Visit # 3

 Field study info


  • Same spot photo


  • Date 
  • October 13, 2024
  • Time
  • 3:45
  • Climate / conditions 
  • Breezy, pretty cloudy, but I could still see blue sky underneath. Southwest was very overcast, but clouds got lighter Eastward. Rainy earlier this morning, but no puddles that I could see.
  • Temperature 
  • 58 degrees
  • Length of day
  • 7:28 AM - 7:33 PM (12 hours 5 minutes)
  • Felt, smelled, heard, seen 
  • Heard lots of insect buzzing to the west  / Northwest (to my right). And highway noise South and East (in front and to my left). Minimal birds chirping, but quite a bit of leaves rustling above me (picture of said trees below). Around 3:55 I heard thunder and saw  the sky get completely covered by gray wispy clouds. (Also heard thunder at 4:03, 4:09, 4:15, and started raining at 4:20)


  • Saw a few birds flying from the woods area to the brush / into the cat tails. Also a family of ducks in the still water. Saw that some of the green plants I took pictures of before are beginning to turn yellow or brown.






  • I felt / heard lots of leaves crunching under my feet as I walked around. There’s also more sticks on the ground than before and they are surprisingly dry for how much rain there was in the last few days.
  • Field sketches



 


  • Changes noticed
  • A lot changed since the last visit. About 1/4 of the trees in the woods area to the Southwest have lost all their leaves and lots of them are a deep yellow color. The whole area seems to have lost its vibrant colors. But the little indigo flowers are still alive and strong.


  • Questions
  • There’s lots of green algae and other plants and much floating on the top of the water, do the ducks mind? Is it a food source for them and a potential draw to the area? 
  • How does the highway traffic and noise affect the animal life and therefore the plant life in this area?
  • It rained a lot in the last couple days, why weren't there any puddles?
  • Awe 
  • Although my initial reaction to seeing my field study site today was disappointment because nearly all of the flowers were gone and the vibrancy it had in the first two visits had faded. But throughout today’s visit I was able to see the beauty in the neutrals of the grasses and warm tones of the changing leaves. It was a good reminder that God makes different kinds of beautiful and some are more subtle than others.


Comments

  1. hc biologyOctober 19, 2024 at 11:57 AM

    Great job! Keep an eye out for more patterns in the color change!
    Interested in bonus? Some options you could research and include in your next post: What are the flowers (great sketch!)? What is fall turnover and is that part of what you're seeing?

    ReplyDelete

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