My sit-spot is located at the creek that is across from the road near the Dana science building. The part of the creek that I chose is directly across from the soccer field and is secluded from the road because it is behind a couple of very large trees. During my quiet observation I heard many different birds chirping that I was unable to see. I was also able to see some different birds flying overhead and perched in the trees. I saw crows, a blue jay, and a few other smaller birds that I could not identify. As always, I saw lots of squirrels running all over the place carrying different foods in their mouths. Lastly, I saw a very cool looking blue caterpillar eating some clover near my spot on the ground.

 

 

 

 

I observed the three things that I have decided to follow over the semester, and I noticed some changes. First off, the tree to my left seems to have more peeling bark than before. It also has more brown leaves, but still a fair amount of green leaves. I also noticed that there was some moss growing at the base of the tree that I did not see last time. Secondly, the plant to my left has a couple more drooping brown leaves than before and some of the leaves have begun to turn yellow. There are still a few ants on the undersides of the leaves, but not as many as I had seen last time. Lastly, the branch in the water for the most part looks pretty much the same, although there do seem to be more wet spots on the parts of the branch that are above water than previously. I wonder if this has to do with the water level of the creek.

 

There is a tree to my right with a branch that hangs straight down toward the creek. It is so long, that it almost reaches the creek. Upon closer examination, I realized that it is probably some sort of vine because it really doesn’t look or feel like a tree branch. It feels a lot flimsier. Either way, it is quite impressive how it is able to grow like that. I also more closely examined a plant that I noticed last time which has green, round hanging bulbs of some sort. These plants grow through the gaps between the rocks that sit on top of the creek, and I had never seen them before I started doing my sit-spot blog. Upon closer examination, I could see that some of the bulbs have thinned and turned white. These bulbs are covered all over in little holes and look kind of like cheese cloth. I wonder if the bulbs decompose the same way that leaves on trees change color and fall off in the winter. The last thing that I examined more closely was the platform of rocks in the creek. I am still unsure how this rock formation would have formed overtime, but I could see that there are many different insects crawling all over the rocks and many different plants growing through the gaps between the rocks from the soil beneath.

 

 

It was cool to walk around and observe things. However, I had actually already done this a little last time when trying to take pictures of some different organisms.

 

I heard many cicadas chirping throughout the whole time, which is a behavioral adaptation that helps the cicadas attract mates. I also saw many fish coming up to the surface of the water for air, which is an adaptation that ensures that the fish can get enough oxygen. Another adaptation that I saw was the way that plants were growing their roots. Specifically, the large tree to my left had roots that were stretched out very far. This is an adaptation because instead of using the tree’s energy to grow its roots deep into the soil, it uses its energy to outstretch its roots to obtain the most water possible from the shallow creek. There were so many examples of adaptations that I could have chosen because natural selection has been occurring for such a long time that most traits benefit the organism and can therefore be seen as adaptations.