Will's Field Study
Thursday, September 29, 2022
Field Visit 2 on September 27
Field Notes:
Time of Visit - 5:50-6:30 PM
Climate Conditions - Mostly cloudy, a light drizzle right as we were leaving the trails, a medium breeze
Temperature - 52°F
Length of Day - 11 hours, 55 minutes (sunrise was at 7:37 AM, and the sunset was at 7:32 PM)
Observations - In my plot of land, I unfortunately wasn’t able to see many creatures this week. I saw quite a few ants on top of flowers (mainly yellow and white ones) though, which I thought was quite interesting. Perhaps they are feeding on the nectar while they still can, as there aren’t many flowers anymore.
Like last time, I heard lots of crickets/grasshoppers, particularly in this grassy bank next to/in what normally is the pond. I would say that there was continuous noise coming from these insects.
I also heard some bird calls, specifically chickadees (I think I counted six different chickadee calls, not including all the other bird calls I heard). I saw (and felt) lots of pricker vines. I saw many more leaves on the ground than last time, including this beautiful red one I spotted.
I also saw many dead ferns, which were crunchy and crumbly to the touch. Most of them were in the area besides the sandy part of my plot of land, but there were also some in the sand, not to mention the ones I saw in the forest area. The ground was still wet from the weekend's rain. I saw a lot of moss, most of which felt spongy and water-logged.
One last thing I saw were animal tracks (pictures don't do them justice, but they are below). When I walked to the edge of my area, in the sandy ground, around 20 feet from the pond, I saw a squirrel track (which I thought was very cool, as squirrels tread pretty lightly, and you can normally only see their tracks in the snow). I also saw some bird marks in the sand, like a spot where they landed, and scratched around for a moment. Finally, I saw a footprint that looked a lot like a paw, which me and my dad (who went with me on my field study) think belonged to a fox, but it could easily have been a dog (hikers are allowed to bring dogs to these trails).
Squirrel Tracks Bird Scratches Fox or Dog Print
Changes - In my last post, I talked about how the water of the pond was completely dried up, and that is still the same this week (picture below on the left). However, the area where the pond normally is was noticeably muddier than before, so it seems that there is more water in the area. In addition, during this trip I heard a lot more birds than I did last time. One of the more obvious changes I saw was the amount of leaves and vegetation. Overall, the forest part of my area seemed way less dense, and thinner, in comparison to my last visit (picture on the right shows this pretty well, less leaves, lack of ground cover, ect). It wasn’t as lush and green. There were a lot more leaves (new leaves) that littered the ground.
I also have this picture, which I am taking from the same spot every visit. When comparing to my picture from my last visit on September 9, I can't see a lot of huge changes. However, this picture seems a bit less green than my last one, and the leaves seem to be a bit more yellow/orange/red. It seems that there are a lot more dead plants along the bank of where the pond normally is. Overall, there are a few subtle changes, but not many big noticeable ones.
Connection to Stewardship - As I was walking out to my plot of land, I was puzzled by some moss that I saw. It was yellowish-brown and it looked sickly/dead. It didn’t seem like it died from being dried out, and that wouldn’t make a ton of sense, as there has been quite a bit of rain. I wonder if someone could have poured some sort of liquid (possibly alcohol?) on the moss, causing it to die? If this is the case, this really makes me think about stewardship and how this is not a good example of it. We shouldn’t kill plants like this because that is not how God intended us to use his earth. In Genesis 1:29, we read “Then God said, ‘I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it…’” He gave us his earth, but we need to take care of it, not destroy it. I was really reminded of this during this field visit.
Questions I Had -
- I noticed a ton of ants on top of flowers, so are they trying to gather nectar/food, or is there something else going on with them? (Picture above in observations section)
- I noticed a lot of mushrooms in my plot of land, so has it been the right conditions for mushrooms to grow lately? If so, what are those conditions (damp/humid possibly)?
- Why did I hear so many more birds during this visit compared to the last? Is it because I came later during the day? Is it because the conditions/weather was better (this wouldn't make sense to me, because my last visit had nicer weather in my opinion, so it makes sense that there would be more out then)? Is it because these birds are more active during fall months?
Leaf Color and Leaf Fall:
For my Field Study, I will also be looking at the leaves and vegetation in my area, to see how it changes throughout the semester. You will be able to see my second set of data, showing the percentages of the colors in the leaves in the north, south, east, and west.
Analysis/Ideas - Overall, there weren't a lot of changes from my last visit, but I did notice that generally, there was an increase in the amount of dead leaves/ground cover. This could be because as the green leaves die and fall to the ground, more space is opened up so you are able to see more of that ground cover. Also, there were relatively some more color changes, especially in the leaves to the south. In my last visit, I talked about how I think that the sun causes this. "Because the sun rises in the east and sets in the west, those directions could get only half of the sunlight in the day, but north and south could get more, so could that change the color of the leaves faster in those directions?" was what I said last week. Currently, I still think that this could be the cause of my findings. I am excited to continue to go on visits to see how the leaves change even more, and hopefully be able to draw better conclusions.
EXCELLENT!! Great job!
ReplyDeleteKeep watching for the fungi...you're on the right track here...notice if they are still in the same spots next time.
When you watch for birds, think about types and if they are passing through or always found here. Also consider wind speed and location of the birds.
Keep an eye on that moss, too...watch to see if it dies or adjusts back to "normal"
You're watching and thinking well with the leaf color. Keep watching it everywhere you go (not even just the field study location) for some hints about the patterns!