Hello and welcome to Magnuson. I’m sure that many of you have been here before, whether that was to walk, swim, bike, or maybe play with your dog. Personally, I love to swim here during the summer and then bask in the sun like a southwestern lizard. The area was originally inhabited by the Duwamish tribe, and some estimates guess that there might have been as many as three big longhouses in the area where the park is today! From 1940, before it was turned into a park in 1975, it was used as a a Naval airfield, which is why there are so many big buildings by the north entrance, they were originally used to store airplanes! But today we will be talking about something different, something you might not have thought about in this way before, the blackberries that you have probably noticed all over the park. Now, when I mentioned blackberries, a tasty summer treat probably came to mind, a pie filling, or a type of jam that you spread on your morning toast. Or, maybe the thorns you have to fight through to get to the berries. But, did you know that these berries are harmful to the local ecosystem? This type of blackberry, the Himalayan blackberry, is non-native, invasive, and causes quite a bit of harm to the area. They encroach on native plants, make it hard for birds to nest, and in general aren't great for the native flora and fauna that are crucial to the ecosystem in the Pacific Northwest. Magnuson has some great examples of native flora and fauna, and is still widely loved by many Seattleites, which is why is makes such an interesting case study! The Douglas Fir, Red-Osier dogwood, Willow, and Pacific Salmonberry all reside in Magnuson. When the wetlands that you probably see to your left were restored in 2010, a total of 4,992 native plants were installed in the park, including 725 trees and 1,376 shrubs. That's a lot of plants! As for birds, Magnuson provides the second richest bird habitat of all the parks in Seattle, with 170 species of birds calling the park their home. The Black Capped Chickadee, Spotted Towhee, Anna's Hummingbird, and Song Sparrow all reside in Magnuson, to name a few. The Northern Pacific Tree Frog, the Northern Alligator Lizard, the Common Garter Snake, and the Pond Slider, a type of turtle, all live in the areas around the marshes.         Today, we are going to be walking around the park and seeing the mass amounts of berries that exist in the park, and the native plants and animals they are threatening and are attempting to overtake even more. We will be walking through the soccer fields, along the water, and through the wetlands, where we will end up back here, by the entrance of the parking lot where we started. So, come along, and lets go take a look!