Oh the fungus!

The snags are covered in these

5/26/2014      Mostly Cloudy      63*F     3:00pm 

Flipped cap variation

I'm so excited to have been given a glimpse into the wonderful world of fungus. Mushrooms and lichens line the forest floors of the pacific northwest. I was able to find a few in my observation site, I only wish I was looking harder for fungi when we took our trip to the Olympic Penninsula. The shade, moist areas of the forest floor are the prime locations for mushroom finds. Lichens were much easier to locate but the variation was minimal. I was thinking that it may just be the time of year with the heat and the warmth. Despite my inexperience in locating and identifying fungi, I was able to find 7 species in this small area. I've uploaded all of them to iNaturalist for ID help because as hard as I look at the identification chart I still can't confidently tell what they are. This particular observation really opened my eyes to the difficulty mycologists have in working with such a complex range of species. Not to mention elusive. I looked high and low for the capped mushrooms I was able to locate. I was turning over leaves, searching out shadowed areas, and braving the invertebrates territories in search of mushrooms. The small white caps I found were in plain view. Just a small cluster growing on the side of the walking path. I'm not sure, but I have a feeling that their hyphae and mycelium all interconnected and the tree that I found them underneath. This style was the way that I had anticipated my mushroom hunt would go. Just walking and looking should be sufficient. However, I came to find out that this familiar style of mushroom growth is just one of many. The brown mushroom sticking out the side of fallen and live trees was one of the first organisms I found at my site. This particular mushroom sticks out right under where I sit every week for my observations. I was looking forward to seeing its massive gills, but this species has a pours. They are extremely close together too. It almost looked like a solid underneath the cap but under very close inspection you can see small spongey holes throughout. These basidiomycota are a necessary addition to the Madrona Park natural area and can be found if you are willing to do some hunting for them. The ascomycota were more abundant and easier to locate. Several of the young trees were sharing their surfaces with lichen species. Again I was unable to identify the lichens I found off hand but hopefully iNaturalist will help me out with that. It was pretty exciting, however, to find more than one form of lichen. The foliose form was easily found and identifiable because of its very distinct color and look. It was usually only growing on one side of the tree which I thought was interesting and am not sure why that was. The crustose find, however, was a direct result of what I have recently learned about fungi. It reminded me of a big moldy piece of cheese (which I've heard is just fungus too but don't want to get sidetracked). It was fairly large (approx. 3" width) and seemed to be very established. I tried a couple of small scratches to get it off and it was stuck to that tree for life!

Rough and sticky capped

Looks like mold on bread…must be a lichen

The foliose form of lichen seemed to be just laying around on the ground of the walking trail. And as you can see from the picture is actually pretty big by itself. The little that I have learned about fungi has really opened me up to a very camouflaged side of the forest. I have seen lichens countless times throughout my life but never knew that they were separate organisms form the trees they were attached to. I was shocked to learn a little bit about the variety of the mushroom kingdom (don't know if that is a real term but…). It was very inspiring to learn that many mushrooms cannot be cultivated because of their complex connection with the forest. I always love when nature eludes humans with evolutional refusal to be controlled and domesticated.

The Original Reality Drama...Birds

                                     5/19/2014     2:25pm      73*F     Mostly Sunny

Snowberry flowers appear

Red currant losing its red

The fading bleeding hearts

Same angle of observation spot as picture
from week 1 photo!

I am in shock about how much the small forest of Madrona Park has grown! It was so overgrown that it was hard for me to identify many species because they have come to blend together so much. It was like a real forest in comparison to my first week where it looked more like a man made walking trail. It it beautiful to see nature at its fullest. I am guessing but it feels like the plants are reaching their peak for the spring and will stop growing for the summer. I can't imagine where more growth could occur but I do know that nature always finds space. Due to all the increase in size of the various plant species I noticed an increase in competition between species. Even though the sun was shining brightly the entire forest floor was in the shade. The canopies of the trees have widened to catch more sun. The ground species seemed to be climbing over one another to get what little sun did come to the ground. I also noticed the transition in flowers occurring. The red flowering currant that was so bright and one of the first blossoms is now only buds. The bleeding hearts that shown a bright purple are now turing whitish grey. They look like they will soon be gone. The thimble has come in to take their place with white flowers filling the shrub. I was surprised by this process because I've always assumed that flowers all bloom together and retreat together throughout the year. There was a pretty noticeable increase in insect presence. There were several more spider webs than there had been before, more flies buzzing around, and more activity on the forest floor. This weeks trip I was mostly focused on the birds. Because of the rapid overgrowth of my site and the prevalence of very tall trees I was not able to see everything I was hearing. I understand now why semi-open spaces are ideal for bird watching. I couldn't see a thing! My observation spot is pretty much smack dab right in the middle of the Madrona Park forest and surrounded with trees. I had to get far away from my usual observation section to sight any new birds. Walking throughout the trail I spotted several song sparrows and could hear some brewers wrens. When I got up near the houses I heard a back and forth conversation between a chickadee and another unknown bird. I witnessed a spotted towhee being very territorial over a tree and a telephone pole. He was calling at me to get away when I walked up to observe but wouldn't go far from his territory when I began pushing his comfort zones. I have a history of seeing several stellar jays and bushtits at my observation site but I didn't get to see any this time.

The lady ferns that were unrolling in weeks 1 and 2!

