October 6, 2020 12:00 pm — When I first arrived at my sit-spot in Beale Garden, I could hear at least three different types of birds, the air was nice and warm, and the sky was a clear blue. It felt like springtime. This was pleasant, but jarring, as it is the first week of October. This feeling is something I’ve grown accustomed to as I’ve grown older–a strange mixture of enjoying the nice, warm weather but also feeling fear about what has caused these abnormally warm fall days. 

Other than the nice weather, I was most distracted by the different species of birds. I could hear at least three different bird calls, but I wouldn’t be surprised if there were more that I just wasn’t noticing. I could also hear crickets and small bugs. Listening to these noises only peaks my interest in ecology. I would like to become informed enough in the field to be able to name each of these birds and insects, say where they’re from, and even note which birds eat which insects–all based on the sounds they make.

I chose to watch a small spider spinning its web in one of the shrubs on the side of Beale Creek. By the time I was done making my observations and was reading to take pictures of my sit spot, the spider had disappeared. Like the insects and birds, it was another creature I did not know the name of, and I’d like to familiarize myself with the spiders native to Appalachia. After a few minutes of observing the spider, it stopped working on its web and just sat and rested. I at first believed it was stopping to take a nap in the nice weather, but later realized it was probably waiting for a food source to fly by into its web. I sat and stared at the spider just sitting there for more than ten minutes, and was struck by the patience of spiders. I was getting tired of sitting and watching just after that short amount of time, but I knew it probably spent much of its time sitting patiently on its web for food.

My sit spot looks over at Beale Creek. When I wasn’t crouching to watch the spider, I was staring at the water of the creek. There has been low precipitation in the past week, so the creek was shallow, but by no means dry. The water was still and the plants appeared less lively than they did during my last sit spot observation. Just a few weeks ago, I noted that they were lush and diverse. During this observation, they were wilting. I began to wonder if water played a role in this and if they were wilting due to the soil having reached its wilting point. Even with a creek bed just a few feet away, plants can still have trouble extracting water from the Earth.

This sit spot experience was eye opening, as last time I was struck by the beauty and lushness of this area of our campus, and this time everything felt a little bit off. The weather felt strange. The bugs were quieter. The plants were wilting. The yellow flowers I had chosen to follow each week had all disappeared. The movement from summer to fall is awkward for plants that are not gorgeously-colorful trees. These shrubs and grasses turned from green to light yellow and brown. I’m excited to see how it changes by my next sit spot observation.