Diario de ballev

Today, (May, 9th, approximately 2:00pm) I walked over to the Union Bay Natural Area at UW and every time I come to this place I am so amazed that this site used to be a dump site. The diversity of this place is so amazing. It looks to me like this site was always natural. The weather today is somewhat cloudy but sometimes the sun decides to peak out every once in a while. I'm crossing over the bridge and the birds and ducks are plenty today, I just spotted a bufflehead! Buffleheads are so distinctive, with a black and white body and head. This is the first time I have ever seen a Bufflehead in person, they are such peaceful ducks. And to my left I see a family of Mallard Ducks, the little duckings are so adorable, they follow every movement the mother does. Here at the Union Bay Natural Area, the Mallard Ducks are much more plenty, if you see a duck at any park, it will most likely be a Mallard. The male Mallard has a distinctive green head and that is one way to tell a Mallard apart from the rest of the ducks. Now, back to the Bufflehead, I'm noticing that the Bufflehead keeps diving down into the shallow water, my guess is for food. Buffleheads love insects, mollusks, and crustaceans. As for Mallard Ducks, they don't dive into the water, but do something called dabbling. Unlike the Bufflehead, the Mallard Ducks eat a wide variety of food, however, their diet is mainly seeds. What I'm still curious about is why Mallards are so plentiful around here, and when I do see the Mallard Ducks I rarely see the male duck with the mother and ducklings.

Date and Time: May 11th, 10:00am
Location: Saltwater State Park, Des Moines, WA
Weather: Partly cloudy, air is moist
Soil Conditions: Very moist and damp

Saltwater State Park is about 87.4 acres of land on the Puget Sound, covered in luscious timber and plants. Saltwater State Park is also a campground with fifty two campsites along side the McSorley Creek. This place is very unique as it is by the water and it also has hiking trails through jungles of stinging nettles. And what's great about it is that it is so close to home, basically in your back yard, yet, when you hike these trails you feel as if you are out in a remote area, untouched, and 'wild' as ever.

Today, I decided to walk a small trail in Saltwater State Park and when I was doing this, I noticed the plants around me were very green, untouched, and plentiful. Although, the trail was very muddy and I nearly fell on my bottom a couple of times, I loved this trail. As you walk this trail you can't help but notice the smell of saltwater lingering in the air. I like the smell of fresh air and air by the water. Anyway, back to the trail, the understory of this park was rich, there was an abundance in sword ferns and lady ferns. I know that these were sword ferns and lady ferns because sword ferns are the most abundant ferns in the Pacific Northwest. Sword ferns are single-pinnate, with the pinnate alternating on the stalk, with bundles of ferns sticking straight up from the base like a sword. The tips are slightly bristled and serrated and under each pinnate, the sword ferns produce light yellow spores. As for the Lady fern, they are very broad in width with short rhizomes. The spore clusters are curved and long and the leaflet pairs alternate. Saltwater State Park is a great place for ferns to thrive because sword ferns love the understory of moist coniferous forests at low elevations. Sword ferns are very tough plants as they can withstand occasional dry periods. But their optimum growing conditions are consistent moisture, light sunlight, and cool weather, however not overly hot weather conditions. As for the Lady fern, they favor moist to wet forests, swamps, streambanks, and wet meadows and because Washington State fits this description of the perfect habitat for ferns, they thrive in locations across the Pacific Northwest. If you are hiking around the Pacific Northwest, chances are you will see an abundance of these prehistoric looking plants.

Date and Time: May 12, 1:00pm
Location: Mason Lake, Belfair, WA
Weather: Mostly sunny about 75 degrees
Water temperature: about 40 degrees
Soil conditions: slightly dry

Mason Lake is about a few hours away in Belfair, Washington, in Mason County. the lake is located on the isthmus of the Kitsap Peninsula between the Hood Canal and Pickering Passage of the Case Inlet. Mason Lake is the second largest freshwater lake in Mason County. Mason Lake is a very beautiful place on the way you can see the vegetation change from lands where trees are being restored where they were once logged to rich forest lands with ferns and red cedar trees to shore plants and green algae.

