The Daily Bucket is a place to catch your casual observations of the natural world and turn them into a valuable resource. Whether it's the first flowers of spring or that odd bug in your basement, don't be afraid to toss your thoughts into the bucket. Check here for a more complete description.
Seattle.
Stuff happened so fast in April that it was really difficult to keep up. Here are some odds and ends from the last week of the month.
April 26
Along the lake the cherry trees that were a gift from Seattle's sister city Kobe in 1976 are just coming into bloom. I don't know if the good people in Kobe knew that their cherry trees would bloom in perfect contrast to our native Big-leaf Maples, but here they are. Pink and chartreuse. Too wonderful.
Japanese Cherry and Big-leaf Maple blossoms along the shoreline of Lake Washington
Down at the wetland the Osoberry berries are beginning to swell. (Oemleria cerasiformis) These develop a bit earlier than those in the forest, most likely because their habitat is more open to the sun. I have a photo of Osoberries from the same location in a similar stage of development dated April 19, 2007. I'd say that they're pretty close.
Left, April 26, 2011. Right, April 19, 2007
April 28
The deciduous forest canopy closes one layer at a time. Last month the Osoberries and the Red-flowering Currants leafed out at about head level. This month the Western Hazelnuts (Corylus cornuta) have added their leaves at twice the height. Big-leaf Maple, Cottonwood, Red Alder and Dogwood will finish the canopy in the next weeks.
Western Hazelnut filling out the mid canopy
April 29
On the floor of the forest the ferns continue to send up their fronds. Lady Fern Athyrium filix-femina is about knee high in the sunny spots now.
Lady Fern (Athyrium filix-femina)
And the Wood Ferns (Dryopteris sp.) have sprung to life again so quickly. I'm thinking that there might be two Wood Fern species in the park, so am hedging on the proper name for this one. It may be Dryopteris austriaca, which is the one named in my ancient native plant bible, Plants and Animals of the Pacific Northwest, Eugene Kozloff, 1976, University of Washington Press. Or it could be another. This one is sending up fronds that may reach 3'. There are others on the park that grow only half that height. I'll keep looking.
Wood Fern (Dryopteris sp.)
May 2, 1pm PST
Canada Goose is still sitting.
###
What's happening in your part of the world?
I'll be out until early evening.