Discovery Park Reflections: Nisqually Delta and Mt. Rainier

On Saturday, May 17 I travelled south with my Natural History class. We spent the first part of the day at the Nisqually National Wildlife Refuge where the Nisqually river becomes a wetland and flows into the Puget Sound. Then we travelled southeast to Mt. Rainier National Park where we stopped at Paradise on Mt. Rainier to learn about glacial history.

Nisqually Delta - Nisqually National Wildlife Refuge

Date: Satuday, May 17, 2014

Time: 10:00 am - 1:00 pm

Weather: Sun, overcast, slight rain

Our journey started at the Nisqually National Wildlife Refuge where our class got to see where the Nisqually river completes its long trip from Paradise, Mt. Rainier and merges into the Puget Sound! This land was previously farmland but is now an area for restoration. We spent the morning on a natural walk through this land, observing species and interactions.

View of the wetland with the Nisqually Delta to the right

Second view of wetland with the Nisqually Delta to the right

There were several sitings of Tent Caterpillars (Family: Lasiocampidae) on our nature walk (Figures 1 & 2). These caterpillars have brown/orange bodies with hair. They build tents in tree branches.

Figure 1. Tent Caterpillars making a tent in a tree branch

Figure 2. Tent Caterpillars close up

One of the students was able to catch a damselfly for us to see up close. It was so fragile and beautiful with its delicate wings and blue coloring. We knew this was a damselfly, specifically a Pacific Forktail (Figure 3), because it holds its wings together and back as oppose to a dragonfly, like the Common Green Darner in figure 4, which holds its wings flat and out to the sides (Figure 4).

Figure 3. Damselfly: Pacific Forktail

Figure 4. Dragonfly: Common Green Darner

Pacific Treefrog found in the grass

Rabbit seen in bushes near Nisqually delta

We saw plenty of waterfowl in the wetland. In figure 5 are about 10 baby waterfowl huddle together in the wetland. They were too far away to identify, however. Initially an adult was present, but then left the juveniles by themselves. We were also able to spot an American Wigeon with its black tail, brown/orange body, and white center, face and head, and green eye stripe. We saw a Northern Shoveler with its large beak, green head, and white breast. and many Canada Geese with their goslings (they were adorable!). I also saw some Cinnamon Teal, female Hooded Merganser, and Mallards. Note types of feeding: Dabblers are waterfowl who stay afloat when feeding but put their rears in the air and then sift through the water with their beaks for food like Northern Shovelers. Divers submerge themselves all the way in the water and dive for food like grebes.

Figure 5. Huddle of baby water fowl in wetland

The Tree Swallow in figure 6 is seen perched in its nest cavity (figure 6). Notice it has a black/blue cap that is pulled all the way up and over the eyes. The Tree Swallow also as a split tail. On the other hand, the Cliff Swallow as a triangle shaped tail when in flight. The Cliff Swallow makes gourd-shaped mud nests and they have a v-shaped light mark on their face. We also saw Wilson's Warbler and Yellow Warbler which are both Neotropical migrants. Osprey flew overhead and could be identified by their white bellies, black wings, black face markings, fairly narrow wings, long fingertips (primary fingers) and the fact that they are almost always near water. The Townsend Warbler had a raccoon-like gray/black eye patch only around the eyes. The Common Yellow Throat were yellow/brown in color and males had a black eye mask. The Red-winged Blackbird could be heard and seen around the wetland with its "conk-ler-ee" call, males with their black bodies and red wing patches, and females with their brown patterned bodies.

Figure 6. Tree Swallow emerging from its nest cavity

In this wetland habitat there were plenty of Pacific Willows and Red Oiser Dogwood.
Nightshade lined the bank of the wetland and are in the same family as tomatoes and potatoes (Figure 7)! Lupin were also seen with their beautiful purple petals and claw-like dark purple inside piece (Figure 8 & 9).

Figure 7. Nightshade

Figure 8. Lupin

Figure 9. Lupin flower close up

Mt. Rainier - Paradise

Date: Saturday, May 17, 2014
Time: 4:00pm - 5:30 pm
Weather: Cold, light clouds, sun, 6.5 ft snow on ground

For the second part of the day we travelled to Paradise on Mt. Rainier to look at the evidence of glacial retreating. We stopped at the flowing Nisqually river near the entrance (figure 10) of the park and then travelled up to its source of snowmelt at Paradise (Figure 11).

Figure 10. Nisqually river near entrance of Rainier Park

My car group and I by the Nisqually river with Mt. Rainier in the background on the right

Wild strawberry near riverbank

You can see how tall the glacier was by looking at the baseline of the trees at the right in the photo (Figure 11). The glacier carved this area years ago dropped erratics as it retreated.