Challenge: Find and Uncommon Bird and Observe

Date: October 2nd, 2016
Time: 1:30PM - 3:02PM
Weather Conditions: 55 degrees Fahrenheit, overcast, heavy mist, slight breeze
Location: Mount Auburn Cemetery - Ivy Path

I chose to go to Mount Auburn because I had heard that it was a good spot for birding, and it would also have bodies of water for another assignment. When I arrived at the cemetery I went into the Information Center and asked the gentleman there about good spots for watching birds. He told me to start by walking on Indian Ridge Path, and said that The Dell and Willow Pond were good for spotting aquatic birds. I saw and heard quite a few songbirds as I was walking along Indian Ridge Path, but they were too small to confidently identify without binoculars. I was feeling discouraged by this when I came across a comical gaggle of about ten turkeys foraging, sitting on gravestones, stretching out their wings, and chasing each other around. They did not mind my presence too much, but if I got too close one would let out a warning call and they would retreat together. They cooed softly to themselves as they pecked at the soil and ate dandelion greens, and I could not help but think of dinosaurs as they moved around. I have to admit that these turkeys lifted my spirits, but I was hoping to encounter a more uncommon bird species.

I was on my way to Halcyon Lake when I saw a woodpecker and pursued it up Ivy Path, trying to get a closer look. I lost sight of the woodpecker, but while searching the trees I was startled to discover a large owl sitting upon an oak limb. I was enchanted. It was awake and stared right at me as I began unpacking things from my bag. It did not move much unless there was a noise that caught its attention, and then its head would turn in that direction while its body remained in place. I could see that it had a white breast speckled with brown, pointed tufts of feathers on its head, and a prominent white "collar." I believed that it was a great horned owl, but I was hesitant to settle on that ID without a closer look.

I sat and watched it for quite some time, even though it rarely moved. It would occasionally look toward the sound of a bird or a loud child. At one point bluejays were making a bunch of racket and I was astonished to see a large hawk land right in front of me on a limb of the same oak tree that the owl occupied. I captured a video of it flying away and was really excited by my luck in seeing both an owl and a hawk. The commotion with the bluejays and hawk did not startle the owl from its position, so I decided that it was unlikely the he or she was leaving anytime soon. I rushed back to the Information Center, hoping that the gentleman I talked to would have a pair of binoculars that I could borrow. He did! I showed him the video of the hawk and he said that it was a red tailed hawk. I hurried back to where the owl was and watched it through the binoculars. It was most definitely a great horned owl. By the time I got the binoculars it was no longer awake (or at least it had its eyes closed), but I did not mind. I shared my luck with anyone who passed by.

Properties of Life:

* Obtains/uses energy - I am including this because the bird was at rest, so it was conserving energy. It makes sense that the owl was sedentary because they are nocturnal hunters.
* Responds to Changes in External Environments - The owl reacted to some of the sounds in the area, although little phased it.

I live in a rural area of Connecticut, so I often hear barred owls but have only seen one. Turkeys are all over the place at home, but they are not as fearless as they are here. I never imagined that I would see my first great horned owl so close to the city. The owl's presence in the cemetery was understandable, though. The grounds were practically swarming with chipmunks and squirrels, and I even saw one gopher. There is plenty of food and the nights at the cemetery are quiet because by then it is closed to the public.

I managed to take some photos with my phone through the binoculars. They are of terrible quality, but I am satisfied because they are clear enough for me to share. The owl was only a speck in an unaided photo, which I circled in red.

Water in the Landscape: The Dell at Mount Auburn Cemetery

Date: October 2nd, 2016
Time: 12:11PM - 1:19PM
Weather Conditions: 55 degrees Fahrenheit, overcast, heavy misting
Location: The Dell at Mount Auburn Cemetery - Watertown and Cambridge, MA

I arrived at the Dell at around noon on a cold and wet day. The water showed no signs of movement. I startled a few small brown frogs into the water as I walked by, but one perched on a log jutting out of the water for my entire stay. I set up my transect along the edge of the water and carefully took in my surroundings. Behind me were large rhododendron bushes and deciduous trees (like a sugar maple), and on the other side of the water was a steep bank covered with conifers. The Dell was covered with so much duckweed that you could not see the surface of the water, so the whole area was coated with a vibrant green.

Transect and pH Readings:

The ground was almost too wet for me to stand on. I could not walk to the water's edge because my shoes would quickly sink into the mud. There was a large bush with unripe fruit, and a group of tall plants with leaves reminiscent of elephant ears (the largest leaf was 15 inches). They had thick stalks and I spotted an unusual seed pod at the end of one. It was about 2.5" and was filled with brown kernels that were about 3/4". The kernels were attached to a white stalk in the center of the pod. I popped open a few of the kernels (the outside felt like a thin piece of rubber), and there was a clear, gelatin-like substance surrounding what I assume was the green seed. The kernels floated when I put them in the water.

