Journal #8 November 19th, 2014

November 19
1:30 pm, 56 degrees F

Today at Marsh Island was clear, crisp, and not as cold as last week. It felt much warmer, but you can definitely tell that the cold weather over the past weeks has affected the plants. The trees and shrubs don't have many leaves, and the leaves they do have are quite shriveled so it isn't as easy to identify them. My spot looks a little different from last week. The lily pads are few and farther between than before and the water is so much shallower. Many of the little ponds and puddles are frozen over, making it so the ducks are hanging out in the deeper waters. The plants in general are more bare, but there are many that are still going strong. I focused on listening today. The bird chirps and calls are frequent, and I can really hear the chickadees and song sparrows as they call out. The variety of birds I saw today were all doing different things, and I liked observing their behavior. The ducks for example were hanging out in the water by the shore under the low hanging trees, nestling their heads into the side of their breast keeping warm. The dark eyed juncos were eating in the grass, and sparrows were eating in the trees. And the great blue heron honestly looked like it was just standing there. I was pleasantly surprised to find an array of birds! I wasn't sure if I would be able to because of the weather, but apparently these birds are well adapted to the cold temperatures.

My spot today! Nothing too different, but you can definitely see the difference in lily pads from month or even two weeks ago.

 

I can see the bottom for the first time very clearly. There seems to be several open clams laying on the top layer of dirt.

 

A nice, clear afternoon!

 

My first sighting of any birds were these dark-eyed juncos! They love something that is in the grass, most likely seeds. There were probably 15-20 juncos under this alder tree, just pecking away for many minutes. They are really quiet while they are doing this, I didn't hear any calls. But once you get within five or six feet they quickly escape to the trees.

One up close.

In Duck Pond, I found some cute mallards staying warm beneath the branches. The pattern on their wings is really beautiful when you see it up close. There were other mallards in Washington Lake too, but they were apparently warm enough to swim around.

This is a female American widgeon. She has a slightly brown patterned head and body with orange streaks on the back feathers. You know it is not a male because the head is just brown instead of having a green patch around the eye. This particular widgeon was swimming around with some female mallards in Washington Lake.

Her again!

The following four pictures are of the coolest bird I found.

To me the  Great Blue Heron is pretty much the most majestic bird on the island, and I was lucky to spot him because I have never seen him in all the weeks I have been observing Marsh Island. I probably just watched him for like ten minutes, and he didn't even move until I started whistling at him. They walk around really slow, and take careful steps kind of like a sloth. The feathers have this nice grey/blue sheen, and the chest markings are kind of streaky. They walk around on those spindly legs, and sometimes blend in really well with their surrounding.

 

 

 

 

Song Sparrow! This bird like the trees on Marsh Island for something they eat. It hops around only staying in one place for a matter of seconds. For a song bird, the call that I heard wasn't very song like, but instead a series of short chirps. I know they definitely have longer calls, so it may have felt threatened or been communicating with another bird.

 

 

These are the best photos I could capture of this Glaucous winged gull. It was circling the island in kind of a territorial way. I don't really like gulls, probably because they like to hang around campus waiting for an unassuming person to steal food from, but this one was okay.

This is a pied-billed grebe. The aren't super easy to photograph because of their frequent diving, but cool birds to watch. I witnessed a good catch of fish by one of

 these grebes out in the lake.

 

 

 

That's it! Thanks for reading!

 

Journal # 7 November 12, 2014

Fungi and Lichen

Wednesday November 12th, 2014

11 AM 35 degrees Fahrenheit

clear, windy

 

Today was all about fungus! On Marsh Island and in the Arboretum there is a good variety of fungi, and these are just a small portion of what is out there. I enjoyed spotting these fungi and lichen. It was rewarding each time to find another species and actually be able to get the ID for them, even though I don't know the names of some. Fungus can grow in so many places, and often it is there, and we just don't see it because it doesn't have a cap to give itself away. There are tons and tons of roots and tiny fungi hiding all around us, but we only see the beauty of it when it gets enough moisture to make itself more noticeable. Fungus is very important for the overall health of an ecosystem. They are a great source of nutrients for the organisms that grow with them. Little animals like rabbits and squirrels eat mushrooms, and when fungus breaks down it replenishes the soil, plus it is the only organism that digests wood.

Fomitopsis pinicola

"Red Belted Polypore"

Such an awesome fungus! It was growing on the bark of a neighborhood tree.These often grow on dead logs, so it is cool when you see one off a living tree. The white shell always faces the ground, so if a tree dies and lies horizontally, the fungus will slowly turn itself so that the white under side is facing the ground!

Stropharia aurantiaca

 

Stropharia auarantiaca

These mushrooms were growing in bark chips. The cap is very slimy and the color is quite vibrant.

 

Unknown. Could just be a mycena, but I think it is something else. It is a little larger, but all the same it is just a little brown mushroom.

Mycena

 

Lultheria vulpina "Wolf Lichen"

Unknown. Could be similar to turkey tail, but it doesn't grow in the same way. Instead of jutting out, it lies flat. It also is more of a pink than a brown.

