yellows with age. These mushrooms usually emerge in decomposing conifer litter in lowland mountain ranges. It tends it enjoy warmer weather but continues to grow into the cold months of fall.

Another fungus that is emerging in numerous places within the Redmond Watershed Preserve is Goat’s beard or Hericium abietis. This fungus is a whitish grey that has hundreds of filaments clusters of spines that have pointed tips. The spines begin to turn reddish orange with age. This mushrooms usually grows at the foot of large conifer trees and thrive in conifer needle litter. Also, this fungus can coexist with other smaller fungi and is usually surrounded by decomposing wood and logs as well. This fungus grows in lowland mountain ranges in the fall and winter months when it’s cold and rainy.

The other fungus that I noticed in extremely wet areas was the turkey tail or Trametes veriscolor. This mushrooms is very distinctive due its multicolored bands and white underside. The bands tend to become darker and darker as it goes up towards the sun. The surface is slick and somewhat shiny with bumps and rough in some areas. Also, this fungus uses dead and decomposing nurse logs as support and as a place to grow. The surrounding habitat is usually very wet and this specific fungus was found on a log in the pond. This fungus also grows year round and can endure many different temperatures and weather.

Another interesting fungus that I noticed emerging in my area was Witch’s butter or Tremella mesentercia. This fungus is very easy to spot in this dark and brown forest since it has a specific bright orange color and gelatinous structure. This fungus has numerous lobes and blobs that form and large mass that attaches to decomposing logs. This mushrooms grows in lowland mountain ranges in either the fall or spring and it enjoys large amounts of rain yet somewhat temperature weather. The surrounding habitat of this fungus is usually conifer liter and dead trees and logs.

One of the largest mushrooms in my natural area would be the short-stalked white russula or Russula brevipes. Its large gills angled upwards can characterize this fungus and it’s smooth white top that is curved and warped. The stem is also very large and has a slight annulus that connects to the stem and then ends at the volva in the decomposing dirt. This mushroom usually grows in conifer leaf litter and in wet dirt underneath large conifer trees. Also, the surrounding area is usually next to trails and disrupted natural areas.

Another fungus that uses nurse logs as support in my area is Angel wings or Pleurocybella porrigens. This fungus is usually always found on decomposing logs that have either fallen or rotting inside. It tends to grow along with mosses and on damp decomposing wood. This mushroom has a smooth white cap that emerges from the woods bark. There are separated white gills underneath each cap. This fungus usually grows in lowland mountain ranges and tends to grow in extremely damp and wet places. 

Journal #6: Nature Experience

During my time at the Redmond Watershed Preserve, it was pouring profusely and the trail to my site was basically a stream. I walked into my area and noticed that the ground was covered in Bigleaf maple (Acer macrophyllum) leaves. Everything was absolutely soaked as large drips from the various trees fell to the ground. Some shrubs such as Devil’s club were still vanishing and new fungus were emerging from the decomposing conifer floor. Since there weren’t many broad leaf trees in my specific natural area, the leaf litter was minuscule but the moss was rampant. Along with this moss grew different types of mushrooms such as Shrimp mushrooms and Goat’s beard. In the past there have been other types of fungi but with the increased rain and cold weather new colonies have emerged out of either nurse logs soaked in water or decomposing leaf litter. There wasn't much bird activity as well as chipmunk activity in this usually lively forest. The rain was so constant and hard that the birds were probably sheltered due to the lack of prey present in the area. There is no point for these creatures to hunt and search for food which ultimately costs them energy. I walked farther in to the preserve towards the pond in search of some wildlife. While the rain rippled the pond’s surface, I thought I saw some mallard ducks across the water but it was too far to see.

The plant that I thought looked unique in this environment was the Sword fern. With its long central rod with emerging curled swords at the tip. These flat swords began growing larger as they lined the sides of the central rod down to the decomposing forest floor. On the back of each of these swords there are two rows of buttons of pollen that smear when rubbed in your fingers. This was not the only rod of the plant as a whole though. There were multiple bright green rods in a cluster emerging in different directions and hanging at a slight arc while water weighs it down.

Since it was pouring down rain while at was at my natural area, there were not many birds out looking for food or even singing songs. The only bird that I was able to see was a couple of robins in a distant tree. They had smooth brown backs that stretched down to a grouping of soft pads that spanned into a larger width than the body. The bird’s nose was small and was about half the size of its head. The chest was white and seemed to have some spots ruffled into the soft frontal area. The feet of this creature was the hardest feature to see but it almost seemed like it was cover by the soft white underbelly.

The last organism I observed was the Sow bug when I lifted a semi-buried rock to reveal dry dirt. As I looked upon this insect that was scrambling to find darkness, it had a round oval shell like body. This hard shelled body had different sections and plates which resembled metal armor. At one end of this shelled oval, there were two lines bent with a 90 degree angle in the middle. Little spikes were emerging from the two long sides of this plated shell armor that quickly sped away. Usually I used to seeing these bugs rolling into a ball as a defense method yet this organism lacked his ability. On the edge of the oval there was a flat bend in the multiple plates that was horizontal with the ground. This physical trait keeps the creature from rolling into a ball.