I decided to do my observation at dusk, so arrived at my sit-spot at 4:47pm. I had never observed my sit-spot at this time of day. Because of this, I thought that it would be interesting to compare it to my other sit-spot sessions that had all occurred during the day. I wanted to see if there was a noticeable difference in the types of animals that were present at the two times of day. I also wanted to see a beautiful sunset.

 

I really enjoyed doing my sit-spot blog at this time of day. I was lucky because, although it was chilly, it wasn’t unbearably cold. The sky in the beginning was mostly cloudy with some blue peeking through the clouds. It was a windy day, which I think is why the smell from the creek was stronger than previous times. The wind was blowing it over to me. There were a lot more leaves on the ground and the surrounding area looked very different because most of the trees had lost almost all of their leaves, and the remaining leaves had changed color. Most of the smaller plants by the creek looked dead, including the plant that I have chosen to follow over the course of this semester and the long-leaf ground cherry that I observed in my last sit-spot. They had changed from green to a light brown color and were very droopy. Leaves continued to fall all around me as gusts of wind shook them down.

 

Overall, there were fewer animals by the creek than during previous observations. However, it is unclear whether this is because of the time of day or the change in temperature due to the change in season. I did see a couple of animals, including two squirrels that kept chasing each other through the trees. I could hear the squirrels rustling in the leaves throughout the entire sit-spot observation. I also observed a small white spider with red-tipped legs. It was sitting on the very tip of a dead plant with its front legs outstretched as it clung to the plant with its other legs. I have never seen a spider like this before and I wonder why it was posed in this manner. It was cool to do my observations at a different time of day than usual, but I don’t think that I would probably not do observations at dusk again because I didn’t really notice that much of a difference. That being said, I did get to see a really beautiful sunset at the end of my time by the creek. It highlighted the clouds in a vibrant pink color.

 

The tree that I have decided to follow this semester has lost almost all of its leaves and the few remaining leaves are brown and crinkled up. The tree does not have many branches, so it just looks like one tall stalk. The plant to my left that I have decided to follow has turned a light brown color and has also lost almost all of its leaves. There are only a few brown and wrinkled leaves left. The branch in the water does not seem to have changed in any visible way, although it is covered in fallen leaves now.