Blog post 4 Edmonds Marsh

Edmonds marsh is a beautiful and helpful part of our environment. This is actually not my first visit down and I must say it's just as beautiful as before. Two Organisms I found to be really intriguing were the cattails, a very fun part of a wet land. And Our friend Mr.  Great blue herring up here in my picture. Great Blue herrings, or Ardea Herodais is the largest herring in north America, with a wing span of 6feet! They can live in groups up to the hundreds. Most people who live locally should have seen them at least once. Some of them migrate out of Washington but for most they live in the state year round. I don't know if anyone else saw any herrings but while I was at the marsh I saw at least ten of them, feeding and resting in the center of the marsh. They were wonderful to watch. They eat fish, small amphibians, and bugs. They stick their pointy beaks into the muddy water to catch critters to eat.

Edmond marsh is an ecological wonder, our natural filters cleaning out the sea water and other run through. I found cattails, birds, bugs, and swampy ground at both wetlands. Also both were right near the water. Edmonds marsh is much more open and had a lot more ground space then when we were at Carkeek. Carkeek was a little swamp here and mostly paths and trails. The ground at the marsh was tall grasses and other small plants vs. trees. There was no trails through the marsh. Only around it, which is probably much healthier for the wetlands to not are disturbed by people. . Typha is a plant here that I have always thought was interesting. It reproduces through unisex plant fronds. Letting many seeds out into the mud quickly. It has a tendency to take over wetlands by being super dense even with multiple plants growing practically together. It thrives in mud flats that wet and dry out because the seeds germinate for long periods of time.