It's definitely moving into spring around here. Lots of blooming flowers, a walk down the street is rewarded with floral scents wafting through the air. Today I went out for a little bit and though it was raining it was quite warm - I think it is near 60.
Last week I walked around Green Lake a couple of times. I noticed a couple of gadwalls near the northeast corner, it was the first time I have noticed them at the lake. I wonder about the people fishing at Green Lake. Often when I walk around there I will see several fisherman, particularly around the south and eastern shores. The only time I stopped and talked to one of them he said he was fishing for carp, but it sounded like he didn't speak much English so I didn't end up talking to him much about it. I have never seen any of them with a fish on the line or on the shore. Maybe it is better that way though - they get to enjoy a relaxing past time without the hassle of cleaning any fish.
Sunday, March 11, 2007
Monday, February 12, 2007
Weekend Outings
I've been struggling to find motivation to get outside lately. It's easy to come up with reasons not to though. Despite that I managed to get out a little this weekend.
On Saturday I went to Golden Gardens park, it's a nice little beach area. I've been reading "Walking the Beach to Bellingham" and in it he says something along the lines of the beach at Golden Gardens being the only intact beach ecosystem in Seattle. It is not large, but there is a lot of sand, a pond and a nice vegetation zone. There were currants and willows blooming near the pond. Crows were busy chasing a hawk around in the hill behind the beach. It was a pleasant overcast afternoon and I found sitting on the beach relaxing but part of me was irritated by all the people there including one guy talking loudly into his cell phone for long stretches of time.
On Sunday I decided to explore along I-90 a bit, getting off the freeway at North Bend and driving around some of the back roads finally stopping along the middle fork of the Snoqualmie at a little park I had been to once before. The weather had been partly sunny in the city but it was raining on and off when I got to North Bend, but it was nice walking through the woods and out on the sand bar in the drizzle. When I got down to the riverside I sheltered underneath a big cottonwood that had washed down. While there I talked to a nice old man (the only other person I saw there, though I saw some other people at a distance further down the river) who came to the area regularly, he told me about the flooding last fall and I asked him about what sort of animals he'd seen evidence of around there. Being there at the river made me feel wistful for a nice fishing/camping trip. As far as I can tell there isn't any fishing allowed on rivers and streams till at least March though.
From the middle fork I drove across to the other side of the freeway, I was interested in checking out the Cedar Falls area I saw in my atlas. I got back to a lake rec area, the road that went through it looked like it was normally open until 6pm, but it wasn't open when I got there so I settled for parking in the lot at the head of the lake. There were quite a few people here too. I wonder how crowded it gets when the weather is sunny. Next to the lake was a hill with an impressive looking rock outcrop at the top. I decided to try and hike up to the top, as it turned out there was a 2 mile trail up (to Rattlesnake Ridge) so my main concern was time as it was 3:30 when I started and the gate for the parking lot was supposed to close at 6. I kept up what I felt was a pretty good pace (considering I haven't been getting much exercise for quite a while) and made it up to the top in plenty of time. There was a panoramic view of the cascades and back towards the city. It was nice getting up there and looking out, but I found the uniform forest/clearcut 40 years ago look and the sprawling residential areas to be lacking aesthetically.
In thinking about why the logged over look bothers me there in a way that I haven't noticed in my experience of Sitka two things come to mine. One is that much of the logged areas around Sitka have had more time to regrow and turn into a more mature/less uniform looking forest. The other is that from the Rattlesnake Ridge viewpoint I could see for many miles in any direction and the dominant feature visible was those forests whereas the views around Sitka tend to be more broken up by mountains and ocean so if there are patches of depressing forests they don't seem to dominate the landscape in the same way.
I imagine that this posts comes across as being a bit anti people/civilization and I guess that's a bit how I felt this weekend. I'm not really sure why I felt that way because I like people and on the whole I'm a fan of civilization. Perhaps I just had a desire for some beauty, peace and solitude that I didn't end up finding in the way that I hoped.
