Entry 1: 10/5/16

October 5th, 2016

4;05 PM

65 degrees

Sunny, with hazy clouds

I chose Ravenna Park mainly because it's fairly quiet here. I was walking along the trail from the Cowen Park end, where I came across a trail beyond the creek to my left. I decided to hop over the creek and explore the makeshift trail area. As a native Washingtonian, I do not find Ravenna Park's landscape foreign or surprising, so it felt very comforting to visit. 

The area beyond the creek was a wetland, as previous signs along the trail had foretold.



My notebook marks where I was sitting-underneath a cedar tree. I sit atop the roots, which were covered in moss. I sat there for a minute as people ran and bicycled by. I can hear crows behind me as I face the creek I just crossed. There's a small bird I can hear somewhere to my right, which intermittently lets out a high-pitched chirp. There's a chickadee (Poecile atricapillus) chirping right above me; I suspect it is in the cedar tree that I sit under. The air smells of mud (due to the recent rain), and the stench of my marshy surroundings. I look at the small patch of moss that I sit on, and find a few mushrooms growing near my right foot. 


I begin to think of how many different kinds of moss I can find. I only found three; two types converged on my seat, and another hanging off of the trees 

 

Then I begin to look at the foliage past my feet. Most of it is salmon berry (Rubus spectabilis) bushes and giant horsetails (Equisetum telmatiea), as well as ferns.

There are two salmon berry patches next to me, each with their own crowd of ferns surrounding them. To my right is a red cedar that looks like three because of the way it's growing.

On my way to take that picture, I found a few interesting brightly colored mushrooms growing on the tree on the side  They looked very out of place in the green and brown forest. 

     

I found three kinds of ferns; 

The Spiny Wood fern (Dryopters expansa)

 

The Bracken fern (Pteridium aquilinum)

And the Sword Fern (Polystichum munitum)

The ground is coated with dying leaves from the ferns, salmon berry bushes, and from the big leafed maple from across the trail. I found one holly tree, which was being suffocated by the salmon berry bushes and ferns that dominate the area. 


I also found a footprint of a dog, and a lot of big and leafy marsh plants that I don't know the name of.




I hope to be able to identify more species next week, and to get a sense of what I should explore next weel.