A Tour of Marsh Island
Marsh Island is a great destination for bird watching or taking a peaceful scenic walk any time of the day. It is located on 24th Avenue and East Park Drive in Seattle, Washington. Just a short bike or bus ride from the University of Washington! It is on the other side of Highway 520 from the Washington Park Arboretum. The Arboretum may be known for its Japanese Garden and beautiful trees, but Marsh Island is just as interesting a place to be. Take a walk along the trails and check out some of its great features.
Station 1: Geology & Geomorphology of Marsh Island
Seattle and the Puget Sound have a most interesting history of geological change and transformation. To imagine how an island like Marsh Island formed, we have to look back many thousands of years ago. The lake that surrounds Marsh Island is Lake Washington, which is eighteen miles long and a few miles wide or more depending on where you are. The formation of Lake Washington is due to the Cordilleran Ice Sheet that melted and left this area approximately 16,000 years ago. As this massive body of ice retreated, it carved out many shapes, one being Lake Washington. This is now a freshwater lake due to the melt water from the glacier and the rivers that flow into it, but core samples taken in the 1950's show that the lake once held saltwater that may have flowed in from the sea. Lake Washington has seen many earthquakes due to its proximity to the Seattle Fault. These earthquakes have caused uplift and landslides. Many trees and debris have fallen into the lake due to the landslides, and there is a good possibility that it will happen again. The specific area that Marsh Island floats on is Union Bay. The shores as we see today were created in a large part by the building of the ship canal in Lake Washington which lowered the lake by nine feet. This transformed a lot of the marshy wetlands into dry lands, which is why we can walk all the way from East Montlake Park across Marsh and Foster Island, and get to the Arboretum.
This is a female mallard. The purple-blue feathers are a great way to identify this bird. I think this is one of the most beautiful birds I see on the island. The feathers are just brown, but when you see the females just floating their feathers look like petals. The males are often swimming with them, which have a distinguishable green head, stripe of white on their neck, and brown and white body. It is fun to watch the mallards land in the water after flying over Union Bay or Duck Pond.
The Great Blue Heron is a large blue-grey bird that reminds me of a more majestic version of a flamingo. To see this bird on the island you just have to keep a good eye on the logs by marker 18. From observing his behavior, I found that ninety-five percent of the time he just stands in one place, and the rest of the time he slowly walks around or takes flight. It is a lot easier to photograph this bird that almost any other, and I really like that about the Great Blue Heron!
The song sparrow on the other hand is not easy to find sitting still. Often hopping from tree to tree, the song sparrow is camouflaged in the branches eating and tweeting. The bird is identified by the reddish brown feathers and streaked chest. The shape is also very memorable by the rounded belly and jutting out tail feathers. The beak is triangular and good for pecking at seeds or catching worms. The calls are very diverse, ranging from short tweets to more complex songs with many different trills and tones.
Station 2: Birds
There are a good variety of birds on the island, and you can sit for hours following them and observing bird behavior. This is truly one of the best features of coming every week to Marsh Island. You can hear the birds calling to each other consistently, and see birds in the water, in the trees, and in the air. There are so many birds you could stop and find, but the ones I am highlighting here are the Mallard, Great Blue Heron, and Song Sparrow.
There are a good variety of birds on the island, and you can sit for hours following them and observing bird behavior. This is truly one of the best features of coming every week to Marsh Island. You can hear the birds calling to each other consistently, and see birds in the water, in the trees, and in the air. There are so many birds you could stop and find, but the ones I am highlighting here are the Mallard, Great Blue Heron, and Song Sparrow.
Station 3: Land Use History
This area has been used for as many as 10,000 years! The earliest inhabitants were the Duwamish people who built villages on the shores of Lake Washington and lived there up until the 1850's. The Native Americans had a strong relationship with the lake and land, which they hunted and harvested from. They fished for salmon and picked wapato as well as other edible plants. The natives were slowly replaced by European Setters, and what came after; the railways and following urbanization. There were longhouses where there are now university buildings and the Burke-Gilman Trail. Lake Union had been used for commercial purposes since at least 1882, when one of the earliest businessmen, David Denny set up a sawmill and used the canal to float logs across the lake. Lake Washington was afterwards considered a potential connection to the Puget Sound, and so construction began to build a canal that could transport goods back and forth. It was completed in 1916 along with the Montlake Cut which connected Seattle to Montlake. The alterations made to the lakes were noticeable; the lake lowered nine feet due to the locks they created to control the water flow, and Black Lake was lost due to the shifted flow of the Sammamish and Cedar Rivers.