I kept moving along the shore and encountered at least three different species of fern, as well as burdock (which had gone to seed) and a few wildflowers still in bloom. The back of one of the ferns was covered with spores. Most of these plants were a few feet away from the water's edge, perhaps because the soil is too wet near the edge. Duckweed covered part of the shore as well as the surface of the water. I think this may be from the water level receding, but that is just a guess. There were many broken/rotting branches on shore and in the shallowest parts of the water.

I did not have a thermometer with me, so I stuck my hand into the water. It was cooler than the air around me, and when I pulled my hand out it was coated with duckweed. I bet duckweed spreads to other bodies of water by hitching a ride on animals. The water was cooler than the surrounding air because of water's high specific heat. Water is slow to heat up because it takes a great amount of energy to break hydrogen bonds and raise the temperature by one degree. I measured the pH of the water in three different locations along my transect. Each turned a pale yellow (possibly a reading of 6 or 7?). I also tested rain water that had accumulated on a nearby boulder, and the reading was more orange than the others (a 5 or 6, maybe). Pure water at a pH of 7 has ten times as many hydrogen ions as this body of water, if the pH is considered to be 6. The strip marked "R" is the one used to test rainwater:

Properties of Life in Site Alpha

I fell a bit behind in my posts due to other school work, so in the last two days I have had quite a few outdoor excursions! I will start with "Properties of Life in Site Alpha," as this assignment was relatively simple.
Date: October 3rd, 2016
Time: 4:18 PM
Weather Conditions: 64 degrees Fahrenheit, slight breeze, transect in partial shade, ground still wet from previous day's rain
Location: Site Alpha

Changes in Site Alpha

Looking back at my photos of Site Alpha from September 16th, it is obvious that the area has undergone significant change. It is funny how you do not notice such things when the change is gradual. I thought that the ground had a lot of acorns and leaves before, but now there are so many that they often obscure the ground entirely. I could not take a step without acorns crunching under my feet. The oak tree's canopy looks full and relatively unaffected, despite the large quantities of leaves littering the ground. Some leaves on the ground had turned brown, but green, fresh-looking leaves were more common. I could still find sugar ants crawling here and there in the dirt, but for the most part insects were scarce. It has started to get chilly and there was less sunshine than I was expecting as I made my observations.

Properties of Life

* There were far too many acorns to count, all from the same oak tree. This made me wonder: does the oak produce so many fruits because the germination success rates are low? I realize that it is crucial that these acorns grow in order for the oak to reproduce, but it seems excessive...

* The many oak leaves on the ground could be a result of the oak responding to the cooler weather, but I am not sure. I would expect the leaves to change color before falling. Maybe it is normal for the oak to lose a few branches and leaves as it grows.

* A squirrel in the oak tree was rather agitated by my presence, and began calling at me. It looked right at me with an acorn in its mouth. The squirrel was reacting to an unexpected change in its environment, but it was also protecting a reliable source of food and shelter. Both are important for the squirrel to obtain energy and to reproduce.

* As I was leaving Site Alpha I noticed a very large garden spider just across from the sidewalk that hugs the oak. It had made a beautiful web, but it was in need of a few repairs. The spider sat in the center of the web until I inspected it a bit too closely, and then it scurried off to the side and hid under a leaf. I have seen similar garden spiders at home in Connecticut, and I was surprised to see it out so early in the evening. Usually I only see them at night, which I assume is a tactic to avoid being snagged by a bird. I did not see it eat anything, but it was certainly expending energy while repairing its web and retreating from my curious gaze.

I believe that this is a female cross orbweaver (Araneus diadematus). More information about this species can be found here: http://www.spiders.us/species/araneus-diadematus/

A Freshly Created Observational Transect

September 16th, 2016
4:38 PM
Observational Trisect in Site Alpha

I am getting a slightly later start today, but it is still sunny in Site Alpha. I set up a 10-foot trisect, which I marked with black string and wooden coffee stirrers. I did not have a tape measure, but I measured out every two feet of string with a yard stick. At the moment the first 5 inches of the trisect are in shade, but the rest is in full sun. When standing at Data Point A, my shadow runs longer than the trisect itself. I was surprised by how little territory ten feet covered; for some reason I was imagining a study of a much larger area. The oak tree is to my left when at Point A, and the side of the trunk facing me is lit up by the sun. There is very little grass (even dead grass) surrounding the base of the trunk, but there are small piles of what look like spent blooms from the tree. The dried brown strands are about two inches long and have small flowers every 1/8 of an inch or so. I believe that the tree is either a pin oak (Quercus palustris) or a scarlet oak (Quercus coccinea), based on the appearance of the acorns, seven-lobed leaves, and dried blooms. I will have to investigate this further. There were also small rocks and pebbles near the base, as well as acorns/acorn fragments. The oak is lightly and sporadically coated with grey-green lichen, and at the very bottom go the trunk (near the soil) hard, dark green mounds of moss can be found. There is also an unfamiliar weed that is roughly 1 3/4" in height.