Trametes Vericolor

Trametes Versicolor

Trametes Versicolor

"Turkey Tail"

 

I saw a lot of turkey tail today! It grows on fallen trees as far as I can tell. It is fairly easy to ID because of the thin quality and stripe pattern. I notice that it tends to grow in large groups of mushrooms, you don't just see one turkey tail anywhere.

Mycena

 

Mycena

 

Nidulariaceae

"Bird's nest Fungus"

Today this was found in a pile of dirt basically. There as leaf and twig debris around, but it was very cold, and these were practically frozen. They congregate in little patches like this. To me, this is just a really interesting mushroom. They look like bird's nests; they have a cup shape and are filled with little "eggs" that carry the seeds for sprouting new fungus. When it rains, the seeds fall onto the ground, and that is how they get distributed.

 

Marasmius oreades

"Fairy butter"

I found this fungus right next to the turkey tail mushroom. Very little of it, but it is so interesting with it's bright color and jelly texture. Some people even use it in cooking.

 

My spot today was really pretty overlooking the water. It was soooo cold, but it was bright and crisp looking. I am so glad that I took a picture of the Arboretum bridge last week while it was still colorful, because today there were barely any leaves at all. It was kind of sad because the trees were bare, but it definitely marks that a new season is arriving. Today totally felt like winter, and I assume that it will be colder yet in the next few weeks. I am amazed at how clear the sky was because last week was so cloudy. I noted that there was a lot of frost on the ground which is a first for this year. There were a lot of frozen leaves, mud, and grass where the sun was not hitting.

 

 

 

Journal #6 November 5th, 2014

Wednesday November 5th, 2014

56 Degrees F, 2 PM

Cloudy

 

The Arboretum Today!

 

Arriving today at Marsh Island today was very different than in weeks past because they are doing a ton of construction now, and I can't access part of the trail(Foster Island) that I always walk on when documenting my site. That being said, I managed to document Marsh Island still, and I took a walk in the real Arboretum instead of Foster Island. The weather was dry for the most part with a few sprinkles of rain, and it was looking beautiful! I also do my service learning in the Arboretum, so it was nice to finally play outside with the kids while not wearing a rain coat. The trees are turning a lot of different colors, and everything that isn't orange, yellow, or red is very green. The visibility overlooking the water is definitely lower than before. I guess I never noticed it before, but there are a ton of mushrooms at my site, and I am excited to document them next week. Learning about mushrooms from Noelle opened my eyes to what is around me when I walk through the trails. Specifically for today, I just tried to see my site through a fresh lens, and that was very cool. I took in my surrounding better than I had previously by trying to describe plants without standard vocabulary.



First repeat photo- I notice the visibility decreasing, and also the water level rising. The fragrant water lilies aren't too different from last time I was here.


The trees across the bridge are more yellow than last time.


Even though some of the lily pads are turning yellow and brown, there are a good amount that look green and vibrant like this one.



This willow tree is at the beginning of the bridge. It has more spots than a couple of weeks ago, and it is more yellow.

This is the place where I sat and enjoyed nature for five minutes. The atmosphere was very serene, and I felt at peace. Not many people were in the Arboretum so I had it all to myself to reflect and be "one with nature." I especially like the smell of fresh, woody air that surrounds the place. I like this bridge a lot, even though it is man-made, I always look forward to this view. It is amazing how many different trees are in the Arboretum- I don't really focus on documenting them because they aren't in my "spot" but in my virtual tour I might talk about them. I like this picture so much that I made it my cover photo on Facebook!

 

This little guy came within a pretty close distance when I was being quiet. The funny thing is that during Fiddleheads (my service learning) the theme was "silly squirrels,"

 and the kids were being so loud that we only saw one squirrel during the whole time outside. I guess they are wary of rowdy kids!

 

Description One 

 

This organism is huge! It towers high above most of the other growing organisms. It grows arm-like protrusions, and these arms grow little "hands" as pictured above. The skin of the organism is hard and sturdy, and a kind of grey color.  The skin of the main organism has patches of green fur covering it which is very soft. The hands are spade shaped, and are green, yellow, brown, and black. The material is thin, and has veins running from the middle of its spine. It feels papery and can easily be torn. They are dropping from the arms and onto the ground.

 

Description Two

This little creature is brown, gray, and white. He has a hoppity-skippity kind of walk, and doesn't make much of a sound, at least when he is on the ground. He is fast, and doesn't like it when you get too close. He has two beady eyes, a hard pecker where a nose would be, and can fly. He is covered in fur-like material that helps him fly and keep him warm. The feet have 3 or 4 little claws. White eyebrows. Streaky pattern on belly.

 

Description Three

Very small, pretty organism. It comes out of the ground only a few inches. The bulb-like top has delicate petals that start white and turn purple. Three tiny green fingers come from the stalk that holds up the bulb. They have hearts in the middle of them. Poem:

Deathly cold

Beauty remains

purples and greens

Reduce the pain

That is my best attempt at a poem, I hope you like it!