Journal 3

10/25/22
Journal 3
Time: Wednesday, October 26th at 4:53-6:10
Temperature: 49-51F
Weather: Cloudy with a gray overcast
Upon entering Yesler Swamp I already see a lot of visible leaf fall. The air seems crisper. Some
of the plant species are changing leaf color, more than last week. The leaf color ranged from
green, to yellow, to bright burnt orange. I noticed an uptick in the presence of crows both visibly
and I could hear their calls. Deeper in my area I couldn’t really hear any other birds besides
crows and once some geese passing by. On the water area there were some ducks but not as
many as previous visits. I didn’t see the usual family of turtles that perch on the water pipe but
there were some ducks over in that area. I believe one of the species to be the Mallard because
the head was a dark hunter green with a yellow beak and had a stripe of white in the middle of
its neck, the rest of its body was a mix between white and black. I noticed there were some
Himalayan Blackberries that did have some berries still on the branch. I could tell it was the
Himalayan blackberry because of the berries, the stems have thorns all over them, and the
leaves have ridges on them. The soil in my 1 meter area was moister than previous visits.The
Reed canary grass seemed like it was still tall but someone had rolled around all over them.
Growing with the Reed canary grass was thicker grass species the shape of the individual
blades remind me of aloe but not nearly as thick as aloe is. I think the plant species is American
Sweet-flag.There was a plant species that was green and resembled a bigger version of parsley
or cilantro. I believe it could be a type of Geranium because of how deeply serrated the leaf
pattern is. There are some plants that I have seen that have red berries but they sort of dangle
off of the stem, the leaves are varying in size. I think it could be a Bittersweet nightshade.
Species that I identified as changing leaf shades were Snowberry, Osoberry, and red
huckleberry. Some cattails down closer to the water are starting to become almost cotton
ball-like. At the entrance of Yesler Swamp is mainly dead plant species but there were some
that are hanging on such as the Chicory. However, some of the wild carrot plants are beginning
to die off. Overall, in my area I notice the lack of flowers but it is getting deeper into Autumn.
(Image above of spatial scale of chosen spot 50 so. Meters broad scale)
(Image of above is the spatial scale of the chosen area of 1 sq. Meter closescale)
While surveying my area for invertebrates I found mosquito (Culex), yellowjackets (Vespula
alascensis), ants (Formicidae), flies (Muscoidea), and dragonflies (Odonata). I followed the
Yellowjacket around it and mainly flew around the boardwalk area and paid close attention to
the wooden railing. Upon closer inspection there were a couple of yellowjackets around the
railing when I looked over the side. I could definitely hear the buzz of the yellowjacket, the
location was located close to the water. There was one that flew semi close to me before diving
over the wooden railing. When putting my book down I counted around three yellow jackets over
the railing and were crawling more so in the crevice of where the two wooden planks met. The
dragonfly I observed flew overhead and perched for a moment onto a leaf of a Willow tree. It
then got up and flew over to the other side of the wooden board to walk more towards the
canary reed grass. I could slightly hear the noise it makes. Another dragonfly met up with the
one I was observing. They both looked the same color so it’s possible it was the same species. I
tried to follow them for longer but dragonflies fly off really fast. Both dragonflies weren’t in the
location for long but were kind of close to one another and they both flew off. I tried to observe it
eating an insect but wasn’t able to.
(Sketch of yellow jacket and dragonfly)
(Photo of third invertebrate a mosquito located on wood in center)
Who am I?
How do I Flee?
Do I skim the water?
Do I hover over the tree? Or the leaf?
I shimmer like a fairy
I contrast with blue and black
I’m eye catching and vibrant
My body is spotted to a resemblance of glass
I whirr by out of sight
I was there for a moment then vanished
(I wrote the above poem about the dragonfly.)
The wind shakes the chimes of the trees
A Raven calls in the distance
My boots thump on the boardwalk
Thump,thump,thump to my next destination
The wood creaks like a door opening
Through the twists and turns
Into the darkness I arrive,
The pit of the swamp
Where the birds sing
The reeds wave

Publicado el 03 de noviembre de 2022 por danii_s danii_s

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