ENVIR 280 Final Project

ENVIR 280 Natural History of the Pacific Northwest 

Southwest County Park, Edmonds WA  

Walking Tour - Final Project 

***I have another map that I have not attached yet with labeling/numbering of ALL sites*** 

Perrinville Creek Site:

This is my favorite part of the whole park. With the steep landscape, this site is a little bit harder to get to but it is definitely worth the short hike down. This site is the most quiet of all the sites and probably of the whole park. The sound of cars is drowned out just enough that you are left with the simplicity of flowing water and the slight chirp of a few birds. As you can see from the pictures provided, there is quite a large collection of down logs within the parameters of the the creek. A couple of these logs are also parallel with the walkway leading from the main trail, which help make it easier to get down to the creek. Although I have not seen any other park visitors down in this area, it seems to be a popular attraction to people. I have previously found forgotten articles of clothing as well as trash items along the creekside. There is also a leftover tire swing that looks like it has been used in previous years (hopefully not for jumping into the far too shallow creek).

                            




Fungi Site:

Throughout Southwest County Park you can see many examples of lichen and fungi right off of the walking trails. In the case of this site, you can see a perfect example of the popular mushroom fungi right in the parking lot of this park. This site is specially dedicated to the Fairy Ring Mushroom. These mushrooms are growing in a large group just off to the side of the lot. The mushrooms themselves can be described as slightly uplifted, as the sides of them curve up away from the ground. The tops of these mushrooms have a smooth, dull texture and the gills on the underside of the mushrooms are fairly close together as far as spacing goes. I've provided a picture of the spacing of these gills which have a little variability in each mushroom. An interesting little bit of history about fungi and these mushrooms is that if you pull this species up from the base of the stem, it will grow right back because of how much of the species lives and grows underground.

  

Bird Site:  

Every time that I have gone back to my site to make observations since my visit dedicated to observing birds, I have seen the same Bewick's Wren each time. This site is located in the inner loop trail on the South side of Olympic View Drive. At this site you can hear a variety of bird calls including the Song Sparrow, the Hairy Woodpecker and the American Robin just to name a few. The Bewick's Wren that I usually see flies and hops back in the shrubbery off of the trail a ways. Some of the dominant species in this spot include Indian Plum, Oregon Ash, Salmonberry, Western Hemlock and Western Red Cedar. The very first time that I saw this Bewick's Wren in this location, towards the end of my observation it was being chased by another bird that was too quick to identify. This is such a fun site though, just because there are so many birds nearby, so there are a lot of interactions to watch out for. This site is also just far enough away from the noisy road that the bird calls are a little more easy to hear and distinguish.     

  

Visible Effect of Ecological Disturbance Site:  

This site immediately reminds me of the weekend field trip that our class took to the Olympics. During this trip, there were a couple examples of broken trees due to wind disturbance. Something interesting that students learned was that the tree will continue to grow out to the side and then up just as normal. This created the perfect habitat for many birds! I imagine that the type of disturbance that can be seen in the photo below was due to wind just as seen in the Olympic forest. A similar effect of the disturbance was that the tree began to grow out perpendicular beneath where the breakage happened and then continued to go up like there was no disturbance at all. It's hard to see up to where the breakage happened, but I imagine that this is now a great spot for a birds nest! The part of the tree that was broken off also provides a unique habitat for the understory of the forest as a nurse log. There is so much to learn out in nature, and what is more fascinating then seeing the visible recovery of an ecological disturbance?!   

5) Land Use History Site:  

Historically, this 120 acre forested park was used primarily as a logging site. Still today, there is a special location dedicated to educating park visitors about this interesting history, which was turned into what is called the "Historical loop". This loop, is a small trail just off of the main trail on the North side of Olympic View Drive. In this loop, there is signage providing visitors with information about the tools that were once used, as well as a little bit of background on the reason for cutting notches in what are today's Southwest County Park trees. I've provided photographs of these signs and a great example of notches in a tree that was cut down when this site was still a logging site. When walking the trails, there are many examples of these notches as well as other stumps that were cut down years ago. The history of this piece of land makes me so thankful for the preservation of the current park and all the species that inhabit it. It gives a rich perspective on natural history and the ways that we continue to change the uses of our precious land.