Magnolia Bluff

Final Journal: Reflection Saturday June 3, 2017 I’d like to preface this reflection by stating my appreciation for Tim Billo and his assistants for their respective fervors for natural history and the environment. The structure and content of this class never once bored me. Even the more difficult assignments felt like all the work put into them was rewarded with lasting fulfilment and/or an acquisition of interesting knowledge. It’s unlikely I’ll feel as happy and satisfied about the body of knowledge I gain from a single class as I do with this one. I’ve tried to label each question in my answers, but I kind of answered all of them as a single prompt. Questions 1&3 My perception of my observation site has changed from being an essentially arbitrary part of a public park to a site that I feel emotionally invested in. After spending many hours of solitude studying and appreciating every inch of the area, it began to feel like a sanctuary away from my life as a ci...

Sunday May 26, 2017 Clear skies, ~75 degrees Fahrenheit, extremely low tide. Summer is fully among us here in Seattle, and it is evident in not only the weather and vegetation but the amount of people in the park as well.  Some Scot's Broom, which although invasive, is quite beautiful. The trails less traveled that I usually take have become obstacle courses of nettles, shrubs, and mostly the invasive Himalayan blackberry. The thick of the trees, shrubs, and plants completely obscure the view of the Puget Sound that earlier in the quarter clearly glimmered through the branches. Now that we are tasked with finding at least 50 species in/around our sites, I actually took the time to meticulously look through my field guides for hours when I saw something that I couldn’t put a name to. Most of the new species I named had been here all along, but of course they are now in bloom and more apparent. I identified grass-like plant that I have been frustrated by the whole...

This past Saturday, half of our class journeyed across the Cascades to visit and learn about the geological, biological, and climatic spectacles of the region. We would soon learn, that along with the change in culture, there is a drastic difference between the nature and its history of the west and east sides of the mountains. The day began with the drive through the Cascades headed to the Yakima Canyon. I volunteered to drive, and I’m glad I did, as it made me remain attentive throughout. The rolling hills appearance created by the drumlins of the Puget Sound region slowly turned into intense slopes with staggering peaks capped with snow. The alder lined highway gradually becomes more saturated with mountain conifers but the landscape remains incredibly lush. After a while, the mountainous landscape receded and became an arid shrub steppe filled with farms and agriculture. We took a brief break at a rest stop where I saw a sign on a booth that advertised free coffee. Intrigued ...

Wednesday May 17, 2017 1:00 pm Mostly cloudy, about 55 degrees F Walking from atop the bluff down to my site seemed oddly different today than it was in days past. I think it must have rained this morning because the sand was wet and the trees are damp and darker than normal. The sandy pathway down from the bluff is drastically different from when I first visited. It used to be relatively compact and trail-like, and now it’s a deep trench filled with loose sand that acts more like a liquid than a solid, causing me to slide a few inches with every step and send sand flowing down the slope. The shrubs and small trees that line the path have clearly been tilting and sliding (not to mention, growing), as many now block the path that was once clear. I’d conjecture that the unusual amount of rain we’ve been having has played a significant part in the erosion of the path, as well as increased foot traffic now that the weather has been improving. Large chunks of soil are being carv...

Tuesday, 5/9/17 Sunny with some thin cloud coverage, 70 degrees, tide partially out My good camera broke, so this was taken with the lower quality front camera on my phone Another astounding day here out on the bluff. Mostly clear skies reveal the Olympics across the Sound and even the upper half of that big snowy cone to the south (Rainier). I love watching the massive ships make their ways into and out of the sound simply because of their enormity, but I worry for the habitats that their huge wakes are disturbing—not to mention the additional damage caused by the mass expenditure of fossil fuels. After arriving at my site, I walked around the perimeter that I usually inspect and found just a few notable changes. Obviously, there had been an increase in the height of the green shrubs that are lower to the ground, particularly (and unfortunately) stinging nettle. I had to dodge many nettles encroaching onto the trail. The plants on the ground reach up to about 2-3 feet at...

5/3/17 4:45 pm Mostly sunny, low tide, 75 degrees F Recurring shot Today is one of those days where you feel immediately great after stepping outside. Not a cloud in sight, warmer than room temperature but with a breeze that relieves you of any discomfort. Before I biked over to Discovery, I was in the library deriving an equation for intensity of a three slit diffraction pattern. It began taking much longer than I’d expected and I was surprised at how anxious I was feeling about the fact I was missing the weather. Luckily, the sun’s out until late evening now so I’ve still got plenty of time. Shameless selfie of yours truly The sensory stimuli of my site have drastically changed from my last visit. The stream pouring down from the bluff is notably louder, and the chirps of birds fill the air almost without pause. I’ve seen lots of big, black bees flying from newly bloomed flowers, adding their loud buzzes to the mix. The aromas of the tide-flats and multitude o...

4/24/17 5:10 pm Sunny, some clouds across the Sound, about 50 degrees F Butterfly of sorts spotted on Maple bark After a two-week hiatus from my site, I am astounded by recent changes and how the setting has progressed into spring. The leaves of the canopy shine a bright yellow-green in the sunlight, finally graced by our star’s warmth and UV rays. While studying the canopy-- particularly, the new leaves-- of the almost pure stand of red alder, I came to a realization: the very dominant tree that I’m seeing is not Alnus rubra like I’ve alleged. The leaves don’t even remotely resemble the elliptic, toothed leaves of the red alder, but instead have the characteristic 5-lobed shape like that on the Canadian flag. Also, the stand lacked and lacks catkins that would have appeared before the leaves if it was a red alder stand. So, I conject that these trees are Big Leaf Maple, which is found in places similar to Magnolia Bluff: dry/moist hillsides that have been cleared/logged a...