I walked up to the residential area of the Madrona neighborhood determined to get a look at the elusive eagle's nest I've been working next to since my first week. I was finally able to spot it. I didn't have the best view but I finally seen the nest and what looked like one very big eaglet. As I watched I heard an increase in activity from the crows. There were abnormally loud today with constant squawking from beginning to end of my observation. As I was looking at the nest I seen the mother swoop in and take perch in the tree. Shortly after the comedy began. A single crow was not happy that the adult eagle was perched on the edge of a branch in the tree with her own nest. The crow began with just sending out (what I think were) warning calls. The eagle didn't budge. So then the crow started hysterically dive bombing the eagle. The crow would fly right above the eagle and start flying directly downward toward the eagles head. The crow looked like it was free falling as it dove and as soon as it would reach close to the eagle it would flick it's wings and fly back up. It was a big circular motion with loud calls and distress from the crow and a stone like response from the eagle. The eagle finally grew tired of the crows shenanigans and took flight. The size difference between the two in the air was pretty incredible. The eagle chased the crow a little bit and took perch in another tree right next to the one where her nest was. That was the last I heard from the crow. I don't know what could've caused the tension. I mean the eagle was sitting in the nest of her own nest. The issue must not have been of extreme importance to the other crows either because the dive bomber was on a solo mission. I assume it was an instinctual reaction to a predatory bird from the crow and I'm pretty sure that the crows are also nesting in the area. But the whole ordeal was very exciting to watch and just another reel in the daily drama of springtime birds.

It is not easy getting bird pics with a camera phone

BUGS!

5/14/14      2:00pm      67*F
              Partly Cloudy

I began this weeks visit by adding the wetlands to my walking tour of the area. It is so exciting to now be able to identify so many different plants without the need for my guide! There is a small bridge/walking path through the marsh area of Madrona Park close to the lake. I was able to find an abundance of black cotton wood, willow, vine maple, thimbleberry, huckleberry, salmonberry, lady fern and of course…salall all in the marsh. There are still a few species I didn't know and will be working to identify to add to my walking tour. The funny thing about today is that there was also an abundance of cotton floating through the air everywhere. My allergies had never experienced berating a little piece of cotton into my nose before. I began mapping out the changes in species as I walk uphill along the path to my observation spot. One thing I noticed this trip was the increase in birds as I walked higher into the trail. My observation point is not the best location for bird watching because all the Doug firs, western hemlock, and big leaf maples are so tall that it is very hard to find all the birds I hear. I look forward to identifying them by call. I did get to see a small flock of about 4 stellar jays that came and left pretty quickly. I could hear the very unpleasant calls of the baby crows that seem to be growing quickly. There was a lot of action with the adult crows and I assumed that they were looking out for the young. They were keeping a close eye on me as I was walking around and they were a lot more active than I had seen them before. I heard a dramatic increase in the bird population overall. There was a wider range of calls and a lot of action. I don't know if this is due to the change in weather or if it is based on my increased knowledge and attention to the bird species of the area. I have throughly been enjoying this section of the course. I find myself bird watching all the time now, always keeping my binoculars close by. As far as the plant species of my observation site, I noticed that the snowberry plants have began to flower and the red currant is beginning to bud roses. Down by the marsh I seen two of the first salmon berries that have turned orange and look delicious. I must say that the insect portion of this week's journal assignment has been by far the most difficult. I really don't like bugs and going out looking for them was a challenge. Luckily I was able to find some without having to do too much digging. Simply by paying attention to the undertow of the forest I noticed a whole other world operating. The first insect I found was a big ant.

It was alone which is different from what I would have expected because ants are known to be very social creatures. I don't know where it was going and it was a fleeting sighting but it was bigger than any ant I'd seen before. I don't know if this was due to age or species. I am hoping that the isolated behavior of the ant is telling of what kind it was. The second insect I found was the "potato bug". After further research in the field guide I found that the latin name for this insect is Armadillidiidae and the common name is the common pill bug. They have 7 legs and two antanea on top of armadillo type bodies with "plates" lining their back making it possible for them t roll into a protective ball very quickly. The two I found were engaged in what looked like a fight. They were rolling around together aggressively. This also could have been contributed to mating behavior. I also found several millipedes.

They have all black bodies with yellowish orange circle patterns on the lower sides where the legs come out. They have several (too many to count) legs and two antanea. The three I found were under a small piece of wood near a snag. They weren't moving. I don't know if they were dead or simply resting. One was rolled into a ball which is a protective stance from predators. According to the field guide they are able to secrete a foul smelling odor when they are threatened.

One of the more active insects I found was working alone on the ground. The yellow-faced bumble bee was busy digging a small hole in soft soil near my observation site. This is a big bee that has long thick black hair. It's face is all yellow as well as it's rear. It has black wings that are pretty noisy (which is how I spotted it). According to the field guide these bumble bees are known to both pollinate flowers but differ from honey bees because they nest underground as opposed to in a hive. They can be found at this time of year only! The last invertebrate I found was a fly of some sort. It looked too small to be a dragonfly but it had the same shape and wing pattern. It is all black with a red head. It has four wings and was sticking close to the snags near my site. I am hoping to get ID help through inaturalist. I do have to say that searching for invertebrates at my site has been the most challenging of the assignments. I am not too fond of insects and definitely never go looking for them. It was nice, however, to get outside the larger scope of things for a moment and notice the ever-changing nature of nature's floor. During future visits I will definitely be more keen to watch my step!

A new and unidentified species.
Stay tuned!