I have seen the same reddish brown ants that I noticed yesterday, as well as some black sugar ants, climbing up and down the length of the tree. Occasionally I would even see a medium-sized black ant. I wonder why the ants run up and down the tree in such a way. Maybe they are foraging or hunting? There are so many branches, acorns, and pebbles on the ground that they leave red impressions in my skin if I sit for a few minutes. It is now 4:55 PM, and all of the data points are in the shade; that happened faster than I expected. I hear some of the same sounds that I encountered yesterday: planes flying overhead, traffic on Mass Ave, the wind in the leaves, and a bird chirping. I hear crickets, which I do not remember noticing yesterday. There is also something that sounds like metal being hit together, maybe from someone in one of the dorm kitchens.

I am at Point B and have noticed that a little black ant is running along the length of string that I put down. I wonder if it is easier for it to travel along the string than over the ground. There are pinkish-white balls all over the ground here. At first I thought that they were white pebbles, but they seem too uniform and numerous to be rocks. I counted 21 of them between Point B and C. The balls are about 1/8" wide. They could be pieces of road salt or fertilizer pellets. I was able to crush one between my fingers.

As I was writing a brown jumping spider hopped up onto my leg. I tried to get a photo of it, but it was difficult because it rarely stopped moving. Each hop it made covered about an inch, so it did not take long for it to reach the oak tree from Point C (a distance of about a foot and a half). I can hear an insect call from a tree beyond the parking lot, but it is not one that I recognize. A tree cricket or katydid, perhaps? There is a shard of clear glass between Points B and C. The bench near Point D has dirt and loose webs on its legs, but I do not see any spiders. The crickets are growing louder, I just heard something buzz by my ear, and a black gnat of some kind landed briefly on my leg. I am glad that there are more insects/arachnids present today. I heard four bird calls, but I do not know enough about birdsong to say if they were from four different species.

I decided to count the number of acorns in the area between Points D and E and one foot to the left (so a rectangle that is 2'x1'), and found 23 of them. I realized while counting that it was a somewhat difficult task to complete without defining what counted as an acorn, as there were many fragments, caps, and immature acorns. Something to keep in mind for next time, I suppose. I have also been wondering if I should note in which cardinal direction my transect faces (N,S,E,W) and if I should start using the metric system for my measurements.

Between Points E and F I found a grey bird feather that is about 4" long. I have entered into an area with less grass than the other data points. I spotted an acorn much larger than any that I have seen previously. It has no cap and is about twice the length of the other acorns in the area. I wonder if it was carried here by an animal, or if there is another species of oak nearby that I have not noticed yet. It is 4:30 PM now, and suddenly there are house sparrows (Passer domestics) in great numbers. I can see a group of about 12 near the basketball court, pecking at the grass and occasionally chirping. I wonder if they are drawn to the edge of the basketball court because the grass is still green over there, which may mean that there are more insects to find. They seem to be rather comfortable in the urban environment, and the group has grown to about 20 now. They were not frightened by two loud firetrucks passing, and a male got about 5 or 6 feet away from me before flying elsewhere.

Ten Minutes in Site Alpha

I chose a nearby location and used my senses for ten minutes to take in information about my surroundings.
September 15th, 2016: 4:07 PM

I explored a small area behind my dormitory on Brattle Campus. The area is roughly triangular and is bordered by a paved basketball court, an unpainted wooden picket fence, and a paved sidewalk. Beyond the picket fence is a medium-sized parking lot. Located within the triangle are two benches (made with plastic imitation wood), two metal garbage cans, a large oak tree, and two other trees that I cannot positively identify.

