Final Phenological Observations

Week 1

Week 9

I have truly watched Discovery Park transform over this quarter. From a drab and brown barely inhabited space to a lush green environment buzzing with life. It amazes me how many more birds are out and about now that it is full force spring. In the beginning it seemed like barely any life inhabited Discovery Park, aside from some big evergreens and the bare bones of big leaf maples. After a few weeks when the weather started getting less and less harsh, the small plants that had hidden away during winter were started to poke green stalks through the ground. It was nearly impossible to identify them because all I could see was masses of green that all seemed pretty much the same, but as I advanced my knowledge and the plants began to bloom I could start to see some identifying features. I could see the small red flowers of the red flower currant, the bright pink and in your face flower of the salmonberry. I could smell the cucumber smell of the leaves of the Indian plum. I could see the miniscule details that set apart one plant from another. Then when we got into learning about birds it at first seemed impossible to see birds let alone identify them by call, but just today I could distinctly hear an American Robin's "Cheer up! Cheerily!", the Song Sparrow's distinct call that is beckoned so triumphantly, the White-Crowned Sparrow declaring exactly what type of bird it was in its call "I am a White Crowned Sparrow!".

 

Today I saw some extraordinary things. First we saw a pair of uncommon at this time of year birds, Cedar Waxwings. I did not know what they were at first, but the way they flew through the air really caught my attention. They flew like rollercoasters from tree to tree. I would never have been able to identify them unless I had my binoculars. Even when I looked at one with my binoculars, I could not identify them, though this made it possible to see the distinguishing features that I would use later to figure it out. The bird had a tan head with a tuft on the back and a distinct circle of black around the eye. The body faded into a darker gray. When I looked at the Waxwing, I did not see the most distinct feature that gave the waxwing its name, the bright and colorful waxy feathers that adorned its wing. I tried to commit as much as I could about the bird to memory so I could look it up later. When I googled tan tuft dark body bird and I saw the picture of the Cedar Waxwing I instantly knew it was the bird I saw.

 

Another exciting event that happened was a sighting of Hummingbird mating displays. This was something I had never seen before, but that had been described in class. At first I heard a loud chirping sound, so I looked around to see what bird was making this call, but it was not a call at all. It was the sound of the Hummingbirds wings as it ascended from its fast paced descent. The Hummingbird (I believe this was a Anna's Hummingbird, but I did not get my binoculars in time to identify it) hovered in the air for a little bit and then dove towards the ground in what seemed like a death defying stunt. Then at the last second the bird pulled up and made the loud chirp with its wings. I did not see another spectator Hummingbird around, but I am sure there was a female hiding in a tree enjoying the show somewhere.

 

I also found another type of mushroom on my trek through the woods. Although it seemed similar to the mushroom that I found last time, it was growing on a different substrate (dead leaves instead of wood chips), it had a smooth topped cap, and it had squiggly gills.   

The biggest change from the last few weeks I have been there is that the plants are shedding their flowers in exchange for growing their fruiting bodies. The Scotchbroom and Lupine had little pea pod shaped fruit that was hairy and visibly held the seeds that would be spread by animals eating the fruit or the fruit dropping to the ground, drying, and then blowing in the wind. The Oceanspray I saw had long since dried its flowers up and the Thimbleberry (that had no flowers at all when I first learned what it was) was shedding its white flowers that resemble Salmonberry flowers in shape.

 

Growth and development after the long winter has given way to reproduction of as many offspring as possible. Now that some plants no longer need the bugs and other pollinators to do their job, they have shed the one thing that drew them in. Now they have grown another thing that is a key strategy in them increasing their fitness. It has been quite the pleasure to see this park transform and come to life over just nine short weeks. I am sure I will return to Discovery Park to explore its many wonders in the future.