Today, is a very nice day here in Belfair, the songbirds are chirping loudly and the water is peacefully flowing. While sitting on the dock on the lake, a family of Mallard ducks swam by, the mother, about 7 ducklings, and the father Mallard. They were just foraging around the shallow waters for seeds and aquatic foods. One thing I noticed was that the male Mallard duck was keeping his distance from the mother duck and her ducklings. He was never really close to them. Shortly after they swam by another mother duck and her five ducklings swam by, but there was no father Mallard duck with this family. but what really interested me was that the father Mallard Duck of the first family would swim of and try to peck on the mother duck of the second family. I was really confused, why is the father duck leaving his family and messing with the mother of the second family? After observing their behavior for a few hours i had remembered that Mallard duck pairs are generally monogamous however, paired males at times pursue females other than their mates called extra-pair copulations. And male Mallards usually force these copulations. It was clear the male Mallard wanted to mate with the other female Mallard and the male was especially consistent because well, there wasn't another male Mallard to compete with.

Date and Time: May 12, 4:00pm
Location: Mason Lake, Belfair, WA
Weather: Mostly sunny about 75 degrees
Water temperature: about 40 degrees
Soil conditions: slightly dry

A couple hours after observing the Mallard Ducks, I spot these two Canada Geese. I heard their call way in advance before I even saw them. Their distinctive 'honking' call makes the Canada Geese easy to determine. There was a male and female Canada Geese and I could tell this because female geese are smaller than male geese. But really sparked my interest about Canada Geese while observing them, was that they neared the Mallard Ducks and I was really interested about their behavior toward each other. As questions lingered in my head about what the Canada Geese were going to do to the Mallard duck and the little ducklings. It was very clear that the Canada Geese did not like the Mallard Ducks, the Canada Geese were pecking at the little ducklings and the female Mallard Duck was defending her young by flapping her wings and quacking at the geese while the male Mallard was just watching the whole thing. My guess was that it was because the Canada Geese were territorial however, the Mallards were there first! It was just really interesting that the male Mallard didn't do anything. Female Mallards are the ones that make a the quacking sounds and the male Mallards don't quack, they make a more quiet rasping sounding noise. This seems to be quite normal around this time of year because during the Spring, Canada Goose pairs break out from flocks and begin defending territories and this may be an area where the Geese feel it's their territory and the Mallards were trespassing. The size difference between the Mallards and the Canada Geese is a really big difference. Canada Geese weigh about 13 pounds for a male and 11 pounds for a female and Mallards weigh about 2.7 pounds for a male and 2.4 pounds for a female.

Date and Time: May 13, 1:00pm
Location: Mason Lake, Belfair, WA
Weather: Mostly sunny about 72 degrees
Water temperature: about 40 degrees
Soil conditions: Mostly dry

Today, there are an abundance in birds, mostly American Robins and Bald Eagles. American Robins are very easy to distinguish as they have a reddish orange belly and breast and a grayish brown back and tail feathers with a darker colored head. They have a white line down their throat, streaked with black and their under-tail feathers are white. These birds are very abundant around the Pacific Northwest and are one of the first birds in the morning to be foraging for worms in your front yard. In this case, the American Robin had a worm in its mouth and flew away as i approached it too close. However, the main diet of the American Robin is berries, rarely do i ever see them eating berries though, they are mainly worms and insects. After seeing these lovely Robins I recalled information that i had learned awhile back that, the reason Robins are seen searching for worms is that the main diet of robin chicks is worms. Baby Robins eat about 100 meals a day! That is a lot of food for such a little chick! As for the Bald Eagle, while I was sitting on the dock, and saw a Bald Eagle fly over the trees and another one circling around in the sky. The Bald Eagle is very easy to notice with its white head, a large heavy looking brown body, white under-tail feathers, a large head and long, hooked yellow beak. However, when it's flying, the Bald Eagle holds glides in the air with its wings stiffly pointed out straight like a board. The Bald Eagle was gliding in the air for about ten minutes. It was looking for food such as salmon, herring, shad, and catfish. Although, their diets are made up mainly of fish, their diets vary depending on the available resources from birds to reptiles.I love seeing Bald Eagles, they are so majestic and to me are a symbol of power and being strong.

