April 10, 2012
Location: The area near Hansee, McCarty, and McMahon residence halls extending to the UW Power Plant area. The hummingbird was found right near Hansee and the other three were found next to the Power Plant building in small garden patches.
Route: From Hansee Hall's main entrance, head left down the path and down the stairs leading to the area outside McCarty. Continue down the street past McMahon and loop around towards Hall Health and Loew. The unidentifiable plant plants, the Himalayan Blackberry, and the Spear Mint were all located behind Loew and behind the Power Plant.
Weather: It was a gorgeous day with about 10-20% cloud cover and temperatures at about 64 degrees. There was a light wind blowing all day.
For information on the habitat and vegetation of this area, please see the journal entries for March 27 and March 30, 2012 from here on iNaturalist or in the written field journal since I have explored this area many times in my last few forays for species and have documented the various aspects of it twice before.
General Comments: Because today was so nice, there were plenty of bees around looking for flowers. I want to document bees in the future if I can, though I tried today and had a lot of difficulty since they don't stay still for very long. I hope to have better luck in the future. I also want to try to get out of this small area I've been finding so many species in for the past two weeks. I hope to go looking in Magnuson Park in the future.
Species List:
Himalayan Blackberry (Rubus armeniacus)
Spear Mint (Mentha spicata spicata)
Common vetch (Vicia sativa)
Japanese Maple (Acer palmatum)
Rufous Hummingbird (Selasphorus rufus)
Observations
Photos / Sounds
What
Lemon Balm (Melissa officinalis)Observer
tessafPlace
Whatcom Lane, University District, Seattle, King County, Washington, 98105, United States of America (Google, OSM)Description
For more information on the habitat and vegetation of the area this plant was found in, please see the journal entry for March 29, 2012 here on iNaturalist and for information on the weather and other details from the day this was spotted, please see the journal for April 10, 2012 here on iNaturalist as well. Spear mint is an herb used in cooking and it has many medical purposes as well. This plant grows well in all temperate climates and in the area I found it, it was growing abundantly in small clumps. Spear mint does produce flowers, but the one I observed had not yet.
Photos / Sounds
What
Japanese Maple (Acer palmatum)Observer
tessafPlace
Whatcom Lane, University District, Seattle, King County, Washington, 98105, United States of America (Google, OSM)Description
For more information on the habitat and vegetation of the area this plant was found in, please see the journal entry for March 29, 2012 here on iNaturalist and for information on the weather and other details from the day this was spotted, please see the journal for April 10, 2012 here on iNaturalist as well. This plant is a deciduous shrub or small tree that is not at all native to this area, but native to Asia as its name implies. It is grown all over the world because of its decorative leaves. This particular specimen was about 9-10 feet tall and its leaves were relatively small. This species prefers temperate areas. This particular tree had small pink flowers that were beginning to bloom now, in early spring.
Photos / Sounds
What
Armenian Blackberry (Rubus armeniacus)Observer
tessafPlace
Red Square, University District, Seattle, King County, Washington, 98105, United States of America (Google, OSM)Description
For more information on the habitat and vegetation of the area this plant was found in, please see the journal entry for March 29, 2012 here on iNaturalist and for information on the weather and other details from the day this was spotted, please see the journal for April 10, 2012 here on iNaturalist as well. Himalayan blackberry is considered an invasive species and it often chokes off the plants around. The flowers bloom in late spring to early summer and the berries form in late summer. The berries are not actually berries, but fruits with many drupelets. This specimen was about 2 feet tall and was poking out of a bed of English ivy. It did not have flowers yet and there were others like it throughout the bed of ivy.
Photos / Sounds
What
Common Vetch (Vicia sativa)Observer
tessafPlace
Jefferson Road, Montlake, Seattle, King County, Washington, 98105, United States of America (Google, OSM)
Photos / Sounds
What
Bee Hummingbirds and Allies (Tribe Mellisugini)Observer
tessafPlace
Whitman Lane, University District, Seattle, King County, Washington, 98105, United States of America (Google, OSM)Description
For more information on the habitat and vegetation of the area this plant was found in, please see the journal entry for March 29, 2012 here on iNaturalist and for information on the weather and other details from the day this was spotted, please see the journal for April 10, 2012 here on iNaturalist as well. This hummingbird and a couple others like it were found flitting around a tree that was about 8ft tall near the top branches. They were small, only about 3 inches long, and made little chirping noises. The males are very brightly colored all over their bodies while females' colors are located around the throat. It was impossible to tell whether this individual was male or female as it was so far away and the lighting was poor. These birds eat insects and the nectar of flowers.
Comments
Add a Comment