Bog frog

I love this tree frog’s front leg crooked around the twig, don’t you? Yesterday I trod softly through Shadow Lake Bog near Renton, where the peat hasn’t been mined (unlike Shoreline’s bygone bogs -- see March 19), and where bog laurel, bobcats, cougars and moss mingle in one delightful place. Shadow Lake Bog is full of gifts for sleepy senses. You touch the soft, hairy, orange undersides of Labrador tea’s curling, leathery leaves. You observe the distinctively textured, scaly bark of Sitka spruce, not so common since airplane construction created high demand for its strong, lightweight wood. You follow a spruce’s tall trunk with your eyes, and the call of an eagle draws your eyes still further. Then you focus at your feet again, and consider how many different textures and colors of moss are found in one small patch of forest floor. 

The lusty roar of frogs greeted me outside the bog, where frog food is more plentiful. You might think the bog would be teeming with insects, but highly acidic water limits the quantity and diversity of insect life. I found this little Pacific tree frog in a sunny, open area at the edge of Shadow Lake Bog. 

You don’t have to travel outside of the city, though, to see or hear frogs. Riding my bike home from work one evening, I reveled in the roar of frogs at the edge of North Seattle Community College. Keep your eyes open, and you might see a Pacific tree frog right in Seattle.  

Creek Peek for Kids

Find a spot you like, maybe in your own backyard. Sit still and close your eyes. How many sounds can you hear? After ticking off the obvious ones (a car on your street, a lawnmower, distant traffic on I-5), listen more carefully. Is there wind? Are there insects? Birds? What else? You might have to head out of town to stand on 45 feet of boggy peat, but you don’t have to travel out of town to experience a whole slew of nature’s delights. Urban creeks, trees, yards and parks are full of gifts for your senses.

Take the poll in the righthand column, and tell us your favorite nature sound!

Our capacity to be surprised

I saw my first varied thrush years ago when I ventured from Indiana to spend a summer working in Mt. Rainier National Park. I've associated this bird and its haunting song with remote, mossy, primitive places ever since. 

But I just saw a varied thrush in my backyard. In Shoreline. The robins didn't care for him and gave him a hard time. But for a little while, I had a varied thrush in my backyard. And I expanded my impression of backyard bird-dom from crows, robins, chickadees, juncoes, flickers and the occasional hummingbird to include a varied thrush.

Nature is never static. In the city, that sometimes means dealing with fallen branches, mossy driveways or flooding resulting from massive amounts of impervious surfaces. But sometimes it means seeing baby birds in a nest, or a opossum's eyes shining back in the dark, or a violet blooming where we didn't plant one, or a crow hopping across a street at a crosswalk. Sometimes we encourage these surprises by leaving a dead snag standing in our yard, or by weeding. Sometimes we encourage surprises just by being ready to stop what we're doing and look a little more closely. I hope I never grow so preoccupied that I lose my capacity to be surprised by nature's fresh views right in the backyard that I think I know so well.

Are you missing 21,600 gallons of rainwater?

Look on the bright side of this dark weather. If you haven’t gotten around to observing how water flows on your property, and if you haven't noticed whether your yard soaks up or spurns falling rain, you still have an opportunity to check it out.

Now’s the time to recharge our groundwater so that the earth can do its slow-release thing throughout the (presumably) dry summer months. Groundwater keeps creeks flowing long after rain stops flowing. Dependable stream flow is important to tiny creatures that live in the water and larger wildlife that also rely on creeks. We interrupt this flow when we cover up most of the ground with impervious rooftops, roads and parking lots, and send rain far away in storm drains without it ever getting a taste of our native soil.

Consider removing some of the impervious surfaces on your property. Can you replace them with permeable pavement? Aim your downspouts toward the ground and not onto one of those impervious surfaces. Or set up a rain barrel to catch the water before it flows away. Did you know that a 1,000-square-foot roof can collect around 600 gallons for every inch of rain that lands on it? 

Creek Peek for Kids

Seattle receives about 36 inches of precipitation in a year. Do you think it would take more than one rain barrel to collect the rain from your roof? Let’s do the math! To learn how many gallons a 1,000-square-foot Seattle roof would collect in one year, multiply 600 gallons by 36 inches:

600 gallons x 36 inches = 21,600 gallons/year

Wow! Most of that water used to soak into soil and recharge the groundwater.

Is your home larger or smaller than 1,000 square feet? To find out, multiply your home’s length and width, plus a little extra for your eaves.

See a brand new Northwest native garden

Loop past the west side of Seattle's Salmon Bay School (19th Ave NW, north of 65th Street) and you'll see recent handiwork of 3rd- through 5th-graders: a newly-planted water-wise garden featuring 38 species of Pacific Northwest natives. Four Salmon Bay classes participating in Homewaters Project's year-long "Watershed Gardens" water conservation program planted 450 shrubs and small plants in one day!

Earlier this year, the students conducted school water audits (do you know how many times you flush a day and how long you let the water run?), used math to calculate the area of the garden, researched native plants, sheet-mulched the site and spread compost. Before the end of the school year, they will educate the community on ways to conserve water. This garden is part of that effort.

Creek Peek for Families

You can view this new garden from the sidewalk. Take a look! How many of the 38 different native plant species can you find? If you don't have any Northwest natives in your own yard, start with something small like a salal plant, Oregon grape or sword fern. Salmon Bay School's water-wise garden will require supplemental water at first. But once it's established, it will need little, if any, water or fertilizer, because native plants are adapted to our local climate and soils. 

Subterranean bog to be freed!

Big changes are coming to Shoreline’s Cromwell Park, the historic headwaters of Thornton Creek’s North Fork. They’ll roll public recreation, water quality and stormwater management into a whole new design. I’m personally excited about the areas labeled wetland and native wildlife habitat on the Master Site Plan (obtainable from the Cromwell Park Improvements page in the Links list at right). When you stand on this spot today, you’re standing on grass. But way down below your feet, there’s a subterranean bog just waiting to be freed! It was covered with fill during the mid-1900s, before we knew how vital it is to hang onto wetlands and bogs even in urban areas. (Did you know that wetlands store stormwater, improve water quality, help keep streams running year-round, and provide habitat?)

On a recent wet, windy day, 19 hardy souls walked from Cromwell Park around Ronald Bog to Twin Ponds, exploring the area along Thornton Creek’s North Fork. (Read an account of Homewaters Project’s North Fork Sampler Walk on the Ronald Bog Blog - see link at right). That entire area used to be a vast bog, before the peat was mined and bagged or sold by the truckload for lawns and gardens. (Note: Use horticultural grade coir instead of peat in your gardens. Peat is irreplaceable, and it’s still being mined in Canada.) Now the only thing that’s left of the bog is a name, Ronald Bog. Except . . .

Except for that tiny bit of subterranean bog below the fill in Cromwell Park that may get a second chance.

Creek Peek for Families

Reshaping Cromwell Park’s landscape is scheduled to begin this summer. Visit the park today (N 180th St between Meridian and Corliss Avenues). Find the detention pond in the northeast corner of the park (with a fence and some native redtwig dogwood around it). Stand on the grass near Meridian and think of the subterranean bog beneath your feet. Find the straight ditch where N 180th St would be, and poke around the existing wetlands near the south end of the park. Remember what they look like now, so you can compare when you come back after the redesign! Print out pages 11 and 17 of the Cromwell Park Draft Master Plan (obtainable from the Cromwell Park Improvements link at right) and take them with you.

You can also visit Shoreline Historical Museum (see link at right) when their archives are open to research peat mining in the area or to see aerial maps from 1936, 1953 and 1969 showing the transition from bog to houses and roads.

Take a guided urban nature walk

Hey, if you'd like to follow the trail of storm drain markers (see the last post) with a fun group of folks, join Homewaters Project for a free, public, urban nature walk along the North Fork of Thornton Creek in Shoreline Saturday, March 14, 2009, from 9:00 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. We'll learn about plans for Cromwell Park's wetlands, talk about peat mining and flooding, observe native plants and invasive species, and loop through two small arboretums. We'll cover about 3 miles on sidewalks and take a short bus ride (bring bus fare). Suitable for families! Sign up in advance. Click on the "Homewaters Project events" link in the righthand column, or email jyoungman@sccd.ctc.edu. 

Creek Peek for Kids

Do you know what an arboretum is? "Arbor" means "tree," and "etum" means. . . . Nope, it doesn't mean "eating!" An arboretum is a great place for birds and squirrels to eat in trees, though. "Etum" means "place," so an arboretum is a place of trees, usually planted for study or display purposes.

Storm drains are for rainwater

Do you know what this is? Do you know where this is? 

When Homewaters Project guides a public urban walk in Shoreline next month, we'll find this storm drain marker along Meridian Avenue. We'll look for other storm drain markers, too. These markers remind us that storm drains are for rainwater, not motor oil, antifreeze, chemicals or paint. Why? 