Date and Time: May 14, 11:00am
Location: Des Moines Marina Beach Park, Des Moines, WA
Weather: Mostly sunny about 67 degrees
Water temperature: about 40 degrees
Tide conditions: Relatively low

Des Moines, Washington is where I call my home, located about halfway between Seattle and Tacoma and a population of about 29, 673 people. The Des Moines Marina Beach Park is a pretty popular place around here especially on the nice, clear sunny days. While the Marina Beach Park has forest and the beach, I love walking on the beach during low tide and look for creatures in the tide pools. Many people fish off the dock for rock fish, squid, flounder, and herring, to name a few, people are not able to harvest shellfish or crab here due to red tide, pollution, and toxins that can make you sick. Despite the sick water in the Puget Sound, I love the Des Moines Marina.

Today, the Des Moines Beach Park is very peaceful and not busy at this moment. The tide is rather low and I'm walking the beach, I notice the beach is covered in rocks and empty shells, not to mention countless amounts of mussels and barnacles. I am always amazed at how many mussels and barnacles cover the beach. The Blue Mussel and Acorn Barnacle are the abundant species of mussels and barnacles here at the Marina. The Blue Mussel is a medium sized mollusk that lives in intertidal areas attached to rocks by a thread like looking structure located at the foot of the mussel. The shape of the shell shaped almost like a triangle that has been stretched out and is very smooth. The color of the shell initially looks black, however, if you give it a good look they are sometimes a tint of purple, blue, or brown in color. Not to mention they are quite tasty! As for the Acorn Barnacle, these are little creatures that to me, are very shy. They hid most of the time in their tightly sealed shells, never have I seen them open. They attach to various things such as pilings, wharfs, ships, rocks or other hard-shelled animals, like crabs or oysters. Their shells are cone shaped with a trap door-like opening at the top. The main reason we don't see the barnacle's shell open is because they are on the shore and out of the water. If they keep their shells open they can be easily eaten and they will dry out. When in the water their shells open and they feed on plankton. These two creatures are very interesting and i love seeing them around the beaches.

Date and Time: May 16, 12pm
Location: Des Moines Marina Beach Park, Des Moines, WA
Weather: Mostly cloudy about 65 degrees
Water temperature: about 40 degrees
Tide conditions: Relatively high

Today, at the Des Moines Beach Park there were many Western Gulls in the air and covering the parking lot. Western Gulls live on the Western Coast of North America and range from British Columbia, Canada to Baja California, Mexico. Western Gulls are almost always seen at any location near the water. They are most distinguishable by their large white head and body, yellow beak with a little red spot at the end of the beak, pink feet and legs, and gray wings. By the water they eat fish and invertebrates like krill, squid and jellyfish. They do not dive into the water, therefore, they feed at the surface of waters and when they are on land their diet becomes much more variable from dead sea animals carcasses, to clams, starfish, and snails. However, they are mainly seen eating food from humans at parks and marinas, even from waste landfills. But what really interested me is that I saw this Western Gull with only one leg and time after time I always see the same Western Gull at the Marina, it amazes me that this Gull can do the very same things a normal Gull can do. To the left of me I see a car feeding the Western Gulls pieces of bread and the flock of Gulls just crowd that area. When I see this, I can't help but wonder how the Western Gull's behavior toward humans and their diet would be.

Date and Time: May 16, 4:00pm
Location: Des Moines Marina Beach Park, Des Moines, WA
Weather: Mostly cloudy about 60 degrees
Water temperature: about 40 degrees
Tide conditions: Relatively high

