Will's Field Study

Wednesday, November 30, 2022

Field Visit on Sunday, November 27, 2022

Field Notes:

Time of Visit - 12:00-12:30 (afternoon)
Climate Conditions - Cloudy, a nice light breeze, a light sprinkle of rain on and off
Temperature - 42°F
Length of Day - 9 hours and 22 minutes (Sunrise at 7:50 AM, sunset at 5:13 PM)

Observations (some also fit into the "Changes" category):

Similarly to my last visit, I observed quite a few different animals or signs of those animals. I heard a squirrel chattering to the the north of my plot of land and I heard a lot of birds calling throughout the area, even seeing a few fly overhead (too fast to take a picture unfortunately). I also was able to find lots of signs of animals. I saw lots of deer tracks walking from the oaks, where I saw a lot of acorns on the ground. I am guessing that they were eating and then drinking from the pond. Pictures of this can be found below in the top row. I also, like last week, saw lots of evidence of squirrel movement. As you can see from the pictures on the bottom row, I saw squirrel tracks, and a lot of holes where the squirrels were digging, looking for food I am guessing.

Another observation I had was that there was a lot of fungi and mushrooms in my area. However, they all looked like they were dying or had been eaten a little bit, or at least considered for being eaten. A lot of the dead ones were shriveled up and a dark reddish brown color. They all locked awfully waterlogged, which I guess is from the rain we got. I also saw a lot of mushrooms that were flipped over, as if some sort of creature was eating them and then left. I wonder if an animal did this, or a human. Perhaps they only flipped over because someone was looking at them. Pictures of all of these different examples can be found directly below.

Another observation I had was that the pond was still full of water. As you can see from the picture below, it is pretty full. It has never been a deep pond, more like a giant puddle, but it is holding quite a bit of water and seems to have gotten a bit bigger since the last time I came. I wonder if this is from a combination of all of the rain and the snow melting. I also was able to see lots of tracks in the mud next to the pond. Unfortunately, I couldn't get close enough to take a clear picture of these without getting stuck :)

One final observation that I had was that there was a thorns/prickers. I know I have mentioned this in the past, but it seems that every time I come to my area, I see more (and get snagged on) more and more vines with thorns on them. They are still green, so I am not sure if they die during the winter, or if they are possibly growing. I wonder if these vines are actually growing, or if as more vegetation dies, they don't. This would make it seem like there is more of them because the "vegetation density" is lower allowing for more of them to be spotted.

Changes:

One major change that I saw this week was that I couldn't/didn't hear any insects during this visit. In the past, I have always heard lots of crickets or other insects in the past, but this week I simply didn't hear or see any. I was very surprised. After doing a quick google search, and using this link, I learned that insects often go into tree holes, leaf litter, and under rocks or logs during the winter. Perhaps since during my last visit, there was the first snow so the insects didn't have time to "hide out" right away, they were still out, but now that it is later into the "winter" they are hiding now. I kinda figured that there would be some out because the snow has melted, but I guess not.

Another change that I noticed was quite an obvious one; the snow has melted. My plot of land seems to have almost gone in a reverse step during its transition to the winter and colder months. When looking at the picture below, which is my picture that I take from the same spot every visit, this visit's picture seems more similar to my 4th picture than my 5th, which is pretty surprising. I think the most biggest obvious reason for this is the lack of snow. Perhaps the vegetation itself has stopped changing for the most part, and now it is the conditions/snow that is going to change things.

Questions:

How long will the pond stay filled (beyond this semester I am sure)?
Do the insects go in and out of their hiding places, or do they "hibernate"?
Is the pond really the thing that attracts animals to this area, or is it a combination of other things/resources in the area?
Will the trees that still have leaves loose them? (Not including pine trees)
What really happened to the mushrooms?

Leaf Color/Leaf Fall:

For my biology field study, I will also be looking at the leaves and vegetation in my area, to see how it changes throughout the semester. Below you will find my sixth and final set of data, showing the percentages of the different colors of the leaves in the north, south, east, and west.

Analysis/Ideas - This week, I noticed generally a lot more leaves. While this might not make sense, I think it does when accounting for the fact that there wasn't snow to cover up the leaves. I think this explains this occurrence. In my presentation in class, I will go over my final conclusions about this portion of my research, so stay tuned.

North: