Week 7: Fungi

Date: May 19, 2013
Weather: sunny, light wind, few light clouds
Temp: 60 F
Time: 5:30pm-6:30pm
Location: Discovery Park

This week, we set off into the forest as foragers of fungi. We were a little skeptical of finding mushrooms a) this late into Spring and b) because you seem to stumble across them accidentally when you are not looking for them! However, the Kingdom Fungus includes yeasts, molds, and lichen as well as mushrooms (since these are mere the fruiting bodies of underground mycelium fungus organisms), and we knew lichens would be abundant. We brought a paper bag along for collecting specimens, since in class this was recommended as on of the better ways to store mushrooms short term... putting them in plastic bags or Tupperware makes them slimy fast. Here are some of the few mushrooms we've already seen in the past 6 weeks:

Hare's-foot Inkcap

Marasmius (genus) growing in grass

Amanita (genus), likely Panther Amanita, growing in
woody material in the shade of some tress 

Oyster Mushroom, growing on a dead tree snag

I include the locations of the mushrooms, since this, and really any possible information about the mushroom can aid in the painstakingly specific process of identifying mushrooms. The major mushroom forms are
-Gills
-Pores
-Teeth
-Jelly
-Wrinkles
-Puffballs
-Oddballs
-Cup
and these can be helpful in narrowing down the mushroom to at least a family. Wandering through the woods this evening, we found several lichens growing on trees.

Here is an interesting lichen growth under a tree branch

Most of these lichens we were able to grab and put in our "goodie bag." We searched high and low (but mostly low) for our mushroom friends. After about an hour, the only ground dweller that greeted us was a slug startled by the upturned leaf litter as we searched around.

Looks like it didn't find any mushrooms either

So we turned around after collecting some lichens and headed back. Upon stopping to observe some Siberian Miner's Lettuce that I spotted part way into a wooded area, lo and behold! My theory was correct: you find mushrooms the minute you stop looking! From a distance, we were able to see some large bulbous mushrooms poking their heads out of the ground!

Success!

We saw four of them, and two were already strangely perfectly uprooted and ready for me to throw into our paper bag. They were all gathered around a dying Alaskan Yellow Cedar. Based on our first glance and the little we had learned in class, we guessed it was some kind of Puffball. We continued the rest of the way home, pleased with our find.
That night however, I decided to ditch one of the samples. As I pulled it out of the bag to inspect it, I found we had an unexpected hitchhiker

Apparently I brought home the home of an
unsuspecting millipede!

Looking into our bag, this is what we came up with:

Our loot

Oak Moss Lichen

Methuselah's Beard Lichen

Hammered Shield Lichen

A dried up fungus?

Our scaly mushroom

Top view of mushroom reveals a brown cap

So originally, like I said, we assumed this was some kind of puffball mushroom. However, upon looking through our guide, we realized the puffballs are much more stemless and less scaly. Another distinguishing feature is that on the inside, they are white and meaty like a button mushroom when immature, but, when they mature, the entire inside turns into a huge spore vessel, that will actually "puff" spores when disturbed.

A true puffball

There was one way to find out:

Cross-Section!

 The mushroom dissection proved to be entirely useful! This was definitely not a puffball. In fact, it had very distinct gills:

Free, veiled gills

The terminology we eventually determined was correct to describe this was "free, veiled gills" meaning the gills do not attach to the stem and the cap provides a veil underneath the cap. We finally decided this to be a Shaggy Parasol, even though the book describes their season as Sept-Oct...

Shaggy Parasols, genus Lepiota

However, this has at least three look-alikes described in the book, one of which, the Reddening Lepiota (L. americana) maybe the more likely choice as its season is late June-Oct. However, this one is usually found in close clusters, and we found ours at least a several feet away from each other...

Reddening Lepiota (Lepiota americana)

What do YOU think...? Seems like this mushroom hunting and IDing business is just as hard as it looks!

Week 6: Birds

Date: May 10, 2013
Weather: sunny, light wind, few light clouds
Temp: 75 F
Time: 2:30pm-4:30pm
Location: Discovery Park

This week at Discovery Park, we turned our heads up from the ground towards the trees and skies to observe birds! However, as any bird observer soon realizes, we have to use our ears the most, since most birds are more easily heard than seen. We positioned ourselves on the northern end of Discovery Park this time where there would be more wooded areas for birds to sneak about in. Here are the general types of commonly sighted birds around Discovery Park, as well as what species we were able to observe!

Hummingbirds
These tiny birds have a very distinctive squeaky call, which is how I usually find them. Look for a small bird flying relatively low (eye level to tree tops) and flitting quickly from flower to flower in bushes. Many times, I hear the squeaky calls and look up to see a solitary hummingbird perched at the very top of a tree in plain sight, surprisingly, giving off lots of communicative calls, and will stay there for relatively long periods of time (1-5 minutes). We spotted a brilliant Anna's Hummingbird flying solo feeding off Himalayan Blackberry flowers. They are easily spotted when they turn towards you to reveal a vibrant magenta chest (most pronounced in sexually selected males). You can also spot them if you happen to come bird watching with me, since I will often yell "Hummer!" and point animatedly.