Today, as I was walking along the docks at the Marina, I spotted about five Purple Sea Stars. They ranged from colors of orange, red, and purple, never pink and had five arms. They are about medium in size and are round on rocky shores where barnacles are abundant, their arms are relatively short in length, about four to ten inches. What's really interesting about the Purple Sea Star is that they are not always purple and they are such strong creatures. The Purple Sea Star has netlike pattern coming out from the center of the Sea Star and have many suckers at the bottom of their arms that allows them to attach to the rocky surfaces and live in water where the waves are plenty. While I'm certain this is a Purple Sea Star, there are three other species that are often mistaken for the Purple Sea Star and these include: the Giant Sea Star that has blue rings around the purple or white spines, the Pink Sea Star that is pink with small white spines, and the mottled star that has a small disc and five long narrow arms that are often turned up at the tip of them. Purple Sea Stars feed on barnacles and mussels. Purple Sea Stars can be found in abundant numbers that large boulders are turned white, leaving evidence that these Sea Stars have consumed large amounts of barnacles leaving the barnacle's cemented shells on these boulders. One thing i will never forget about Sea Stars is their ability to re-grow arms if one loses an arm due to injury. This really amazes me!

Date and Time: May 18, 1:00pm
Location: Redondo Beach Park, Des Moines/Federal Way, WA
Weather: Mostly cloudy about 60 degrees
Water temperature: about 40 degrees
Tide conditions: Relatively high

Redondo is a small community located in the city of Des Moines however, it is located near the border of Federal Way in King County, Washington. At first Redondo was a resort, however, it gradually grew into a middle-class residential community. Redondo is a beautiful place with a small dock and boardwalk. While on the way to Redondo, the roads are lined with coniferous trees.

Today, as I was on the dock and walking along the boardwalk to spotted a black round thing in the water bobbing up and down and then it would disappear. I was wondering what that was and then it came about 100 feet from the dock and I finally figured that it was a Harbor Seal! The sea was most likely looking for food, particularly fish. Harbor Seals vary in color from a light silver grayish color to a brown or black color and has spots ranging from small to medium sized spots (quarter sized and larger). Their spotted grayish, brown coats are great for camouflaging on pebbled beaches. They can reach up to five or six feet in length and weigh up to 300 pounds! They can be massive, however, the one i spotted was probably a younger Harbor Seal, not fully grown yet. They have no external ears, small flippers, and move on land by bouncing on their bellies. They also have a small tail that hides between their rear flippers. Harbor Seals are often found in the Atlantic and the Pacific oceans, north of the equator. They favor shallow waters close to the shore. Harbor Seals are so cute, however, when you're fishing, they are not so cute!

Date and Time: May 19, 3:00pm
Location: Kitsap Memorial State Park, Kitsap County, WA
Weather: Mostly cloudy about 57 degrees
Water temperature: about 40 degrees
Tide conditions: Relatively high
Soil Conditions: Relatively dry

Kitsap Memorial State Park is a 58-acre camping park with about 1,797 feet of saltwater shoreline located on the Kitsap Peninsula on Hood Canal. Here, there are grassy fields, a saltwater beach with tide pools and the best thing about this place that most people love is that you are able to harvest shellfish at this park. While the beach place is a very beautiful location i did most of my hanging out in the woods. The understory of the forest was covered with ferns and ground covering plants such as clover and grasses. But what really caught my attention was the abundance of coniferous trees such as Douglas Firs and Western Red Cedars.

Today, as I was walking under a tree something from the tree fell near me and startled me. And I found out it was a pine cone. I then looked up in the tree and spotted a Chipmunk! A Townsend's Chipmunk to be exact. Townsend's chipmunks are a species of rodent in the squirrel family Sciuridae. They live in forests in the Pacific Northwest of North America, ranging from British Columbia to western Washington and Oregon. A large Townsend's chipmunk can be about 14 inches from its nose to tail. The Townsend's Chipmunk can be distinguishable by its grayish tail on the top and a reddish color beneath the tail, and it has a brownish color to it with black and white stripes. They favor places with mild climates. Their diets include a variety of plants and insects and even birds' eggs. However, in the summer and early fall, Townsend's chipmunks eat a variety of berries such as, blackberries, salal berries, and thimble berries. And in the late fall, they eat acorns, huckleberries, maple seeds, thistle seeds, grain seeds, grass, roots, and conifer seeds. Overall, their diet is variable. Chipmunks are very adorable creatures and here in the Pacific Northwest it's very interesting that the Townsend's Chipmunk is one of the only in this region.