Journal Entry 5

Time: Monday, November 16th, 2020, from 3 to 4 pm

Location: The far eastern portion of Ravenna Park in Seattle, WA. 

Temperature: ~46℉

Weather: Overcast with a light but persistent rain and a lack of wind

This week it was again raining, though not nearly as hard as last time. When I looked upstream at the little waterfall I noticed that the Vine Maples were completely bare, having lost all of their leaves during the period since my last visit. Many of the Common Snowberries in the area had lost most, if not all of their characteristic white berries, as well as a number of their leaves, giving the once lush bushes a somewhat patchy and mangy appearance. The Red Alders remained bare, and by this time I noticed no strobiles hanging off of the nearby Western Redcedars; I can only assume that the last of the strobiles had since dropped and become buried in the dense layer of leaf litter on the ground. Moreover, unlike last week, the last of the Red Alder leaves have finally fallen. When I was walking to my observation site I saw many Beaked Hazelnuts that had lost their leaves, and I had expected that the Beaked Hazelnuts near by observation site would have followed the same pattern. However, upon reaching my observation site I was surprised to see that many of the Beaked Hazelnuts near the stream still retained their leaves, leading to many downstream areas of my observation site remaining green with hazelnut leaves. Since my last visit the Black Cottonwoods have largely lost their leaves; standing at the base and looking upwards I could see a few stragglers at the crown of the tree, though I could not get a good picture due to the distance and the general lack of leaves. Another surprise that I experienced was the fact that a number of smaller Bigleaf Maples still retained a reasonable amount of leaves, including both the saplings near the waterfall and the larger individuals among the Beaked Hazelnuts and Black Cottonwoods downstream. The fully grown Bigleaf Maples were completely bare, both on site and as I walked through Ravenna Park on my way to my observation location. The evergreens, like Sword Fern and Western Redcedar, were unchanged since my last visit, retaining all of their foliage despite the changing weather. The Salmonberries and Thimbleberries still had their leaves when I visited, though I anticipate that they will loose their leaves within a few weeks once December hits. I heard the rough call of an American Crow, though I did not spot the bird. However, I did manage to spot a trio of Golden-Crowned Kinglets as they fluttered about some of the bare trees on the opposite side of the creek. For the briefest of seconds I thought that they were hummingbirds due to the speed in which they flapped their winds, almost hovering above and around some bare tree branches. They had short tails, with the entire bird being maybe four inches in length. The distingishing feature that helped me identify these birds was the bright orange crest that ran along the crown of the bird's head. They also had a band of black under the orange crown of feathers, a lighter ring of feathers around the eye, a generally brown-grey appearance and a chubby frame. The Golden-Crowned Kinglets gave off a very high pitched pipping noise that were very thin, sometimes in pairs of two notes. They constantly moved from branch to branch to tree to tree, often hovering at the tips of branches. 

Western Redcedars near the streambank

Sword Ferns higher up the cut bank

The foliage of what I think might be a Red Flowering Currant near by sitting rock on the water logged point bar near the stream.

Another picture of the Red Flowering Currant. One can see a Salmonberry plant in the background. The Red Flowering Currant was about a foot or so tall and had a woody stem.

Close up of a Salmonberry plant with its distinctive butterfly-shaped lower leaflets.

Picture of a smaller Bigleaf Maple near the stream that, for whatever reason, probably due to its proximity to the stream's waters, still possessed its leaves as of my last visit.

Picture of the Vine Maples near the upstream waterfall. One can see that the branches are now completely bare and lacking in leaves when compared to my visit the week before.

More Sword Ferns and underbrush, including a Tall Oregon-Grape towards the center of the shot. One can see the stream in the top left corner.

Another Bigleaf Maple sapling that has retained its leaves, this time practically hanging into the stream.

My first 50 m^2 shot of downstream. One can see the taller trees, those being the Black Cottonwoods, have completely lost their leaves, whilst the smaller and more shrub-like Beaked Hazelnuts still retain their leaves at this time, consisting of the greenery in the under story. One can also see some Western Redcedars in the shot.

Another shot of downstream. One can see how the stream has broken its banks and flooded some portions of the stream bank. For reference the vertical ridge towards the center of the shot is a log that formally made up the edge of the stream. Towards the bottom of the shot one can see the rock that I usually sit upon for my journal work.

50 m^2 shot of upstream. One can see how the Vine Maples have lost their leaves in this shot, standing in stark contrast to last week's picture.

My first 1 m^2 shot of the log and the stream. Again, there is a lack of insect life in the soil, even as I dig at it with my boot. The leaves of the Bigleaf Maple, the Black Cottonwood and the Red Alder are prevalent in the shot.

A mangy looking Common Snowberry that has lost most of its leaves and distinctive white berries.

Picture of one of the Beaked Hazelnut branches, still decked out in green leaves at this time.

My second 1 m^2 shot of the log and surrounding area. One can see how the stream has partially flooded the area. The mushrooms from last week and the week before are now missing. One can also see the toe of my boot.

