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.