My sit-spot is located in Beale Garden less than 30 feet from the white bridge with the red topped railing. Down the embankment and off of the path I sit on the second large rock in the stream, directly next to the second patch of day lilies and under the longer branches of the willow tree. During my quiet observation time I noticed so many animals, probably the most that I have ever observed at my sit-spot so far. In the willow tree a blue jay, cardinal, and woodpecker all landed seconds apart from each other and jumped from branch to branch. In the water I saw two crayfish battle over a patch of algae, while under a rock a small baby crayfish scuttled around in the dirt and leaves. The crickets in the underbrush were in full force today, as throughout my whole experience I could hear them chirping. In addition I could hear all of the squirrels climbing around in the rough bark and making noises with their claws. The coolest part though was when a squirrel jumped down across the stream and stood clinging to my willow tree upside down to take a drink. I got this amazing picture from it.                                                                                                     Cool Squirrel

Crayfish      The algae patch that I watch is still there, it has yet to disappear. However, not only has it expanded some, but it has also been catching leaves and debris from the environment and collecting them on its surface. The crayfish seem to like this, as more than one fought to make this space their home. My rock has not changed at all, but my willow tree has grown longer branches. They have grown so much that some of them even extend into the water and brush the dirt at the bottom. While the appearance of my rock has not changed, it seems to have been made a home by baby crayfish and small fish as I saw numerous examples of both hiding underneath it.     

Algae                      While I had the chance to further explore my sit-spot I chose to wander further down the stream. I wanted to see the differences in the ecosystem out from under the tree. One of the biggest difference were that there were far fewer animals then by my spot. Only a few bugs hung out, and there were not nearly as many large rocks for creatures to hide under. I also chose to look at the far side of the stream where my willow tree grows. I wanted to look at what kinds of plants grow around the base of the tree. I saw many small shrubs and grasses but my favorites were all of the different colors of mosses that I saw. I would have never gotten to observe the differences or touch the different mosses from my rock, so I am glad that I

got the chance to get up and walk around. I have been wanting to explore further around my sit-spot since I really like the location but I usually only go to sit at my spot and not to walk around more. I really liked that this activity gave me the motivation and the opportunity to do so.

I found it really hard to think of adaptations, not because I didn’t know what they were but because it was difficult to think of what ones applied to the organisms in the environment that I was observing. I chose to look at the small fish swimming as one of my adaptations. The fish use their swim bladders to change their density so that they can move around and not be confined to either sinking or floating. The second adaptation that I have chosen is the shallow roots of the willow tree. Due to the abundance of water because of the stream, the tree adapted to have shallow roots so that                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        Rock

the roots can get to the surface water and the superficial layer of the soil that is more moist than deeper down. The third adaptation that I chose was the crayfish using their adapted risk sensitive foraging. They only come out from under their rocks to go the short distances

Shallow root adaptation

needed for their food before they are too afraid that the predators will get them and they go back under their rock. This adaptation likely saves them from being eaten nearly as often as they would be if they were out for long periods of time.      

There was also this cool plant that I saw on my way to my sit spot

 

 

Willow tree

Cool Plant