Whatever goes into a storm drain travels through a pipe straight into a creek or lake or Puget Sound without being treated. So when you wash your car on the street, for example, grease and oil and metals flow with the water right into those storm drains and pollute your local stream or lake.

Are the storm drains in your neighborhood marked?

In Seattle, you can stencil a storm drain to remind others that the storm drain leads directly to a stream, lake or bay. Seattle Public Utilities will give you a stenciling kit and instructions. To learn more, click on the link called "Stencil a storm drain" in the righthand column under "Links."

In Shoreline, you're invited to join Homewaters Project for a guided urban Thornton Creek North Fork Sampler Walk Saturday, March 14, 2009, from 9-11:30 a.m. It's free, but space is limited, so you have to sign up in advance. Learn more details, including how to sign up, by clicking on the link called "Homewaters Project events" in the righthand column under "Links."

Creek Peek for Kids

Why do you think the Shoreline storm drain marker has a picture of a fish on it?

Let's take an Up and Down Walk

Wow, how do you like the rising and falling temperatures this winter? One day it feels like Seattle. The next day it feels like Minnesota. So I think we should take an Up and Down Walk. You don't need any hills for this.

Step into your backyard and see how many things you can find that go up and down. Start with the obvious. Are there any birds in your backyard? How does a squirrel move when it crosses your yard? If there’s a breeze, what does it cause to go up and down? Do any plants grow upright and then droop over a little?

Does the sun go up and down? Hmmm. You might want to think about that one. But when you have sunshine, you have shadows. Have you ever watched a shadow creep up or down a tree trunk? And what’s going on in that tree trunk, inside the bark? If it’s not sunny, is it raining? Rain soaks into the ground or flows into a creek or storm drain. But what if there’s a puddle and the sun comes out? What happens to that water? Oh, and what about the ground? Did you know there are kazillions of microorganisms living in the soil? Do you think the soil just sits there, or is there constant movement going on in that soil, up and down movement on a really tiny scale?

Lots of things are going up and down all around us. Send a comment below, and let us know what else you thought of!

(Okay, who’s thinking “Economy”? Yeah, well, we’re all feeling the up and down of that, which is why I’ve added a shiny new Donate button to the right. Consider giving it a test run. You’ll enable Homewaters Project to continue providing free science inquiry programs in Seattle and Shoreline schools, and you’ll help students’ grades go up -- and up and up!)

Hey buddy, check out those buds!

We’re surrounded by leaves all winter in the Pacific Northwest, because so many of our trees are conifers that hold onto their needles. But have you ever looked at what’s going on with those those quiet, unassuming, deciduous trees in the winter? They’re getting ready to leaf out when the time is right, and all that action is packed into those tiny buds.

Buds and twigs on different kinds of trees have different characteristics, so eventually you might be able to identify trees by their buds and twigs. How do you get started? Take a walk, or just check out the trees and shrubs in your own backyard. Bring a magnifying glass if you have one. Here are some things to look for:

• Are the twigs red, green or brown?
  
• Are the twigs smooth, bumpy or hairy?
  
• Do the twigs have stripes,dots or little lines?
• Are the twigs straight or zigzaggy?
  

And about the buds:

• Are the buds pointed, or rounded?
• How big are the buds?
• Do the buds stay close to the stem or stick out?
  
• How many scales do the buds have?
  
• Are they opposite, or alternate?

Sometimes it’s easy to knock buds right off, and then no leaves will grow there. So it’s a good idea to touch them gently.

What else do you notice about the buds and twigs you find on your walk? Let us know by adding a comment below!

Thornton Creek stories

It’s been great to receive your suggestions for Thornton Creek park names (see November 5 post), and I’ve been passing them along to those involved in the naming process. Here are some of the people and ideas you’d like to see represented:

• Nishitani family
  
• Ole Blindheim and LaVilla Dairy
  
• Seattle human rights activist Alice Franklin Bryant
  
• Slo'q'qed or hLooQWqeed (Bald Head or Peeled Head), Northgate area wetlands
  
• dxWXoobud (Silenced or Quieted Place), Thornton Creek’s mouth
  
• glacial history, glimpsed in Park #2
  
• Kingfisher Park for Park #2 (including Secret Beach) 
  
• Homewaters Park (!)

Each of these names tells a story, and stories strengthen our connection to our home places and to each other. Ten, fifty, or two hundred years from now, what stories would you like our descendants to remember?