Fungi is a large organism that inhabits all parts of the ecosystem. On Marsh Island, a variety of mushrooms and lichens can be found when examined closely. The cold Winter is not their favorite environment to sprout their beautiful caps, but earlier in the rainy Fall is the perfect time to spot some mushrooms. I was in amazement each time I found more mushrooms. I remember looking at a patch of Redlead Roundhead and thinking I had never seen such a large patch of mushrooms. I wanted to pick one so I could study the gills and roots, but it was so slimy I freaked out; guess I'm not nature woman yet.
This capped mushroom is Stropharia aurantiaca. Commonly they are called Redlead Roundhead. The caps are a slimy texture and bright red, and the stipes are white. The spores are a dark purple and the gills are spaced closely. It grows along the bark chips on the trail; one of its favorite habitats. This species is common in North America and Europe. Don't eat them, they are poisonous!
This is ragbag. it is a lichen that is a pale blue-green or white-grey color. The ends are somewhat frilly and have small powdery growths. The appearance ranges from very tattered to something like this example that looks pretty uniform. It grows on every continent besides Antarctica. The scientific name "glauca" means silvery, gleaming, or bluish-green which pretty much describes this lichen perfectly.
Station #5: Invertebrates
By far the most challenging organism to document this quarter was invertebrates. I was able to find some creepy crawlies here and there, but I have a feeling that it’s a lot easier to find bugs in the spring. The few things I found were amazing though, at least to me! The millipede you see here was actually on the side walk going into Marsh Island, so I can’t promise that you will see it at marker 11, but it’s possible. The one you see here is a clown millipede; black with yellow markings running down the sides of each segment of the body. I had never actually seen a millipede before this day, and so I was incredibly fascinated by the movement of the legs. It’s like an escalator of legs, where you never see the beginning or the end as the legs skitter in a ripple of motion. I loved just watching it follow the crack of the path at a leisurely pace. The spider below the millipede is a cross-spider. I’ve looked at many spider webs in my life, but never have I seen as great a catch as this one! It seems to have a caterpillar wrapped in its strong web, and I am in awe of the ability of a spider to catch something almost as big as itself.
Station 6: Plants
Marsh Island is a great habitat for plants that need a lot of moisture. There is a lot of diversity, and walking through the trails is a good place to see common Northwest shrubs, trees, and flowers. At this particular station you will be able to find common horsetail, Himalayan blackberry, and red osier dogwood. It has been a new experience to be present and watch these plants go through the season. A month ago the dogwood looked like this, but now it is all shriveled up. The blackberry looks almost the same, and the horsetail is a very grey green compared to how vibrant it once was.
Dogwood is characterized by its smooth, oval leaves and its bright red bark. It grows flowers that are white or green. The berries that come from the flowers are very bitter, and it is known that some of the aboriginal people ate them, although the Coastal people did not. The aboriginals in the East used the bark by drying it for smoking mixtures as well as for basket rims and salmon spreaders which held the bait for catching. The Coastal people used red osier dogwood bark to brew a tonic medicinal tea. For animals like deer, elk, and moose, this shrub is an important food source.
Himalayan blackberry is a species that was introduced from India, which has become widely naturalized. They are identified most easily when they are growing blackberries. The fruits are edible and used commonly today. Without the berries, the plant has an alternate leaf pattern with somewhat evergreen leaves that have little thorns on the stems, and larger ones on the main branches. It has become somewhat of a noxious species because of its fast seed distribution by birds and animals. It can be difficult to contain in one area, but isn't getting out of hand on Marsh Island.
Common Horsetail is a peculiar plant that grows hair like protrusions at each node of its stalk. Horsetail was eaten by Romans by removing the feathery green branches and consumed like asparagus. Giant Horsetail was picked by Coast Salish people, sheathed and eaten. When eaten by animals over a long period of time the animal may become ill. People have historically eaten horsetail and used it for teas as well as thickening powder. This plant is actually quite ancient; when dinosaurs were on the earth, enormous versions of horsetail were growing like trees.Station 7: Visible Ecological Interaction
At this station we find an interaction between the leaves of the trees and a bird. I don't know what bird this nest belongs to, but I was so excited to find one on Marsh Island! I am not good at finding these types of things, but as I walked around I looked a little deeper and saw this cool bird's nest. The trees on Marsh Island not only provide security and food for many birds, but building material as well. Without leaves and twigs it would be hard for a bird to find good supplies for a nest. Looking at the bird nest more, I thought about its location. At first I thought that it was weird that it was only about six feet off the ground, I mean, I could reach it if I wanted to. But I think the bird built it here because it is nicely covered in blackberry brambles, and so it has a decent layer of protection. It's amazing to think about the give and take of organisms in an ecosystem. Trees and shrubs give resources and shelters to birds, and in return, birds distribute seeds by eating the fruits from the trees and shrubs. There is a lot of give and take in this habitat, and another example of this relationship is right next to this bird's nest; a log that is just a few feet further along the path. This log is completely covered in moss and fungi. The work of fungi is something that nothing else can do; it breaks down wood! The logs give the fungi a place to grow, and fungi helps break down the dead wood.