On Saturday I went to Golden Gardens park, it's a nice little beach area. I've been reading "Walking the Beach to Bellingham" and in it he says something along the lines of the beach at Golden Gardens being the only intact beach ecosystem in Seattle. It is not large, but there is a lot of sand, a pond and a nice vegetation zone. There were currants and willows blooming near the pond. Crows were busy chasing a hawk around in the hill behind the beach. It was a pleasant overcast afternoon and I found sitting on the beach relaxing but part of me was irritated by all the people there including one guy talking loudly into his cell phone for long stretches of time.
On Sunday I decided to explore along I-90 a bit, getting off the freeway at North Bend and driving around some of the back roads finally stopping along the middle fork of the Snoqualmie at a little park I had been to once before. The weather had been partly sunny in the city but it was raining on and off when I got to North Bend, but it was nice walking through the woods and out on the sand bar in the drizzle. When I got down to the riverside I sheltered underneath a big cottonwood that had washed down. While there I talked to a nice old man (the only other person I saw there, though I saw some other people at a distance further down the river) who came to the area regularly, he told me about the flooding last fall and I asked him about what sort of animals he'd seen evidence of around there. Being there at the river made me feel wistful for a nice fishing/camping trip. As far as I can tell there isn't any fishing allowed on rivers and streams till at least March though.
From the middle fork I drove across to the other side of the freeway, I was interested in checking out the Cedar Falls area I saw in my atlas. I got back to a lake rec area, the road that went through it looked like it was normally open until 6pm, but it wasn't open when I got there so I settled for parking in the lot at the head of the lake. There were quite a few people here too. I wonder how crowded it gets when the weather is sunny. Next to the lake was a hill with an impressive looking rock outcrop at the top. I decided to try and hike up to the top, as it turned out there was a 2 mile trail up (to Rattlesnake Ridge) so my main concern was time as it was 3:30 when I started and the gate for the parking lot was supposed to close at 6. I kept up what I felt was a pretty good pace (considering I haven't been getting much exercise for quite a while) and made it up to the top in plenty of time. There was a panoramic view of the cascades and back towards the city. It was nice getting up there and looking out, but I found the uniform forest/clearcut 40 years ago look and the sprawling residential areas to be lacking aesthetically.
In thinking about why the logged over look bothers me there in a way that I haven't noticed in my experience of Sitka two things come to mine. One is that much of the logged areas around Sitka have had more time to regrow and turn into a more mature/less uniform looking forest. The other is that from the Rattlesnake Ridge viewpoint I could see for many miles in any direction and the dominant feature visible was those forests whereas the views around Sitka tend to be more broken up by mountains and ocean so if there are patches of depressing forests they don't seem to dominate the landscape in the same way.
I imagine that this posts comes across as being a bit anti people/civilization and I guess that's a bit how I felt this weekend. I'm not really sure why I felt that way because I like people and on the whole I'm a fan of civilization. Perhaps I just had a desire for some beauty, peace and solitude that I didn't end up finding in the way that I hoped.
Wednesday, January 31, 2007
Apartment Birds
The past few days I've been noticing birds hanging out under the bush right against my window. Yesterday there was a robin that was chilling down there until it noticed that I was sitting just a few feet away (in my apartment). Then it got a bit worried and eventually flew up to the window to check me out, got freaked, and flew off. After relating that story to Megan she suggested that I put some bird seed out under the bush to help distract me more from work. I had been thinking about doing that anyway and I guess that nudge was enough to get me to do it, because this morning I tossed a bit of seed out the window.
So far the only birds I have seen eating on it have been several juncos. They've flown in and out a couple of different times. Actually, I'm not sure if they were the same birds - one group had four and the next time I only noticed two, so it could have been a partial return or a different group. Just a few minutes ago a hummingbird flew up to my window and looked in. That was pretty exciting but I doubt that it had much to do with the seed I put out.