The trunk of Tree 1 is about six feet tall, with branches on three thick, upward-growing limbs. The tree canopy has a gentle curve to it, so it is somewhat proportionally balanced. The side of the tree closest to the garbage cans is missing many of its leaves, and the ones remaining are brittle brown fragments or leaves mottled with yellow and orange. The other half of the tree has green, oval leaves that come to a point. I did not spot much insect damage, but there were a few branches with dried or mottled leaves. There are green, cherry-like fruits hanging from the healthier side that are about the size of peas. I noticed that the side of the fruits being exposed to more sun were blushed with a red-orange color. I imagine that they are beginning to ripen. The stem of the fruit is 4-5 times longer than the fruit itself. It is a smooth, flexible stem that can be bent without snapping. The fruits are often connected to branches near leaf clusters, and the stems are strong enough to stick out at various angles without causing the fruit to hang limply. I expected the fruit to have a bit of space between the skin and seed, but the flesh was tightly packed against a single off-white pit in the center. It was difficult to pry off the flesh from the pit. The texture and smell reminded me of an unripe pear. I broke the spherical pit open (which was easier than getting to it), and inside were six golden-brown seeds--three on each side and each in its own chamber. I removed the outside skin of two of the seeds and found a creamy flesh in one, and a fat little grub or maggot in the other. The maggot is a creamy white with no distinguishable eyes, but I did see a reddish spot that could have be its mouth (based on my experience with aphid midges). It has not moved much since being disturbed. I feel badly for opening up its habitat, because I do not know if it needs to complete the larval stage within the seed. I wonder if he was oviposited into the fruit as an egg. I did not notice any tunnels within the flesh of the fruit or entry holes on the outside, but I could have easily missed one. The maggot's body is translucent, and I can see a concentrated area of black within it. Ingested food perhaps? I have no idea if it is the larval stage of a fly, wasp, beetle, or something else entirely.

I started my observation by listening. I heard the following: 3 low-flying planes, the sound of wind rustling the tree leaves and tall grasses across the sidewalk, dried leaves rolling and tumbling along the ground, acorns dropping from the oak tree and hitting branches on the way down, three different bird calls, sirens and the distant hum of traffic on Mass Ave, a squirrel climbing down the trunk of the oak and crossing the parking lot, muffled conversations from the nearby dorms, people passing by, and two bicyclists. I sat on a bench in the sun and closed my eyes as I listened. The sun's heat felt good at first, but grew uncomfortable warm rather quickly. The inside of my eyelids were lit up with orange when I closed them, and I did not open them again until that grey squirrel descended from the tree. The plastic bench was warm, and I could feel pebbles and acorns through my thin-soled flats. The soil was light in color and powdery. It was broken up by patches of straw-colored (presumably) dead grass, low growing weeds, tree leaves, and acorns. The acorns were marble-sized and many were still a vibrant green. I am not sure why they fell to the ground; some of them were still connected to small branches with leaves. Maybe high winds or squirrel activity were responsible? Acorns of all stages of ripeness were scattered around, some with holes, lost "hats," or discoloration. I easily broke open a bright green one and found flesh that was covered with a thin, almost fuzzy skin. The flesh halved with nearly no effort, and was without air pockets, patterns of color, or other blemishes. The off white-yellow flesh was so smooth and consistent that it reminded me of rubber. I did not examine the oak as closely as Tree 1, but overall the oak's bark was much smoother and less shingle-like. The oak's canopy did not begin until about 2/3 up the trunk. There were projections/nubs halfway up to the start of the canopy that were on all sides of the trunk and not uniform in shape or size. They could be wounds that healed over after the tree was pruned or shaped. The leaves of the oak are thin and not moist to the touch, and the majority appear to be a healthy green. The trunk does not fork into large, separate limbs at any point like Tree 1. The limbs jut out from the tree almost perpendicularly and are surprisingly small in circumference, but the branches are dense with leaves despite this. Some root portions were visible near the base of the tree, but overall it appeared that the tree had ample room to grown (unlike the trees that warp city sidewalks).

I did not notice many insects or other arthropods in the area. I saw what looked like a green bottle fly, a pale yellow spider that crawled along my hand (until I began to peer too closely at it and it decided to make a quick escape with a leap and a strand of silk), and reddish-brown ants that were slightly smaller than the black sugar ants that I often see in my driveway at home. There were abandoned spiderwebs between barren branches and spider silk strewn all over the picket fence. I found a beautiful little web that was about two inches across in Tree 1, but did not spot an occupant. The ants had low nests in a grassless patch of dirt near the two garbage cans. At first I thought they might be the underground nests of bees, because the entry holes were pea-sized and I have never seen such a wide opening in an ant hill. They were not really hills, either. There was barely any soil piled around the entrance so they were fairly inconspicuous. Leaves, twigs, and acorns crunched under my feet whenever I walked. The soil was dry and loose enough that my shoes easily left impressions in it. I wandered around a little and noticed small, round depressions in the soil that were about the size of saucer plates. I have seen similar ones before in areas with powdery dirt. I believe that they are spots where the little city sparrows (or finches?) take dust baths to rid their feathers of mites. I also came across a few candy wrappers and other small pieces of litter, which I deposited in the trash.