Diario de eajohnson6

For this week's iNaturalist post, I decided to share with you all something that has made me extremely excited for the last few days--budding huckleberries! As a quick disclaimer, I am unsure if these are blueberries or huckleberries as it is difficult to tell this early on in their budding. However, given the location typically having an abundance of huckleberries, I feel fairly confident in this specimen's identification. I found this lovely budding shrub while walking around Ward Lake in the Ketchikan area. It immediately caught my eye as I was walking past; largely because of its bright reddish pink hue among the green rainforest. Spotting this shrub has made me very excited because it is one of the first noticeable signs of spring that I watch for around Southeast Alaska. That, and skunk cabbage blooms, of course. ;)

As far as historical uses of the species are concerned, I found a lovely article written by Vivian Faith Prescott for the Capital City Weekly titled "Planet Alaska: Red Huckleberries: Food for Songbirds" that shares the author's experiences with the species as well as some facts. Something in the article that particularly stuck out to me was the Tlingit saying that Prescott shared: "Tleikatánk kanat’á een yak’éi: Red huckleberries are good with blueberries." Another tidbit of information that was found in the article was how the Indigenous peoples across the Pacific Northwest region of America used red huckleberry leaves in a medicinal setting. Not only do these bits of information relate to the species, but they also connect to last week's learnings about connecting Indigenous knowledge with modern ways of living.

Works Cited

Prescott, Vivian Faith. “Planet Alaska: Red Huckleberries: Food for Songbirds.” Juneau Empire, 31 Oct. 2019, www.juneauempire.com/news/planet-alaska-red-huckleberries-food-for-songbirds/. Accessed 3 Apr. 2024.

This specimen is one that I have been waiting to upload on iNaturalist. Skunk Cabbage is a quintessential marker of spring time in Southeast Alaska. When the first hint of yellow begins to emerge through the marsh, muskeg, or forest floor, I have found that my social media feed is often filled with sightings of Skunk Cabbage buds. I have often wondered if Skunk Cabbage is even related to the cabbage that can be found in the grocery store, and, as it turns out, it is actually a relative to the taro plant—both of which are in the Arum family of plants (Forest Service National Website). Growing up, I heard stories of people eating Skunk Cabbage (either out of necessity or by choice) and having extreme stomach pains and becoming ill—often to the point of needing medical intervention. According to the United States Forest Services’ article titled Yellow Skunk Cabbage, the plant itself is actually edible, however, the plant contains calcium oxalate which can cause the consumer to have a “stinging, burning sensation in the mouth when chewed raw” (Forest Service National Website). The abovementioned article also notes that Indigenous peoples learned to prepare the roots by roasting and drying them so that they be able to be used and alleviate the ill-effects that the plant may have. As a child, I can remember having “Skunk Cabbage fights” with my brother that often resulted in us being covered in the juice that Skunk Cabbage leaves ooze. Said fights often resulted in tears from one of us and our mom making us shower and put on clean clothes that did not smell like a skunk.

Works Cited
“Yellow Skunk Cabbage.” Forest Service National Website, Idaho Panhandle National Forests - Learning Center, www.fs.usda.gov/detail/ipnf/learning/?cid=fsm9_019161#:~:text=Edible%20and%20medicinal%20value%3A%20The,able%20to%20use%20this%20plant. Accessed 13 Apr. 2024.

This Alpine Haircap Moss, or Polytrichastrum alpinum, is a moss species that I had not seen before! Although it is naturally occurring, I have also seen it planted in landscaping and gardening uses—especially in a potted flower arrangement. I observed this species when I was getting back into my car after a hike on the Lunch Creek Trail outside of Ketchikan. While on the hike, it occurred to me that there are not a lot of wildlife, plants, or just wild specimens across the board that are new to me or I haven’t seen before in the Ketchikan area. As a matter of fact, I tried to find something new to me on the hike but could not come up with anything. Then, when I thought that I had failed at my mission, I found this specimen about twenty feet in front of where my car was parked. Sometimes, that is the way that life works! Although I could not find a ton about this species, I did find that something unique to this type of moss is that it has fewer leaves around the base of the plant (Fretwell et al.). I have seen similar types of moss in other areas of the United States, but not this specific species. When looking at the species, it looks less like a moss and more like some low-growing cover plant, but it is indeed a moss. I attempted to research if this plant was a domestic plant or if it was introduced from elsewhere but could not find anything that said one way or another.

Works Cited
Fretwell, Kelly, et al. “Alpine Haircap Moss • Polytrichastrum Alpinum.” Biodiversity of the Central Coast, 2014, www.centralcoastbiodiversity.org/alpine-haircap-moss-bull-polytrichastrum-alpinum.html. Accessed 21 Apr. 2024.

These somewhat blurry photos are of a few American Robins, or Turdus migratorius, that were in a family member's yard this afternoon. I thought that they were super cute and I realized that I had not given birds any attention thus far on iNaturalist! They looked like they were eating berries or something off of a tree that was near to where I was standing. The only issue was that my dog scared them away before I could take better photos. In a post from the Alaska Department of Fish and Game's website page titled "Alaska's Backyard Birds: American Robin", the author explains that "robins entering Southeast Alaska in early April and arriving at Shageluk, Alaska, almost 700 miles north on April 26.". On top of that, the robin migrates in the summertime and the span of its all the way up to the Brooks Range and out to the Aleutian Island chain (Bird Viewing: Alaska's Backyard Birds--American Robin). The timing of the arrival of the robins makes sense, though, because if I remember correctly, they usually have been in the Ketchikan area for a few weeks at this point. In the past, I have seen robin nests in some trees at this same yard. It may be worth checking out again to see if there are more.

Also, in my research for this post, I found a very helpful website for bird watching purposes titled “Cornell Lab All About Birds”. It has slides of different close-up images that are really helpful for identification, maps of the species’ migration and sightings, as well as an area with different bird sounds to help identify them. I will link the website below.

https://www.adfg.alaska.gov/index.cfm?adfg=birdviewing.backyardbirds&species=thrush

Works Cited

“American Robin Overview.” Cornell Lab of Ornithology, All About Birds, www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/american_robin/overview. Accessed 24 Apr. 2024.

“Bird Viewing: Alaska’s Backyard Birds--American Robin.” State of Alaska, Alaska Department of Fish and Game, www.adfg.alaska.gov/index.cfm?adfg=birdviewing.backyardbirds&species=thrush#anchor. Accessed 24 Apr. 2024.