Whitaker Ponds has the best collection of native plants in North Portland. Now that we are comfortable identifying and describing trees in easy mode (spring to fall), it is time to prepare for winter. We will look closer at form, buds, twigs, and bark than in previous classes, and decide whether we are up for the challenge of trying to identify some trees in the next few months.

Now that we have all the pieces (conifers, flowers, leaves, fruit), we can practice putting it all together while birding both the upper urban area around the parking lot and the lower natural area. We should be able to describe which tree we are seeing a good bird in to our fellow students and identify most trees to be able to learn more about them. We will scout for fruit, and prepare for the much more intimidating season rapidly approaching, winter tree identification.

Laurelhurst Park has approximately the same number of bird species observed as tree species growing in the park ~130 species. If the birds are out and active, we will bird the park and practice using as specific of language as possible to describe where we are seeing birds and how they are interactive with the plants around them. If the birds are quiet, we will observe, describe and identify trees paying close attention to their leaves. But most trees will have other features worth observing and describing in September as well.