Anna's Hummingbird

Seagulls
We observed these commonly sighted marine birds several times flying high overhead, approximately 30 meters up, since Discovery Park lies adjacent to Puget Sound. I saw them flying in pairs a few times. They flew slow and steadily. Likely we were viewing the common Western Gull, the species we normally refer to as "seagull."

Western Gull

Chickadees
On our expeditions, we have commonly spotted the Black-Capped Chickadee as well as the Chestnut-Backed Chickadee, a pair of species that one must look closely to distinguish, as they both have similar head and chest markings. The major difference lies in the chestnut color on the appropriately named latter species. We usually see these small birds hopping around in the underbrush of the woods in trees or shrubs, making lots of melodic calls. They don't tend to stay in the same spot long. If they do stay in the same vegetative area, they will hop from branch to branch, and they are usually by themselves.
We stopped for a while to observe a Black-Capped Chickadee. We first heard it and observed it a little bit, hopping and hiding, obscured through the branches of an Indian Plum. Then it flew into better sight after a few minutes into a Bigleaf Maple. We observed it hopping again from branch to branch, probing for small bugs in the wood and around the flowering catkins. During this time it remained relatively quiet and focused. We noticed through the lenses of our binoculars when it finally caught a bug of some sort. It ate it, then called for a little while before returning to the foraging activity. We left after about 10 minutes since the bird did not seem to be leaving the maple any time soon. We assumed it may have either decided to sing to defend the tree as the bird's new territory, or may have been notifying other black-caps that this tree bore "fruit," as it were. I might guess the latter, based on the description from our field guide that credits the black-caps as being "among the friendliest and most cheerful of woodland inhabitants." They also apparently travel in family groups in summer and band together in flocks.

Black-Capped Chickadee

Our Chestnut-Backed Chickadee
Like I said, pretty similar unless you can see it's back

Crows
Well, we all know the American Crow. The urban ones display their marked intelligence and social behavior most clearly, banding together in gangs to forage and defend territory. The field guide remarks that the crow has flourished because "much of its survival strength lies in its ability to adapt to a variety of habitats, food resources, and environmental conditions." As such, this species persists here in the PNW year-round, at least in the lowlands and areas that do not experience harsh cold. Studies show that some crows even commute to the city for the "work day," while their nests and mates remain in the wooded outskirts of town awaiting their return in the evening. We've observed crows in Discovery Park, and this last week, we spotted one roosting atop a tree cawing loudly and grooming itself. It came down for a minute to a post to be observed a bit clearer. They appear to be fairly nonchalant and unconcerned of predators and are usually found out in the open or flying up high.

Our American Crow shot

Herons
We also observed a majestic Great Blue Heron flying effortlessly high above us moving away from the direction of the Sound. No matter how many times I see these birds, my heart still gives a little flutter at seeing them in flight, based on their pure size and wingspan, along with their prehistoric look and elegant flight. Herons can be distinguished from cranes in flight by the "S"-shape of the neck. Cranes keep their long neck straight.

Great Blue Heron

Thrushes
Often spotted out in the open, we observed a few American Robins this week as well. The American Robin is actually in the thrush family. Usually we see them feeding, looking for insects and worms in the ground, in open grass field. We saw one calling loudly from the top of a Douglas Fir, out in the open and grooming itself, just like the crow. They are pretty brash in our experience and seem to hardly notice our presence. Sometimes they appear to be listening for prey, but are actually looking for movements in the soil. Interesting fact: Robins can't look down, and have to tilt their head sideways in order to do so. Which may explain this picture we snapped in week 2:

American Robin
"See, I CAN look down"

Sparrows
These small birds are relatively common, yet hard to see and distinguish from each other. They are usually some variation of brown, white, and black with small spots or stripes on its wings, back, and sometimes chest. We have identified the White-Crowned Sparrow there, as it has a distinct white stripe on its head, but have seen several others flying quickly and low, usually a pair chasing each other. They don't usually stay put long enough or close enough to identify.
However, this week we had a little bush adventure that allowed us to get closer to some of the smaller, shy birds! We decided to try using my iPhone to play a few bird calls in the hopes of seeing any of the shyer bird species. It all started when we heard and could partially see a Spotted Towhee hopping around in a blackberry thicket. It was not calling, and most of the noise was coming from the rustling of the bushes...the Towhee is actually a relatively large sparrow. We looked up the call and played a few different ones. The towhee hopped closer for a look. We kept playing the songs, and after about 5 minutes, we had four towhees responding from all directions! The first one hopped up higher into another bush and another one came to join it and they looked at us accusingly... keep in mind we were hoping to get a better look for educational purposes! Another one flew into a tree up above behind us and called, looking around for the source. It was exciting to get to see these elusive birds so close!

