Blog From The Bog: April 2010

On April 1, 2010, the weather was variable in the wetland. It was one of those days where, if you waited five minutes, you were bound to run into something you weren't prepared for. When I left the house the weather was iffy, but dry. As soon as I got to the wetland it started to rain on me, then the sun came out, followed by a mixture of rain and sleet, then more sunshine, then the wind started blowing and it got so cold that I had to put my gloves on, followed by a heavy downpour, then more sunshine. The mercurial weather of spring had, indeed, arrived.

Despite all of this craziness, Gina's Childcare Center decided to brave the elements and take a walk through the wetland. I ran into the nine of them as they were cruising down the boardwalk with big smiles on their faces. The kids had been learning about the wetland and bubbled over with excitement as they took turns explaining to me exactly what a wetland was. What a bunch of bright kids! During their walk, one of them found an owl pellet on the edge of the boardwalk and told me that they'd dissected owl pellets in their class in order to see what was inside of them. I was so impressed by these kids! Good job, Gina's!

One of the kids asked me what I had my binoculars and camera for and I explained to them that I was photographing things in the wetland so that I could write a blog. I showed them some of the photographs of amphibian eggs that I'd just taken and they wanted to know where to find them. I told them to look in quiet pools of water around the roots of trees and they would see them around sticks and twigs just beneath the surface of the water. The eggs are much larger now than when I first found them and you can clearly see the round area where the little creature is growing inside. Actually, they look a bit like eyeballs at this stage.

Panther Lake Elementary's salmon fry are still alive and well, happily wiggling around in the creek. It's so exciting to see them! The reflection of the sun on the water makes them extremely difficult to spot, but polarized lenses help. They're not only difficult to see when you quietly sneak up on them, but the slightest sound startles them, causing them to quickly dash under the nearest vegetation and hide until they think you're gone. If you're quiet and patient, sometimes you can see them slide back out again. The trick is to practice looking THROUGH the water, rather than AT the water. If you work at it, you'll eventually get the hang of it. Give it a try. You might be surprised at what you see beneath the surface.

Twinberries are starting to make an appearance. They look a wee bit green at the moment, but will brighten up to a beautiful yellow. See how the blooms grow side by side, two by two? That's why they're called Black Twinberry, or Lonicera Involucrata. In time, the pretty yellow flowers will turn into small black berries, which are mostly seed inside. The flesh is very bitter and unpalatable. Native Americans used the bark in medicinal preparations, but the berries weren't considered eatable.

Young fiddleheads are beginning to pop up through the ground. Can you see why they're called fiddleheads? Yes, they look like the head of a fiddle or violin. These are baby ferns that will slowly unfurl all over the wetland. In New Zealand, fiddlebacks are considered to be a symbol of new beginnings, or rebirth.

The skunk cabbage plants are growing larger every week and have gotten quite beautiful. They're everywhere at this time of the year. Soon the animals will be nibbling off the stalks and scattering them along the boardwalk.

A ponderosa pine in the Conifer Arboretum has a large chunk of it's bark missing and you can clearly see the sap, or pitch, draining from the wound. Some Native Americans used this pitch to waterproof things such as canoes, baskets, fish nets, and anything else that needed waterproofing. In the great Pacific Northwest, that covers a lot of things. I would imagine that it might also make a pretty good glue. Slug slime does as well. Some people have used slug slime to stick the edges of wounds together so they'll heal better, sort of like a natural bandaid.

I saw a Cooper's Hawk in the park today. He'll be keeping his eye out for small birds that he can make a meal of. I love to watch hawks fly. They seem to glide in big circles until they spot their prey, then they're all diving talons and beak. It shouldn't be difficult for this hawk to find a meal. Birds are singing all over the park

If you visit Marlake, you can't help but hear the red-winged blackbirds. They have a very distinctive konk-a-ree song that really makes my heart sing. I love that sound! As I predicted earlier, red-breasted sapsuckers are hard at work hammering holes into the bark of trees. I saw song sparrows, a northern flicker, and several robins today. Robins are year round residents in the park. The next time you visit Marlake, check the reeds around Ilene Marckx's memorial bench. If you're lucky, you might spot a green heron, or a great blue heron. They like to work that area. I saw a great blue heron there today. Ducks and birds are busy building nests right now. Some of them are high up in the trees, while others are on the ground, hidden within the shrubs and reeds. In order to see the most birds, look up high, down low, on the ground, in the bushes, and on the water. They're everywhere!

On April 6, 2010, the weather was really threatening. I had to think twice about going out, but finally zipped up my raincoat and decided to chance a trip to the wetland. I was still searching for those elusive snakes. As luck would have it, I didn't find one today, but I found beautiful trilliums blooming on the forest floor, mallards swimming among the water parsley, and the salal is showing new growth. I love salal! Next to wild huckleberries, wild salal is one of my favorite berries. These have a long way to go before they start putting out berries though. Right now, they're just starting to form buds. The indian plum blooms have faded and are just starting to form berries.

