Date: June 6th, 2020
Time: 12:04pm
Weather: Windy, blue skies
Temperature: 72 degrees F
Location: Edgewood Park, CA
Due to COVID-19, I was only able to make several repeat observations at my site in Edgewood Park. In my pictures, you aren't able to see many phenological differences between the first and last photo, however, I was able to see the California bay and Coyote Brush become grow fuller and darker green over time. The most profound changes at my site were the different species that started to arrive during the latter part of my observations. My first time visiting the site, I didn't notice many animals or insects. Maybe this was because I wasn't paying attention or because I was too focused on taking in the site as a whole, but this week and last week there was an abundance of animals, notably birds. Many birds only made brief appearances, but others like the California Towhee and Stellar Jay hung around for a while, giving me the opportunity to observe their behaviors in-depth. Today, I saw a Stellar Jay for the first time, high in a nearby Northern California Black Walnut tree. (Side note, I noticed the Northern California Black Walnut Tree bearing bright green, unripe walnuts)!! I was sitting down writing notes when I see a relatively large bird perch on a tree. I walk over and immediately notice its beautiful blue body and blackhead. I watch it for several minutes as it looks around and waits on the branch. It hops along the branch, presumably in search of food, but with no luck. I notice the funny hair on its head and its long blue tail. One thing I noticed today that I hadn't noticed in my other observations was the grass right under my feet. I really took interest in the grass's individual structures, like its sheathing leaf base and awn sticking out of the lemma. It reminded me of the importance of the Poaceae, and how heavily we rely economically on so many of its species. I was also lucky enough to see a Black-tail deer today, grazing with its fawn. This was truly spectacular and a nice way to round out my observations for the quarter. Lastly, today I noticed that the burrow holes I noticed last week belong to the Western Fence Lizard. As I got up to leave my site, I saw a lizard pop its head out. It all makes sense, because a few weeks ago I was documenting a tailless lizard by my feet, and was curious where it came from. I now understand that all those holes I was curious about belong to the abundance of Lizards I've seen running around my site.
Question 1: My connection with the phenological changes at my site isn’t very strong as I had to move around and was only able to really track the changes at my site for a few weeks. However, I did notice the presence of birds and other wildlife increased immensely as the weeks prolonged. I noticed the vegetation becomes greener and fuller, and vibrantly colored flowers come into bloom. My emotional relationship to my site, however, has drastically changed since my first visit. In the beginning, I found myself too focused on actively looking for unique traits and species instead of building a relationship with my site. I would become frustrated when I didn't see anything "special" or when no novel species paid me a visit. But as the weeks progressed, I found that when I stopped actively looking for changes to track and species to record, and instead just let nature unfold around me, I began to see more. Once I was patient and observed nature without an agenda, nature unfolded in miraculous ways. Not only did I notice more, but I asked more questions and became more mindful. I built a connection with my site and cared for its wellbeing. I cared about the new species that were showing up and the wellbeing of the trees around me. I took pride in understanding my site and its ecology, being able to name almost all the species in its ecosystem. Becoming more aware of my site and the natural environment has made me more aware of phenological changes happening all around me, especially in my backyard. When I go into my backyard now, I make note of which flowers are blooming and new species that have arrived!
Question 2: Keeping a journal of my nature observations in my home state has definitely made me feel more connected to home. Growing up, I was always fascinated by the Coast redwoods, but hadn’t learned much about the other native species in the area. Being able to spend time at my spot, which is a nature preserve, allowed me to learn about the different species native to my area and tell the differences between species such as the California Bay and Eucalyptus tree, the Coastal Wood Fern and the Gold-backed fern, etc. Being able to distinguish between the different species has given me a deeper sense of pride and loyalty to my home. It gives me a deeper sense of connection and curiosity about the local natural environment. Recently I've been interested in the ethnobotany of my local area, and species used by indigenous peoples. I'm curious about how the indigenous communities in the Bay Area differed from those in Seattle based on the plants they had to work with and which communities were more successful due to the availability of local natural resources.
