Today I visited my site my site just after 12 PM. I made the mistake of wearing a black t-shirt because it was around 80 degrees Fahrenheit, feeling warmer than that when in the sun. When walking from the softball field into the more shaded park really felt like a relief because of how warm it was out. When arriving at my site the changes seemed less drastic than the prior week.  More of the horsetail had fallen and died, creating a thick level of understory brush that allowed me to walk with easy over the mud that had been there before. However, I could still feel the soft mud bellow me, so I pushed some of the brush aside to investigate what was beneath and sure enough it was an extremely damp soil. The soil probably was partly made of clay because it has not dried out all spring. When looking for some Salmon berries to enjoy on the hot day, I noticed that they were harder to find ripe as compared to previous weeks. Many of them had been picked already or where a yellow orange not ready for eating. The grasses in front of the Salmon berry and nurse log were not as tall and beginning to create that same layer over the ground as described before. Overall, the horse-tail and grasses were not as thick and over grown as previous week. Below is a side by side comparison.

                                        Week 1                                                                     Week 10

    

                  Week 1                                                                        Week 8

   

Week 10

My perception about my observation sight has changed immensely over the quarter. At first I initially chose the spot because it wasn’t too far off the trail, there were a couple trees that I could recognize, and there was a nice tree root that I could sit on and observe. The site really didn’t look like anything special, but I am shocked how much it has changed. I had never done any sort of formalized repeat observations like this before, but knew that there would be some growth; never would have thought there would be the amount of change that I ended up witnessing. Additionally, at the start of my observation time the salmon berry was much thinner and my eye was drawn down into and across the ravine. Now with all the growth that has happened, along with the growth of my knowledge, I realized that I was able to focus on the more immediate area, and have a better understanding of it.  

I did not have a deep understanding of the Puget Sound area before taking this class. I knew Native Americans had a large presence here and that they relied heavily on Salmon and Cedar, but I did not know anything about the geomorphology or natural progression of the forest trees of the area. Because I will be leaving the area after I graduate from the University of Washington, I wanted to develop a better appreciation for this area of the country, and our visit out to the Olympic peninsula and Whidbey Island gave me some fond memories that I will be able to look back on. It has also given me a greater appreciation for the natural history that is around us everywhere. I don’t know if I could have really defined natural history before this class, and now I when moving to the Bay Area, I’m excited to start exploring that area using the skills that I developed throughout the quarter. I will definitely be purchasing a field guild when I settle in. I think that also says something about what it means do participate in natural history. I think the greatest thing that this class has given me is the awareness to pay attention to the natural environment around me wherever I am. It is constantly changing and you’ll always find something new and interesting to observe and learn about.