Week 9

30 May 2014
Sunny, nice weather
68 F
2:45-3:45pm

The first lichen I found:

ID: Whitewash Lichen (Phlyctis argena)

The second lichen I found:

ID:Xanthoria parietina or yellow scale

Third lichen; possibly same type as 2nd, not sure:

ID: ???

Fourth lichen:

ID: Parmotrema perlatum, or black stone flower

Fifth lichen:

This lichen was a fruticose lichen. and about an inch tall. It has little branches coming out of it and is a pale green/white color. It tends to grow in patched clumps like this one on branches. This was found on an apple? tree I believe.

ID: Evernia prunastri, or oakmoss.

Sixth lichen:

This foliose lichen is a white color and spreads itself in large, round patches on tree trunks. They edges are irregular and look like snowflake edges. Seems to be made of little flakes sort of overlapping or built on top of each other; they are stiff and do not yield to a light touch. Diameter is about 3-5 inches. This was found on a bush (picture below)

ID: Parmelia , Shield lichen

Week 8

19 May 2014
Interspersed clouds and sun, mild-ish weather
~58 F

UBNA site changes in vegetation

Overall my site at UBNA has gotten greener since last week. The grasses are now 5 feet or taller, and the cattails that I can see are about evenly divided between green and brown (alive or dead). The cottonwoods have released their cotton-like seeds, which are strewn across the trail and have accumulated in long white lines. The Oregon Ash trees have more leaves out--they're bigger and it's harder to see the opposite branches. There were also bunches of yellow irises that were out and blooming. A photo of my site is to the left. The apple tree is mostly green (leaves) now, instead of white (petals).

As for bird activity, there seemed to be less activity in the air than last time, when there were lots of swallows swooping around in the air--there were still some tree swallows, but not many. I heard and saw lots of crow activity on my way in, as well as robins, but I didn't stop to observe them since they weren't at my site. I heard a bird that sounded a lot like a loon, but I don't think those are native to around here (this was around the pond at UBNA).

For the bird observation we had to do this week, I observed a red-winged blackbird that normally sits on the Oregon Ash near my site. I am pretty sure he's the same one that I have been seeing this whole quarter, so it was neat to observe him for an extended period of time. I got a sense of where his territory is, and it seems to be pretty well situated.

For the first five minutes or so, he was by himself on a lower branch of the Oregon Ash. He chirped a little and I got to hear a conversation between him and another bird in another tree that I couldn't see. This didn't escalate though, and he stayed on the lower branches of the tree. He hopped around a little, still on the lower branches of the tree, and I wondered if this was more of a relaxed time for him, since I think if he were looking out for other birds, he would be perched up higher to see the competition more easily. His chirps were intermittent with about 2-4 seconds in between each one.

Two Oregon Ash trees that seemed to be in
the red-winged blackbird's territory

I was wondering if my presence was affecting any bird behavior, as I was quite close to the tree, but the male seem unperturbed and after a while he hopped up toward the top of the tree, continuing to chirp and sing. Soon a female red-winged blackbird came along to his tree and stayed for about 4-5 minutes, which I took to be a sign that I really wasn't disturbing too much in the environment. She excreted and then flew into the cattails where I presumed her nest was. She only preened herself though and I didn't see any nest-building action, although I'm not sure what that would look like exactly.

The male continued to chirp (one of his calls sounded like a muted beeping smoke detector) and he got responses from at least two other birds. After a little bit, he flew through the cattails and glided down close to the gravel path. For a minute or two he disappeared from view to go to talk to another male bird nearby, probably to confront him. Then later he came back to the tree and landed on the top. His activity started looking more like active watching for other competitors. At one point he flew into the grasses and circled around, again to confront another male red-winged blackbird perhaps.

When he came back, he perched on a nearby tree on an even higher branch. A small bird that I think was an American goldfinch (yellow body with white speculum), came into the red-winged blackbird's tree, and the red-winged blackbird flew down to scare it off. The goldfinch returned though to a lower branch, and the blackbird left it there. The goldfinch sort of hop-fluttered from branch to branch, only resting at each place for a few seconds. It hopped closer to the blackbird, which did not like the intrusion and flew down to chase it away again. Finally the goldfinch made its way to the cattails, and then back into another tree from where it dive-bombed down toward the grass, and then pulled up quickly to land on another branch. Its flight path looked like a jump/fly, like a large bumble bee. Its chirp sounded like a laser.

Towards the end of my observation, the red-winged blackbird circled around the field again and it looked like he landed on some lily pads on the pond--I was wondering if there was a log that he was perched on but it also looked like he was able to hop from lily pad to lily pad.

Overall, this was competitive behavior that seemed mostly to be territory-related (defending). I did not see any feeding behavior nor did I note mate-attracting behavior. No other birds seemed to enter this red-winged blackbird's territory during my observation.

Week 7

11 May 2014
Mild weather, 65 F
Sun, blue sky, some clouds
18:00-19:00

This week I visited my site on a nice day, when there was a lot of activity in the air. I saw a lot of birds- a female and male Gadwall, red-winged blackbirds (including the one that likes to perch on the Oregon Ash near my site; they also seemed to be doing a lot of activity to protect their territory, with lots of chasing), swallows with white underbellies (these were very active too), and a Great Blue Heron. The composition of bird species has slowly changed over time. Two weeks ago, there seemed to be more Great Blue Herons around; now there seems to be more swallows.

On my way out of UBNA, I also saw two Canada geese and four young chicks- they are still yellow/brown and fuzzy at this point. The chicks were looking for food by the edge of the trail and the parents were looking out for them. After a few minutes of this, the parents crossed the trail to go to the other side of the grass, and the chicks scurried after them, which was cute to see.

As for vegetation, the grass has grown much taller since my last documented observation-- it is now about 3-4 feet tall. The new cattails are growing in as well and are replacing the dead ones. The blackberry bush at my site is now more prominent and is somewhat taking over the cherry tree's air space-- the blackberry branches are growing over the cherry tree branches. I also noticed some new vegetation in the grass (see picture on left) like this thistle-y, green plant that was growing among the grass. Its leaves are stiff and pointy. Its leaves look like elongated, narrow, and curled oregon grape leaves but I don't think they're related.

*Correction note: also one tree at my site, I identified as a cherry tree, but it is actually an apple tree.






This week the focus was on invertebrates. I found them difficult to observe since they were so small and moved around a lot. Some of them moved quickly too, and to places where I couldn't follow them (across water, for example).

Observation 1: Convergent Lady Beetle, Hippodamia convergens, Beetle Order

Observation 2: Blue Bottle Fly, Calliphora species, Fly Order (uncertain)

OR POSSIBLE

Green-blue Long-legged Fly - Condylostylus (uncertain)

Observation 3: Hymenoptera Order

 

These ones were found in shorter grasses. The one that was looking get off its blade of grass, I eventually rescued, but then accidentally dropped him into the water. I couldn't find him in it, so had to leave hoping that he would be able to make his way out...

Observation 4: Order Plectoptera (stoneflies) 

Observation 5: Order Odonata (dragonfly)

If it is a Striped Meadowhawk, Sympetrum pallipes, these ones tend to live near the edges of ponds, which is where I saw it. However, the guide mentions that their season runs from July-October, and it's only May now.

Other invertebrates I saw included a white gnat-looking insect (maybe a stonefly?), and a small thin fly with narrow wings longer than its body (again maybe another type of stonefly).