At the center of photo, the blurry black object is the bee about to land on the white flower. It was quite large, and I'm not so sure if it was a bumblebee after all - there were two or three bees wandering around this shrub. I'm not quite sure if solitary bees could be found in threesome.
All over campus. Fascinating how these guys do not hibernate.
Turkish towels are red when young but fades to yellow and white - so the washed up turkish towels are usually yellow-white. They have bumps that give them a rubbery feeling. The gravel beach of Lincoln Park had lots of this and wakame.
I'm so sorry, I forgot to take photos of these seaweeds. But its the typical seaweed you would imagine, dark green and smooth. Wakame is crucial for Japanese cuisine.
Is this azalea as well?
A mushroom that is quite common in Puget Sound but that has a Japanese origin. The umbrella only remains open for 24 hours and then vanishes.
A dry, deciduous shrub with white flowers like mock orange. A bee very attracted to the flower. I believe this shrub was only about 5ft.
Grows one of the most delicious fruits that become tastier in colder weather.
Salal is one of the most common plant species that has pink flowers a little dangling.
Looks like salad.
Its scientific name is Daphniphyllum macropodum. Its Japanese name is yuzuri-ha.
It was my first time seeing a beaver! At the very edge of the parking lot across the bridge walking from the university campus, it came on land to get a piece of wood to use in its dam. A big black object with furs wet and stuck to its body, it carried a pretty large chunk of wood, one that was maybe twice as large as its body. There were other woods around, but seeing that it came up quite a way on land, it seems to pick and choose appropriate logs for its nest.
Extensive layer of moss that covered a tree like a sheet of green fluffy cushion. You would find some brown and white with green, which I don't know are colors of different moss.
I couldn't get a good look at this one because he flew away just as soon as I took this photo. Lady bugs in my opinion are one of the easiest to take a photo - because they don't move as much and because they have distinctive red bodies.
Often found in marshes and ditches.
Also called indian physic. Have a cool, sharp looking leaves. A herb, not sure whether native to Puget Sound or even North America, but it is good to study them as well.
Some of the berries could be difficult to identify without flowers or berries.
Interesting linear alignment of what I believe to be a lichen. They seem puffy but are pretty hard and must be really pollution tolerant.
I like the colors on their feathers.
Red alder is an early succession species and they are very good at growing in steep hills and bare land. In places like the UW arboretum, you would find this tree near water.
I believe they were a pair of a female and a child mallard, or just two female mallards. They were taking a nap on the grass field next to a road, so I assumed that they were accustomed to cars. Even then, when I walked up close they lifted their head, so I backed off since I know how annoying it is to be awaken unnecessarily. Glad that I saw them sleeping again on my way back.
I am assuming that a dwarf birch and dwarf resin birch are the same species.
Cottonwoods like to grow near water. On the other side of this tree you could see the legacy of beavers carving out its bark.
Just simple opposite leaves when the berries are not there. Snowberries look like white chocolate that look delicious (to me) but in fact a little poisonous and not tasty at all. The berries linger on through mid winter after all leaves are gone, so you would see bare branches with white berries dangling.
A big leaf growing near the root of an alnus tree. So the leaves have white seeds and flowers that has fallen from the tree. I wonder if this shrub and the alnus tree are in a symbiotic relationship.
I... got bothered because the tree was not red at all.
I go by the name kinnikinnick. They have alternating small leaves with red berries for most of the year, even though they surprised me because they were white right now.
Also called lodgepole pine, had 3 needles per fascicle.
Although names sugarberry, it is a completely different species than huckleberry or salmonberry. Whereas salmonberry is a shrub, sugarberry is a tree.