Station #8: Visible Effect of Ecological Disturbance
After getting to know this place better, I was very surprised to come to Marsh one day and see that the trail leading to Foster Island was blocked off. For about a month, construction crews have been working on some project that honestly I don’t have much idea about. There is a fence blocking the path and major construction on the other side. I was fortunate that I still had access to my natural place, but for the past few weeks I have had growing concern about whether or not they are affecting the ecosystem of Marsh Island or the surrounding areas. You have to be there to experience the extent of the construction; I mean there is a lot going on. Last week I got up the courage to sneak around the fence. I had seen people do it before, but I was afraid that I would get caught, and sure enough I did. A construction worker said to me, “Doesn’t anyone read the signs?” and I said something about the project and thankfully he left, whew! But if I hadn’t, I wouldn’t have gotten the chance to look at their work site. I know for sure that what they are building is taking out a lot of trees, and that is pretty sad. Not only are they taking away some of the habitat, but their machines are really loud, and I’m sure that birds that are normally there have been driven out by noise pollution. Also, looking at the history or Marsh Island, an ecological disturbance that occurred was the lowering of Lake Washington. The marshland that is their today would not have been so visible before the nine foot drop in water level. You can look at the mini islands that surround the mainland and know that they were not there before.
Station #9: Animal Behavior
At this station I would like to discuss the behavior of the pied-billed grebes. When I first became acquainted with the some of the ducks on the water, I would see this diving bird and assume it was just another duck. Not until my teacher talked a little bit about a grebe, did I realize that it wasn't a duck at all! The pied-billed grebe is a very interesting bird. It is not very easy for me to get a good picture of one because at least half the time they are submarined looking for food. The thick bill is ideal for eating small crustaceans, fish, and insects. The male and female are very similar, there is not much on the body to distinguish them apart as it is with a mallard or gadwall. If you can get close enough or look through binoculars, the adults will have a black ring around the beak in breeding season while the juveniles will have a streaked head. The grebe above is most likely a juvenile judging from the streaks on its cheek. Pied-billed grebes build floating nests that are connected the land, and lay their eggs. They can lay 2-10 light blue eggs which either the male or female will keep incubated. I think it's so cool how grebes are true water birds; they even roost in the water! I haven't seen any floated nests, but I will keep an eye out in the spring. If you want to hear a pied-billed grebe talk, then watch this short video- they are super cute too! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=60nM9x2h22w
Station #10: Get Your Binoculars, We Are Bird-watching
At marker 22 is a great place to start for birding. Many of the pictures below came from being right around this point on the bridge. When looking for birds, it is very beneficial to first listen for any bird calls. Some of the waterfowl don’t make much noise, but in that case it's fairly easy to spot them when they are just floating on the lake. I find that no matter what time of day it is that birds are pretty active. Almost every time I come to Marsh I find a bird for the first time. It may be that I am more attentive than I was before, but I really am surprised every week. Last Wednesday, I heard something in the trees and followed the sound for a little while. I narrowed it down to a little bush and finally saw a little bird rustling in the leaves. I found out after going home and looking it up that it was a female ruby crowned kinglet. One the same day I was watching the ducks and thought I saw another gadwall, but looking closer through my camera lens I could see the shovel shaped bill; a Northern Shoveler! That was my first time seeing one. On the same day yet, I got to observe the cormorants better than I had ever been able to before. You never know what you are going to see, and I would highly recommend being patient because the birds will come, I promise!
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| Northern Gadwall |
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| Glaucous Winged Gull |
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| Male Northern Gadwall |
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| Canada Goose |
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| Bufflehead |
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| Northern Shoveler |
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| Pied-billed Grebe |
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| American Crow |
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| Double-crested Cormorant |
At this point in the tour, you will soon see that a fence is blocking the path after marker 22. Unless you are will to risk the wrath of the construction workers, it is time to head back. Thank you so much for reading, and may you have a beautiful day on the Island!
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