Käyttäjän kellywei2004 päiväkirja

I was able to go home during the break and enjoy a nice walk with my parents. Even though we were in Texas, the weather was colder than I had expected. I think because it was so cold, there weren't as many insects out - it took us forever to even see a single animal. Despite insects being the most diverse and most numerous, we could barely spot any that were alive! It's interesting to see how the landscapes and plants i had taken pictures of differed from the ones I took here. I used to walk this same path all the time in the summer, so it's also interesting to note how different it is just between seasons. The wildlife drastically decreased most likely in preparation for the winter weather. I really enjoyed this nostalgic walk with my parents and I think it's a great way to end the series :)

I took a walk with my friend down to the grocery store and we decided to take notes on the plants we saw on our way. The weather was really nice outside and it was an overall enjoyable walk. We noticed a lot of angiosperms and bryophytes mainly because we were walking through relatively old residential areas where houses. I don't think I found any ferns or other polypodiopsida, but I did see the other main groups of plants. I tried my best to take pictures of plants and flowers that weren't gardened/landscaped by families. There was just so much greenery absolutely everywhere I walked, both natural and landscaped! What I loved most was definitely seeing the falling leaves around me and the beautiful red-orange color that filled the space. It had a really calming vibe, and I felt so productive being able to do my homework while also getting my weekly groceries :)

This afternoon I went on a walk with my friend from this class and we went to Waban Hill Reservoir from our dorms. It was pretty chilly outside and it also started drizzling on our walk. At the reservoir, there was a lot less wildlife than we expected. It was a lot smaller and extremely hard to find any fungi. I did notice, though, that a lot of the plant species looked very similar which makes me wonder if they had branched off from the same phylogenic tree. Towards the end of our walk we were finally able to find some fungi growing on a dead branch. We found that fungi usually grows near decomposing organisms, which there was not really a lot of at the reservoir. Overall, it was nice getting to talk to my friend and enjoying the cold!

I decided to walk around the reservoir after eating a nice brunch! The weather was really nice outside, but I was getting a little hot in my sweatshirt. It was my first time walking to the reservoir on campus, so I had a bit of a challenge finding my way there. I stumbled upon a variety of species of plants and animals just on my walk there next to the recreation center. The reservoir was relatively quiet, with the only sounds being the birds chirping and the calm waters being blown by a soft breeze. I ended up straying from the paved path and going up into the woods area where I saw fungi, something I wasn't really expecting to see. There was a lot of plant diversity, including many trees with berry colors I've never seen before. Overall, it was a really calming walk before I start my day of classes and work!