Hi, and welcome to the virtual tour of Ravenna Park! In store for you here are 10 different stations where you can learn about the park, some of it's history, and some of the plants and animals making up this park. Feel free to move through the stations in whatever order and at whatever speed you please. Enjoy!
The first station is about the geology and geomorphology of Ravenna and Cowen park. Geology and geomorphology are about the physical features and physical history of the surface of the Earth. At Ravenna, one of the most interesting aspects of the geological history are reflected in the large hills spread laterally throughout the park and in a very large rock (boulder, if you will) deposited in the stream. These two aspects are visual remnants from when a glacier called the Vashon Glacial Ice Sheet was moving across the Puget Sound Region almost 20,000 years ago! The hills, ellipses stretching in northern/southerly directions, are called drumlins. Drumlins are hills that have been carved by glaciers moving over the ground in the past, dragging and compressing glacial till into the hills that are visible today at Ravenna Park. The aforementioned boulder is also a remnant left behind by a glacier. This boulder is called an erratic. An erratic is a large rock that has been deposited by a glacier moving over the ground. The same glacier that caused drumlins and erratics at Ravenna Park created Ravenna Park itself. Ravenna Park was a drainage ravine that was part of the Green Lake drainage basin emptying into Lake Washington. This ravine was deepened as the glacier moved over the area and later became what we now know as Ravenna and Cowen Park(s). The Ravenna Creek that runs through Ravenna Park and establishes much of its wetland habitat is sourced from the western face of Ravenna Park's ravine system.
The second station in your journey merges history and human interaction. This station covers the land use history of Ravenna and Cowen Park. For decades during the 17th and 18th century, the Ravenna Park ravine was mainly ignored by loggers and farmers. As a result, the area had trees stretching to nearly 400 feet that were featured in the Alaska-Yukon Pacific Exposition of 1904, which was the World's Fair held in Seattle and covering the development of the Pacific Northwest Region. Controversy over the huge trees in the Ravenna Park area stemmed from the question of harvesting the timber or not; however, this controversy eventually dispersed as the large trees 'mysteriously' disappeared by 1926. The Cowen Park ravine was largely filed in by the mid 1960s and was planned to be part of a stormwater drainage system. However, members of the areas surrounding neighborhoods rallied to successfully protect and restore the park. Since 1991, the Ravenna and Cowen parks have been majorly restored by the community's people and the city.
The third stations is about BIRDS! My favorite bird at Ravenna, which can be found in abundance, is the American Crow, or Corvus brachyrhynchos. Especially during the spring time, one standing on the trail can find multiple groups of American Crows at the Ravenna Park. I have had the most success spotting crows on the main trail that runs along Ravenna Creek. The crows often can be found foraging on the ground for food, perching in the trees, preening themselves in the creek, or can simply be heard all throughout the park calling to each other. American Crows are arguably the smartest birds in this region, which makes them really fun to observe! American Crows have the ability to recognize different human faces, so when you are looking at a crow and they are looking back at you, both parties are observing the individual before them. American Crows are about 10-14 inches from beak to tail, are completely black, and have an easily identifiable "Caw!" call. Crows are smaller, have shorter tails, and have smaller beaks than Ravens- the two species are often confused. Another cool bird to observe that is often more difficult to find is the Anna's Hummingbird. The Anna's Hummingbird is a vibrant forest green. Adult males have gray edged feathers and bright red or dark blackish heads and throats, while adult females have green heads with a small patch of red on their throats. I often describe these birds' calls as the sound of two marbles being rubbed together, phonetically sounding like a "stit". These birds can be found in early spring, flitting between different flowers and feeding. I have had the most luck finding these birds at flowering plants like the Indian Plum or Red Huckleberry, often near Ravenna Creek or on the higher ridges on the sides of the park.
The fourth station you'll be visiting on this walking tour is the PLANT station, through which you'll be covering a lot of area and can really venture throughout the park wherever you please and will still be able to find a ton of plants from this station! There is a plethora of wetland plants that make up the habitat at the base of the drainage area of Ravenna Park, including Sword Ferns, Common Horsetail, Skunk Cabbage, Pacific Yew, Common Buttercups, and Common Daisies. The most common trees in the area are Bigleaf Maple, Western Hemlock, and Western Redcedar. Pacific Yew is common in the wetland area, as it is a tree that loves to be in a moist soil climate. Other plants that can be found include Salmonberry, Red Huckleberry, and Thimbleberry, all of which have edible berries! Red Huckleberry is supposedly delicious. Other plants you can find are Tall Oregon Grape, Dull Oregon Grape, Salal, and Snowberry. Snowberry's berries are poisonous, but one or two have been used to settle the stomach before, surprisingly! Something really cool to observe during the spring is new growth on all of the plants and trees. New growth on the trees is presented as bursting ends of the existing branches of the trees, showing lighter green leaves.
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