Question 3: Intimately knowing a place means noticing the little nuances bypassers would overlook; noticing the frequency and abundance of species, noticing the vegetation color, noticing when the environment seems happy, sad, upset or at peace. The only way you can really know a place is if you visit it repeatedly and spend time making observations. You don't need to be a scientist or professional to know a place intimately. You just need to be curious, be patient, and willing to learn from nature. I think there's more to be gained from doing close, repeat observations at one spot than visiting some far-flung place. By really knowing an area and spending intimate time observing that environment, you feel a deeper, more intimate connection to that environment compared to visiting a faraway place. Once you establish an intimate relationship and connection at one spot, you can base all your new observations off your prior knowledge. So, for example, say I take a trip to Muir Woods National Park. By having my deep knowledge of my site at Edgewood Park, I would be able to compare and contrast the two sites and gain a deeper understanding and appreciation for the Muir Woods than if I didn't have any prior base knowledge to base my observations off of. I could compare the size of the redwood trees at Muir vs Edgewood, compare the different birds etc.
Question 4: There are so many things I have learned from this class, but one takeaway I'm really happy about is being able to ID different trees and birds. Learning how to identify common species in the PNW has given me a sense of freedom and pride; when I go to the park or walk around my neighborhood, I try to identify as many species as possible. And if I don't know them, I look them up! Opening the world of species identification has sparked a sense of curiosity in me that was always there, but never tapped into. Now that I have some baseline knowledge, I'm excited to use that as a jumping-off point to learn even more. I wish everyone could take this class to engage in academia that is genuinely interesting, beneficial, and fun. Even online, I've been more engaged in this class than almost all my other classes at UW because the topics are relevant and vitally important to understand the place we live. One other personal outcome I gained from this class was learning the importance of mindfulness in nature. It was so refreshing and recentering to take a few hours out of the week and be in nature with no technology or disruptions. It's easy to forget to do this during the school year because work piles up, and especially this quarter with COVID, but doing this every week was exactly what I needed and craved. I will definitely continue my nature observations at my spot and continue to intimately connect with the area.
Question 5: My perception of nature has changed over this quarter, in large part due to Robin Krimmerer’s, Braiding Sweetgrass. Being a PoE student and growing up in the Western world, I am often taught how humans are disconnected from nature and harm the environment. However, Krimmerer was able to shift that narrative, and illustrate that humans are in fact are deeply intertwined with nature, and have the opportunity to make the relationship between nature and humans a positive one if reciprocity and gratitude are practiced. ; this realization also occurred to me when hearing Warren King George’s testimonies. Western folks have been taught from a young age to take, take and take from the environment, but not practice reciprocity or gratitude. On the contrary indigenous cultures centered their relationship with the nature around reciprocity and gratitude, in which humans care for and respect the natural environment. If we were taught more about indigenous knowledge and their perception of human-nature relationships, I think there would be more respect and appreciation for our environment. Having the opportunity to simply observe nature this quarter has illustrated me the power of the innate human-nature connection.
*Sorry my photos look so wack, I couldn't get them to line up for the life of me.
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| 1st 50sq m photo |
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| 1st 1sq m photo |
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2nd 1sq m photo
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| 3rd (and last) 50 sq m photo |
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| 3rd (and last) 1 sq m photo |
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| Black-Tailed Deer Odocoileus hemionus (Cervidae). I chose this Deer because it was the first time I saw a large mammal at my site! I had the pleasure of observing it graze with its fawn for several minutes. The deer grazing reminded me of Robin Krimmer's book about grazing and its importance to our ecosystem. |
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| Farewell-to-spring Clarkia rubicunda (Onagraceae) I chose this species because of its intricate stamens and a beautiful 4-lobed stigma. My site is mainly full of green vegetation, so this vibrant flower immediately caught my eye. I also chose this plant because it is Native to the Bay area, unlike many species at my site |
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| Narrow-leaf Mule's Ear Wyethia angustifolia (Asteraceae)
Similarly to the Farewell-to-spring, I chose this species
because of its beautifully vibrant yellow color and
because of its native presence. I also love the beautiful
ray and disk flower arrangement on this flower, unique
to the Asteraceae family.
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| Costal Woodfern Dryopteris arguta (Dryopteridaceae) I liked this fern because it was one I hadn't learned about. I chose the Costal Fern because it closely resembles the Sword Fern we learned about but it differs in its leaf arrangement. Lastly, I chose this because I feel as though ferns are often overlooked, but they deserve a lot of respect and appreciation. |