The bleeding hearts have begun to bloom. This is a gorgeous plant that usually blooms around Easter. The bloom itself is heart-shaped and if you look at the very tip you'll see a little drop of dark purple. Some people believe that symbolized the blood of Christ. It looks beautiful at this time of year, but eventually that perfect drop of purple on the tip of the bloom will turn into something that looks more like a string bean.

All of this wet and windy weather means that it's time to watch out for fallen trees. Falling trees are a natural part of the wetland. Sometimes they fall right on top of the boardwalk. Fortunately, most of the time they don't. Since we can't predict when and where a tree might fall, we recommend that you use the utmost caution when visiting the wetland during, or directly after, a strong wind storm or heavy rain. Trees have been known to land on top of the kiosks and park benches mashing them as flat as pancakes. Sometimes they fall right on top of those things we love the very most. The deep sinks is one of those places. It used to consist of two deep, natural, holes in the peat that were measured at around twenty feet deep. Over time, the two holes joined, becoming one. This was one of my favorite places to find red-legged frogs. One day we had a huge storm and a big tree fell right on top of the deep sinks, then the tree cracked in the middle from the impact. You can just barely see the deep sinks now because of the big tree that's sitting on top.

Most trees fall in the wetland because they don't sink taproots deep into the ground with which to anchor themselves. Instead, they tend to send their roots out above, or just beneath, the ground, in every different direction, forming huge root wads. When a strong wind hits the tree in just the right way, and the leaves are top-heavy with moisture, the tree just tips over and falls down.

Is this a bad thing? Well, it certainly is if you happen to be standing under the tree when it falls down! Otherwise, it's just a natural thing. When a large area of trees fall, the understory (the plants growing in the shade of the trees) receives more sunlight than it's used to. Because of this, plants requiring more shade die and are replaced by those needing more light. When root wads are sucked up out of the ground, they create holes that fill with water, becoming amphibian nurseries. Aquatic plants sprout up. Water-striders form squads and row around the new pool. Places are formed for shade loving creatures to hide in and survive. The trunk of the tree, along with the root wad, becomes a nursery for new growth. New growth helps break down the wood, enriching the soil beneath the fallen tree. Burrowing animals dig dens among the twisted roots. And, the circle of life spins around and around: old growth giving way to and enriching new growth, new growth growing to maturity, dying and falling, becoming nurseries for more new growth and providing habitat for wildlife.

After a storm of any kind, you must also be aware of widow-makers. These are branches that have broken loose from the trunk of a tree, but have not yet fallen to the ground. They're usually snagged on another branch, but sometimes that snag is a very precarious one. Without any warning what-so-ever, a widow-maker can come thundering out of a tree and slap you flat. They don't call them widow-makers for nothing! So, when the rain is falling and the wind is blowing, it's wise to pay close attention to your environment. Otherwise, you could end up a good deal shorter than you started out to be.

On April 15th, 2010, Skip Priest, Adele Freeland, and I led 25-30 participants of the 2010-2011 Advancing Leadership Course on a tour of the West Hylebos Wetland. The day started out rainy, so Adele and I wondered whether anyone would actually show up for the tour. Shortly before the tour began, the rain disappeared, the sky turned blue, the sun started to shine, and it actually warmed up enough for us to take our jackets off. One member of the Advancing Leadership group had visited the wetland earlier in order to hide garden gnomes along the trail. Whoever was fortunate enough to find a gnome, got to take it home with them.

Skip Priest gave the group a short introductory talk about the creation of the park and the importance of the park to the community. Adele talked about how she got involved in the wetland. I followed with a talk about my involvement and the Blog-From-The-Bog. Once the introductory talks were completed, Adele and I divided the group in half, each taking half of the group for a walk on the wild side. Along the way, we pointed out items of interest within the wetland: explaining what the wetland used to look like, compared to what it looks like today, discussing the plants and animals that live within the park, how fallen trees provide wildlife habitat, plant nurseries, and soil improvement, habitat restoration and the importance of volunteers, and what our dreams were for the future of the park. From start to finish, the tour of the wetland took about ninety minutes, which was longer than we'd anticipated, but I think the participants enjoyed themselves and took a lot of valuable information home with the.

On April 15, 2010, I discovered that a large number of the amphibian eggs had disappeared from the root pools. That meant that either the tadpoles had hatched or the eggs had been eaten by predators.

Most of the slow-moving sections of water are now choked with Pacific water parsley. I think it looks more like cilantro than parsley. This is very common in the Pacific northwest and can be found in wetlands all up and down Western Washington. Some species of this plant have been used in folk medicine, but others are believed to be highly toxic, so this is not something you want to take home and pop into your salad. Admire their beauty, but please leave them alone.

