Frosted grass

Sun rise at my sit spot

Frosted leaves on the ground from my Siberian Elm Tree

For sit-spot #5 I chose to make my observations at dawn(sunrise at 7:46 AM). I arrived to my sit spot at 7:15 AM and left at 7:57 AM. I have never been to my sit spot at this time of day but I decided to go at this time for this assignment because I wanted to see the difference between life at my sit spot when everything is “waking up” vs when everything is settling down. Plus the day I went, November 3rd, was the last day of daylights savings and I wanted to see if that had any effects on the life at my sit spot.

My experience was similar to my last sit-spot session, it was very relaxing to watch and notice the changes at my sit spot and watching the sunrise. Since my last sit spot, October 24th, all of the trees that were starting to yellow lost majority of their leaves. I could hardly recognize the trees at my sit spot because the were so bare. Last week was very windy so it makes sense as to why they went from yellowing to being bare so quickly.

The bare trees at my sit spot

It was very cold when I visited my sit spot, about 40F. It wasn’t windy nor any sign of rain coming. The sky was a periwinkle to baby blue gradient and had very few cumulus clouds scattered in it. I saw/heard a lot more birds during this visit. They were either calling to each other at different parts of the woods or flying past me. I saw about three squirrels during this visit and they were either jumping from tree to tree or digging in the dead leaves for food. This experience was calming and I’d probably do it again because it’s nice being awake before everyone usually is. It’s quiet and watching the sun rise is worth waking up early.

Siberian Elm Tree leaves up close with more yellowing and brown spotting

Black Willow Tree leaves beginning to show signs of discoloration and being eaten

This session was similar to my last session because it was nice getting to watch the life at my sit spot. It was different though because in the morning the life at my sit spot is more open and lively whereas during my last session it was eerily still and quiet with bird calls. At my last session I heard crickets chirping, croaking, and I heard no bird calls and I think this is due to the times of day. The organisms I hear/see at my sit spot during the day/afternoon aren’t nocturnal so it makes sense that at sunset right before night comes they aren’t present because they are settling down. Crickets are nocturnal though so it makes sense that I can hear then near the end of the day and not in the morning.