So far the only birds I have seen eating on it have been several juncos. They've flown in and out a couple of different times. Actually, I'm not sure if they were the same birds - one group had four and the next time I only noticed two, so it could have been a partial return or a different group. Just a few minutes ago a hummingbird flew up to my window and looked in. That was pretty exciting but I doubt that it had much to do with the seed I put out.
Friday, January 26, 2007
Walk Through Ravenna
It was sunny today and I have kept up on work pretty well this week, so I decided to go for a walk through the park this afternoon. I wanted to take a more leisurely and wider exploration of the park than I usually do so this time I walked all the way down to the other end (which I had never done before) and explored some of the side trails on the way back.
Shortly after reaching the park I noticed a lot more grey squirrel activity than I had seen there before. On my way out I saw one climbing a tree with a mouthful of red cedar bark, presumably for its nest.
Near the far end of the park I noticed some raccoon tracks in the creek. While I went out and took a look I also felt like raccoon tracks there were starting to get a bit old - I never found more than a couple of tracks at a time and it wasn't giving me much new information (though perhaps I could begin to catalog the tracks to determine different sized animals.) As I was walking up a side trail though I happened to glance to the side and see a raccoon huddled up in the crotch of a tree near the trail. I watched it a while and tried to get it's attention, but it seemed to be ignoring me (perhaps hoping that I wouldn't see it if it didn't look up). After that encounter I kept my neck craned up a lot more.
I saw and heard quite a few birds. A bunch of chickadees I think both black capped and chestnut backed, a ruby crowned kinglet, wookpecker (hairy? didn't get a good look), and others.
I also saw some people applying graffiti to the supports of one of the bridges. They were on one side when I walked down and the other side when I walked back. A person who I had thought was having a cigarette at his sit spot later seemed to be walking around with the painters, so I'm curious what he had been doing sitting hidden beneath a tree by the creek.
Shortly after reaching the park I noticed a lot more grey squirrel activity than I had seen there before. On my way out I saw one climbing a tree with a mouthful of red cedar bark, presumably for its nest.
Near the far end of the park I noticed some raccoon tracks in the creek. While I went out and took a look I also felt like raccoon tracks there were starting to get a bit old - I never found more than a couple of tracks at a time and it wasn't giving me much new information (though perhaps I could begin to catalog the tracks to determine different sized animals.) As I was walking up a side trail though I happened to glance to the side and see a raccoon huddled up in the crotch of a tree near the trail. I watched it a while and tried to get it's attention, but it seemed to be ignoring me (perhaps hoping that I wouldn't see it if it didn't look up). After that encounter I kept my neck craned up a lot more.
I saw and heard quite a few birds. A bunch of chickadees I think both black capped and chestnut backed, a ruby crowned kinglet, wookpecker (hairy? didn't get a good look), and others.
I also saw some people applying graffiti to the supports of one of the bridges. They were on one side when I walked down and the other side when I walked back. A person who I had thought was having a cigarette at his sit spot later seemed to be walking around with the painters, so I'm curious what he had been doing sitting hidden beneath a tree by the creek.
Sunday, January 21, 2007
Slug Feeding Sign
Snow tracking was cancelled this weekend because it was supposed to snow through the night before so there probably wouldn't be much good tracking. So instead I stayed inside most of the day. I did get a new battery for my camera though so was able to finally download some pictures that were on there from previous trips.
This was during the December tracking intensive class. We spent most of the day wondering around in the woods near Bellevue and at one point somebody noticed some interesting marks on a tree so several of us gathered around to try and figure it out.
We ended up deciding it was probably from slugs feeding on the green algae(?) growing on the tree.
This was during the December tracking intensive class. We spent most of the day wondering around in the woods near Bellevue and at one point somebody noticed some interesting marks on a tree so several of us gathered around to try and figure it out.
We ended up deciding it was probably from slugs feeding on the green algae(?) growing on the tree.
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