Purple deadnettle has started growing near the old cabins. Like Cooley's hedge-nettle, this is a non-stinging variety of nettle. They are not native to the Pacific Northwest and are usually considered to be weeds, but I think they're quite pretty. I need to state at the outset that I consider most weeds quite pretty. I know, I know, they're weeds! But, they're still pretty.

This morning's rain left drops of water on the leaves, making the leaves look as if they'd been sprinkled with diamonds.

April 17th, 2010, was another showery day, slowing down to sprinkles every now and then. Birds, birds, and geese were everywhere: in the trees, flitting through the shrubs, swimming in the lakes, sleeping on stumps, and hopping around in the grass. The mallards have taken up where the turtles left off, competing to see how many can fit on one stump at one time. The birds around both lakes are doing their very best to steer visitors in a different direction, a sure sign that they're nesting.

I saw a red-legged frog at the deep sinks today. You have to look very carefully, because they're very hard to see. Nature has blessed them with perfect camouflage. Look at how long their toes are! Can you see the round disc just behind the frog's eye? That's his ear! Many people have asked me if red-legged frogs actually have red legs? As you can see in this photo, their legs aren't entirely red, but they are a bright coral color on the underside. Frogs have long, strong hind legs and tiny, delicate front legs. Their strong hind legs allow them to jump long distances in a single leap, with little effort. Look at long this frogs toes are! In order to see frogs, you have to move slowly and quietly. They spook at the slightest sound and will dive under the water and hide if they hear you coming. Lots of things in the bog eat frogs, so frogs have developed highly-tuned reflexes. The frog who moves the fastest is the frog who gets to live another day.

Horse-tails are starting to pop up among the carpet of false-lilies-of-the-valley. Some people pick them when they're young and eat them either raw or lightly tossed in oil. Please be aware that some of them are considered slightly toxic in large quantities. While some people consider them weeds, others are quite fond of them, especially when they grow in the fen, instead of the garden.

The first of the new ferns are popping up out of the ground. When they're very young they look day-glo green.

Maple blooms are starting to sprout. The new buds are like delicate wings, unfurling in cascades of blossoms, reminding me of chantilly lace.

Water-starwort is growing in the water and beautiful apple blossoms are blooming in the orchard like big, beautiful, gorgeous, Victorian bouquets.

On April 19th, 2010, students studying Biology 213 at Pierce College in Puyallup, WA, visited the West Hylebos Wetland. They were all armed with clip-boards and check-sheets full of things to locate and identify in the park. Mother Nature blessed them with a beautiful day in the bog. The weather was warm and frogs, snakes, and birds were everywhere. The rabbits were out in force, hopping all around the gravel trail, in the meadow, and in the the orchard. Once, I nearly tripped over one, as I was too busy looking up when I should have been looking down.

Today, I found both small,medium, and large snakes, in three different parts of the wetland. Wow! I struck the motherlode! Finally! People often ask me if we have any poisonous snakes in the park. The answer is, not that we know of. That doesn't mean that one couldn't wander in here or that some thoughtless pet owner hasn't dumped one here; but, as far as we know, the only snakes that live in the wetland are non-poisonous Northwestern garter snakes. They aren't poisonous, but they will bite, and if they do, you'll know you've been bitten. I spotted one snake sunning itself near the Troll Hole. Another was warming up near the Sitka Spruce. The third one was sunning himself on a plank of wood near Marlake. This is a good place for snakes to hang out because there are lots of frogs, slugs, earthworms, toads, and salamanders to eat. A large family of kids came down the trail just as I spotted the largest of the snakes. I pointed the snake out to them and they got really excited about it. One of the young gentlemen said that he used to own a snake, but he doesn't any more. This was a very patient snake. He tolerated all of our pointed, and hooting, and jabbering for quite a while, before he finally tired of us and politely asked us to leave. Actually, he curled up in his striking position and let us know, in no uncertain terms, that he was ready for us to go....or else! Snakes are cold-blooded, so are very sluggish before they warm up in the sun. Once warm, they can move like greased-lightening!

April 24th, 2010, was Earth Day! Instead of working at the West Hylebos Wetland this year, the Friends of the Hylebos, in conjunction with EarthCorps, elected to hold this year's Earth Day activities at Dash Point State Park, with the goal of clearing as much invasive Himalayan blackberry from the park as possible in a single day. We woke up to a chilly, rainy morning. About sixty people registered for the event; but, considering the weather, weren't sure exactly how many would show up until they arrived. Although the day started out cold and rainy, by the time people actually started arriving, the rain stopped. It didn't start raining again until we started packing up to go home. Good fortune smiled on us all day long!