A Year in Carkeek Park

 I saw the first flowers of spring today! My best guess is salmonberry. I'll keep an eye on it as the leaves get bigger. I also heard my buddy the song sparrow again and saw several other birds, one of which was quite small, I thought possibly even a hummingbird (Anna's hummingbirds winter in the Seattle region). 

 Another trip out to Carkeek at dusk. It was overcast but not raining. And I saw the first sign of spring: tiny buds on the vine maple. I can't identify it with 100% certainty at this stage of growth, but the forest floor beneath the shrub was covered with decomposing leaves that appeared to be vine maple, so I'm pretty confident that's what it is. I will keep an eye on it as the leaves get bigger! I also noticed this tall Oregon grape (Mahonia aquifolium). Initially, I wasn't sure if it was tall Oregon grape or dull Oregon grape. I ran it through Pl@ntNet, which had trouble with it-- Oregon grape (or mountain grape, as they call it) was only listed as a 5.7% match! Yes, I'm 100% sure it is either tall or dull. Oregon grape is the only plant in this region with these characteristic leaves. It was the new growth shoots going up that seemed to confuse Pl@ntNet.

 I heard that Sounder rail actually cancelled service for most of this week between Seattle and Everett. What does that have to do with Carkeek Park, you may be wondering. Well, the train tracks run right under the bluffs at Carkeek, sandwiched between the steep forested cliff and Puget Sound. Because of all the rain, the ground has been saturated and there was the danger of mudslides on the tracks. You can learn more about landslides in the region here . It stopped raining, but you can see the evidence it left behind. These deep crevices in the gravel trail were made by excess rainwater turning the trail into a riverbed. The water is gone but the crevices remain. Watch your step! I couldn't see any birds (it was getting dark and as usual, my mask was fogging my glasses) but I did catch a recording of some song that BirdNET tells me is most likely a cedar waxwing ( Bombycilla cedrorum ). I was hoping to get all the way to the marsh to hopefully get some duck pics, but it was alread

 The photos don't come out so well when my phone is in its dry bag. That's why they look misty. Raindrops on denuded branches, but there is still plenty of green.

 

  It was sunny today. I saw a flock of dark eyed juncos (small songbirds) and heard many more chickadees (black-capped and chestnut-backed chickadees are common). I also saw these two interesting fungi growing on/next to a fallen log. I've never tried identifying mushrooms before so I have no idea what species these are. The tiny white ones grew on the underside of the log, and the big gloppy looking tan one grew from the ground beneath the log.