9:30 am
Sunny, 67 degrees Fahrenheit
Another week of beautiful weather has graced the Northwest and the humans have been living it up, so naturally I was excited once again to head into Ravenna park and see how the plants and animals were faring on this fine spring week. I walked down to Ravenna park in the morning as I like to do and was greeted with many signs of spring. The chirping of songbirds, the vibrant spring flowers and the sight of cottonwood fluff flowing through the air all served as excellent reminders to the progress of the seasons that's at hand.
A group of blooming nootka rose flowers, they smelled wonderful! Note the honey bee extracting nectar from one of the flowers on the right side of the photo.
Thimbleberry flowers were also in bloom and beginning to show the first signs of fruiting.
The light of the sun was shining beautifully through the woods, I greatly enjoyed the view from here of this western hemlock and its exposed root system.
The leaves of the Oregon white oak are especially vibrant right now.
Although I couldn't capture the fluff of the black cottonwood on camera there are plenty of examples of this tree throughout the park.
Many of the berries seen in precious entries have begun to ripen, the salmon berries of Ravenna Park have now begun to take on a vibrant orange color signalling that they'll be ready to eat soon! I plan on snagging a couple for myself one of these days, while being sure to leave plenty for the birds to enjoy.
The Indian plums which were a very dull green a couple weeks ago are now turning to a more yellow hue, still a ways away from a full ripening.
One of the many birds providing a lovely symphony of songs the American Robin is easy recognized by its bright orange belly.
Spring has brought out many creatures easily noticed through bird migration but it has also brought back many of the insects that laid dormant throughout the winter months. Ravenna Parks wet environment with plenty of plants and dirt provides a good home for many insects and invertebrate. Here are a few examples of some of these creatures I was able to locate on my visit to the park today.
A common pillbug was scurrying around a stump, at first it balled up in fear when I tried to photograph it but eventually it loosened up and allowed me to properly observe it.
In my search for insects I decided to dig around a bit in the rocks and dirt and found this little centipede crawling around.
Signs of spittlebugs were all over plants in the park, here we see the foamy substance they secrete all over a dandelion.
A daddy longl egs clings to the underside of a buttercup flower.
A couple of black flies resting on some foliage near Ravenna Creek.
Digging around in the moist soil near the creek revealed several earth worms such as this one.
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