Spotted Towhee

White-Crowned Sparrow

In conclusion to our Discovery Park bird adventure, I also decided to find out, based on the categorization of the bird vocalizations online, exactly what the difference was between a call and a song anyway. This is what I found. Songs are relatively long and elaborate vocalizations. They are usually used to impress and attract a mate or declare territorial boundaries. Calls on the other hand are short and sweet and are typically used to identify family members, announce the presence of a predator, or convey information about food. Next time I am out looking for birds, it would be useful to use this information to get a better clue of what the bird might be doing! And of course, learn bird calls and songs a little bit better...
Our last interesting find as we left the park shows that Spring has progressed now enough for the caterpillars to begin emerging and start foraging intensively on all the new deciduous vegetation. As we walked under a tree, I looked up and saw what I assumed to be a hairy, brown hat someone had stuck up on the end of a branch. I looked harder and realized it was a swarming mass of Tent Caterpillars!

Tent Caterpillars

They use the tent as a nest, foraging in the day and returning to the tent at night for protection. It also holds them in an exposed enough position in the morning so that they can warm their bodies with the sun's rays. They must warm their bodies to a high enough temperature to start their daily foraging activities.

Time to eat!

Though these foragers just may become foraged themselves by all of our hungry bird species!

Week 5: Arthropods and Invertebrates

Date: May 5, 2013
Weather: sunny, light wind
Temp: 72 F
Time: 1:00pm-3:00pm
Location: Discovery Park

Starting with a picture of the west side of
Discovery Park to celebrate the nice day

Ahhhhh! The first great (field) day of Spring! Not a cloud in the sky! The mission for this bright and sunny day: find Arthropods! Arthropods are invertebrate animals having an exoskeleton, a segmented body, and jointed appendages. They are members of the phylum Arthropoda, and include the insects, arachnids, and crustaceans. Unfortunately, the only source of moisture at Discovery Park lies along west edge at the beaches...no streams or lakes to go poking around in, so we were unsure of our prospects with the invertebrates. At first, we explored the western central side of the park, but then determined it might be too windy, especially for insects (the class of winged Arthropods), so we went into more wooded areas. We spent almost two hours searching before we had even considered going down to the beach to look at Crustaceans, and so we hope to get down to the beach next week.
However, we were able to see many busy bees (Order Hymenoptera) pollinating a lavender plant:

A beautiful, golden Honey Bee

Another type of Honey Bee?

The back view of a Yellow-Faced Bumble Bee

And nearby, a Western Yellow Jacket hides in the grass, skulking at these busy bees...

Western Yellow Jacket--tread lightly!

Western Yellow Jackets are actually a type of wasp. They do have workers that forage for food, but many devote their energy to aggressively defending the nest. This is because they will forage almost anything, from leftover picnics to flowers, a la raccoon-style. Adults feed primarily on items rich in sugars and carbohydrates, such as fruits, flower nectar, and tree sap, while larvae feed on proteins, such as insects, meats, and fish. Adult workers chew and condition the meat fed to the larvae. Larvae in return secrete a sugar material relished by the adults; this exchange is a form of trophallaxis (mouth-to-mouth or anus-to-mouth feeding). In late summer, foraging workers change their food preference from meats to ripe, decaying fruits, or scavenge human garbage, once larvae in the nest fail to meet requirements as a source of sugar.
Looking down at my jeans, we notice a fly (Order Diptera) just hanging out.

House Fly?

We classified it as a House Fly, based on the red eyes, but are not completely sure. We also saw a group of flies hanging out on some flowering Lupines

House Fly(?) on Lupine

We were not quite sure why these flies wanted to hang out on unopened flowers unless they were not there to feed. A look at my Audubon field guide shows that apparently flies have an even less glamorous lifestyle than the wasp. The guide describes their lifestyle habits as "sucks liquid sugars from garbage; spreads disease." Alright, I guess I can see why the expression "Shoo, fly, shoo!" exists...
Moving on, we saw a spider (Order Araneae) scuttling across the path, which we were unable to identify

My spidey sense is tingling

Nearby, there was an group of ants (Order Hymenoptera, same as bees) crawling all over the flowering American Vetch

Unknown ant species

They appeared to be crawling all over the vetch aimlessly, except when they would pause beneath the flowers, possibly foraging for dripping nectar or other plant matter.
This was the extent of our Arthropod-finds for the day, though we noticed some new plants, and several familiar species beginning to fruit or flower:

Fruiting:

Elderberry

Red-Flowering Currant

Indian Plum

 Flowering:

Lupine

Also Lupine, but completely different flower structure,
so we're guessing it's a second species!

New species in our area:

Willow with spiky catkins

Columbine

Columbines elongated petals that curl at the back reveal it
as an evolutionarily specified hummingbird pollinated species

Pacific Bleeding Heart

Deer Fern

Cedar of Lebanon

Vine Maple

Some kind of Lily--distinguishable
by parts being in multiples of 3

Flowering Rosaceae plant

??

?? Tips of the Douglas Fir, some Pineaceae species perhaps

Here's hoping for beautiful weather next week!
I leave you with my picture of the week. This was not at Discovery Park, but was from some sort of Pine species outside the University of Washington campus.

Welcome, Spring!