A quick picture that I snapped of one of the Golden-Crowned Kinglets. Not the greatest picture, but one can still see the distinctive patch of orange feathers on the head of the bird that allowed me to identify it in the first place.

For this week's journal work I was instructed to find, sketch and describe three invertebrates. Ironically enough, despite the assignment focusing on all of the possible insects I could find, none of the invertebrates I found were actually insects. I managed to find a Lumbricus terrestris, or Common Earthworm, a Armadillidium vulgare, or Common Pill-Bug, and a Brown Centipede, or Lithobius forficatus.Though I did observe the Common Pill-Bug for a period of time, I have mostly decided to write upon the behavior of the other two invertebrates I have listed. I first observed the Common Earthworm in its usual routine. I found said worm after brushing aside some leaves halfway up a hill near the stream, with the soil being far less waterlogged than the soil directly adjacent to the stream. The Common Earthworm was just finishing the act of defecating when I first spotted it. The casts were tightly coiled under the leaves and looked like the surrounding soil, if a little darker in color and stickier in texture. The worm moved slowly away from me as I brushed aside his leafy covering, inching away using little hairs on its underside called setae, which served as little anchors when the worm wished to propel itself by pushing away on its own body. I tried poking it with my finger and it recoiled violently, contracting near the spot where I touched it with my bare finger. I can only assume the salts and oils on my skin reacted with the worm's tissue to cause such a reaction, and from then on I decided to not disturb the Common Earthworm any further. I can only guess that this Common Earthworm came to the surface either to feed on the rotting leaves or to defecate, or perhaps both. The light rain that was coming down also could have had something to do with the worm's then rather exposed location. As it was trying to slink away from me and back into the leaf cover a Brown Centipede emerged from the leaf cover. It felt about in front of it using its antennae, which furiously swept back and forth in front of the centipede as it eagerly ran about searching for prey. For a moment I was temped to move the worm so as to avert its incoming doom, but then again I was in a bad mood due to the rain and I was somewhat eager to see what would happen. In due time the Brown Centipede's antennae brushed up against the flank of the Common Earthworm as the Brown Centipede quickly wandered about looking for prey. Immediately the Brown Centipede seized upon the Common Earthworm with its modified front legs, which served as fangs that held the worm fast. As the worm writhed violently, fighting for life, the Brown Centipede began chewing upon the worm, eating it alive. Eventually the Common Earthworm stopped struggling, either due to death or due to the centipede's venom, and the Brown Centipede proceeded to feast upon the worm's body, starting with the frontal portion and working downwards. On the one hand I felt rather bad for our worm friend. After all, I had exposed him to the elements, poked at him whilst he was trying to go to the bathroom, and then he was violently eaten alive by a centipede in part due to him being exposed. On other other hand the Brown Centipede remained relatively still due to it eating, and I was able to get some great drawings in. My camera was on the other side of the stream, so I was unable to film this encounter. I also decided to just draw my third invertebrate, a Common Pill-Bug, due to this same exact reason. 

The drawings I made for the Brown Centipede I observed. Overall, I am quite happy with how this one turned out. I managed to get a good view of the head when it attacked the Common Earthworm I was observing. Unlike the worm and the Common Pill-Bug, I decided not to poke this invertebrate with my finger due to the formidable nature of those modified front legs the Brown Centipede uses as fangs.

A set of drawings I made for the Common Earthworm that I found. Since people had problems properly viewing my sketches last time, I darkened my sketches with pen and took formal scans of them. In this sketch one can see a general view of the Common Earthworm, as well as a drawing of the worm cast that I found. I also looked at the worm up close with my binoculars due to it remaining still for extended periods of time; I attempted to draw what I saw through my binoculars as a circular sketch. 

Unlike the other two invertebrates I decided not to observe the Common Pill-Bug for an extended period of time. However, I did observe it long enough to take these drawings, which are somewhat more crude than the other two invertebrate drawings I must admit. I did decide to poke at the little fella to get him to curl up too.

For the last portion of my journal I have been instructed to write some poems, one describing one of the above invertebrates in non-direct terms, and other being a free-form poem. 

Poem #1

An armored knight of the leaf-litter

Its back an articulating plate, 

A grey pauldron crawling hither

An armored ball to any foe,

Ready to curl-up at any moment

Galloping astride many hairs

Sailing through dangerous-waters

An ironclad stalwart on land

If one could not guess, I was referring to the Common Pill-Bug, or Armadillidium vulgare, in this poem.

Poem #2

The stream seems to be upset with me

It is constantly flooding over its banks

And drowning my feet in mud and muck

Half of my path is now underwater

And it is hard to dry out leather boots

The soil is only held in place by small trees,

Western Redcedar, Beaked Hazelnut,

others as well

It is not nearly as miserable as last time

in weather

Yet things are more miserable 

in spirit

Everything is locked down again

And the sky is crying

At least the parks are still open

So that I may sit in peace

on a wet rock.