Journal 8: Field Trip

Location: Top of Ebey’s landing

Date: November 17, 2018

Temperature: Approximately 53 degrees Fahrenheit

Time: 11:09 AM-12:06 PM

Weather: Cloudy, with some sun

At the top of the Ebey’s Landing, the class got out of the cars and took a look around. The temperature was chilly at first, but as the sun started to peek through the clouds, it started to get warmer.  At the top of the Ebey’s Landing, we saw the valley. The valley was formed by a glacial meltwater channel when the glacier stalled here. The area has been inhabited for at least 2000 years. The trees that were located there were Douglas Firs and Sitka Spruce. For the Sitka spruce, the needles seemed to be thicker than the Sitka spruce that the class saw at Union Bay, and the Douglas Fir had sun foliage at the top of the tree. The needles, usually flat on the branch, were unusually whirled and thicker around the tree branches, which allows for more sunlight to be absorbed. Sitka Spruce is usually found growing among Western Hemlock and Western Red cedar, however this environment is not the usual habitat the Sitka Spruce would usually be found in. Sitka spruce can only be found on the portion of the ridge because of the ocean currents, this is the only area that receives summer-time fog, which Sitka spruces requires to thrive. The trees also seemed to have a weird shape, as they didn’t grow vertically, but curved at some aspects. The trees had some broken branches and were quite skinny due to the wind sculpting, and the curve the trees have, is also due to the wind sculpting. Some other plants that we saw at the top of the Ebey’s landing were Salal, Snowberry, Bracken fern, Tall Oregon Grape, and a Fishnet lichen. Fishnet Lichen was quite interesting as there has an “elasticity” in the middle of the webbing of the lichen. The lichen can be stretched a little, and return to its normal shape. A bird that we found flying in the branches of the trees at the top of the Ebey’s landing were Golden crowned Kinglets, who were very hyperactive and had a very high pitch call. The birds we found floating in the water, in search of food, were the Double-crested Cormorant, Horned Grebe, Pacific Loon, Common Merganser, and Surf Scoter. The Double-crested Cormorant was a dark brown to black color body with a yellow bill. The Horned Grebe has red eyes, and a dull tipped bill. The neck up to the cheek was white, while the top of the head was black. The rest of the body was a dark to light grey. The Pacific Loon has a dark brown to black back and a grey head. The top of the bill seems to be black as well and the bill is long and thin. The Common Merganser had an orange-red head, and an orange bill. The back of the body is grey on top, and lightens up to a pale white going down towards the underside of the body. The Surf Scoter had an oddly shaped bill, much larger in height than the other birds that we saw that day, with a vertical white patch along the bill. The head was black, and the body is a dark brown.

Time: 12:45 PM-5:45 PM

Temperature: 54 degrees Fahrenheit

Location: Ebey’s Landing

Weather: Cloudy with some sun

(1.) Landscape photo of the hillside, from across the Lagoon

(2.) Landscape photo along the beach

(3.) Detailed Landscape drawing and the reference. Photo taken while returning back to the car, climbing the side of the hill on the trail

At Ebey’s Landing, the class walked along the beach. It was a little breezy at the beach, but once we started walking, I eventually warmed up. The weather turned out pretty well as the sun came and went throughout the day. The first plant the class saw and identified was the American Searocket (Cackile endentula). It was interesting, as it tasted similarly to mustard. The flowering on the plant had four petals. This is interesting as most plants with four petals are found in the “cabbage” family, the Brassicas family, with plants including cabbage, broccoli, mustard, brussels sprouts, and kale. The American Searocket tends to grow on ocean beaches and moist/wet sandy beaches.

(4.) Photo of the American Searocket (Cackile endentula)

Walking along, I saw, possibly a Juvenile Bald Eagle (Aquila chrysaetos). It looked similar to the other bald eagles that were flying about, except the head wasn’t white, but still brown with the rest of the body. While in flight, I saw that the wings had some white spotting underneath, along with the tail feathers underneath being some grey/white. The bill of the juvenile Bald Eagle was not the usual golden yellow that is seen in the adult, but rather a grey/black bill. I also saw a Common Raven (Corvus corax), as the tail was in a diamond shape, and the body size of the Raven was much larger than a Crow. The body was stark black, the head and bill is also longer than a crow.

Something that happened that was unexpected was a Juvenile Northern Harrier (Circus cyaneus) was fighting with whom I thought was a seagull, however was told it was an adult Northern Harrier. It was interesting as the adult Northern Harrier was so brightly white. The Juvenile Northern Harrier was a golden brown body color, while the adult was a pale grey body color. Underneath the adult Northern Harrier is black tips, with a white underbody, while the juvenile has black and white striped tips and a golden brown underbelly. But the tell-tale sign that it is a Northern Harrier is with the white rump from both Juvenile and adult Northern Harrier.

What was also interesting was that I found a Prickly Pear cactus (Opuntia), and a red bulbous cactus found in bundles. I didn’t really expect to see cactus, as I was under the assumption that cactus grow on dry, drought-like conditions, such as deserts, not alongside the beach and cliff.

(5.) Red Bulbous cacti

At the lagoon, there were tons of pickleweeds (Salicornia) packed along the edges of the brackish waters of the lagoon. Pickleweeds are edible and salty, and are typically found near or next to saltwater marshes. The way the plant looks is quite odd as there seems to be segments, similar to a finger, separated and branched off of one another. Near the pickleweeds, there were some Reindeer Lichen (Cladonia arbuscula), which were also found at the Mima mounds from the previous field trip.There were also many diving birds at the lagoons, such as Buffleheads (Bucephala albeola), Common Mergansers (Mergus merganser), Hooded Mergansers (Lophodytes cucullatus), a Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias), Greater Yellowlegs (Tringa melanoleuca), and Finches.

(6. and 7.) Detailed drawings of the Hooded Merganser (Lophodytes cucullatus) and the Bufflehead (Bucephala albeola)

(8. and 9.) Detailed drawings of the Common Mergansers (Mergus merganser) and the Greater Yellowlegs (Tringa melanoleuca)

(10.) Photo of the Reindeer Lichen (Cladonia arbuscula)

Time: 6:36 PM

Location: Skagit Delta

Temperature 49 degrees Fahrenheit

Weather: Cloudy, windy

The moon was already out shining in the night. We arrived at the Skagit Delta a little after sunset, and went to an area known for the sighting of the Great Horned Owls. We stood quietly, while Tim played the calls of the Great Horned Owls. In the distance, you could hear lots of ducks quacking, as they were quite loud. We stood outside for about 15 minutes, continuously trying to search for the pair of Great Horned Owls however, we were not in luck, as we did not get to see the Magnificent Great Horned Owls.