Week 6 Journal

 Weekly Journal # 6

Nisqually River Delta:

The wildlife preserve here was one that consisted of such a variety of organisms the it was hard to take it all in within just a few hours. One of the first aspects about the park that I noticed was its abundance of bugs and insects. There were many damsel flies as well as various beetles to capture the attention of a few of us who wanted to take the time to check them all out. The most interesting organism in the park to me, was the tent caterpillar. They had huge colonies bunched together atop tree branches interwoven with their silk. Another exciting point was that the herbivory was so clearly present in these areas. The leaves around the caterpillar nests would be desolated and only the vascular tissues remained in many. Lastly, there was a huge green darter dragonfly in the lawn between the two barns that had sitting on it a green darter dragonfly. I thought it was beautiful but I found it admirable to see how excited Charlie got over it. He was a solid bug guide throughout the entire trip.

After departing from the initial parking lot and seeing not only a Wilson's warbler but also a yellow warbler, who oddly enough, came out of hiding to the same call, we ventured out to the barn area where we watched the swallows roost in their mud nests banked against the roof eaves. It was kind of sad when I discovered a carcass of a baby bird stuck just inside the window of one of the barns. It must have fallen in through a hole in the roof then was never able to escape. 

Along the way we found a garter snake that a few of us unsuccessfully attempted to capture, as well as what I found to be the most interesting bird at the refuge, the yellow legs sandpiper. Watching it in the scope eating away at organisms deep down in the sand made me think of all the weird adaptations life comes up with to survive in different niches. 

Mount Rainier:

This part of the trip was breathtaking. The entire drive up was packed with scenic views of the mountain and park area, I'll definitely have to go back again and perhaps even climb it. Below is a sketch of the glacier seen from the bridge. Learning all about how the river channels change and hedge their own damns to begin a new path was very interesting. Also, being able to see where the glacier used to be in comparison to now was a bit mind blowing. Its fascinating to see how fast our climate can change these days. It makes you wonder how long before its all gone. The trip us to paradise gave a perfect view of the summit and really backed up its name. Unfortunately my phone broke on the way home so hopefully I'll be able to recover some of the photos I took.