Common Peppergrass
Dandelion
The flaming leaves of Red Maple Tree welcomed me on that warm afternoon as I entered my sit-spot. The ground looked much greener than my previous observation whereas the mountains looked empty with bare trees. The ground was still moist, and I found different varieties of blooming flowers. I was happy to see my initial focal plant, dandelions, blooming back near the spot I had found. I noticed a new species of plants and by using inaturalist, I found that they are known as Common Peppergrass. I wonder why the ground is blooming with flowers and shrubs and trees are shedding leaves. The noise I was listening to was so distinct that I could tell it was coming from birds however I was disappointed to see only about five small blackbirds during my entire observation.
focal object #1: trees to my south (after)
focal object #1: trees to my south (before)
focal object #2: clouds around Tinker Mountain (before)
focal object #2: clouds around Tinker Mountain (after)
focal object #3: yellow flower (before)
focal object #3: yellow flower (after)
The trees to my south had shed their leaves so much that the houses behind them were clearly visible. Some of the leaves of these trees turned to yellows and reds. There were heavy dark clouds around Tinker Mountain but there were no signs of rain. These heavy dark clouds made the whole environment a little gloomy, but the weather was just perfect to be outside; neither too hot nor too cold. The yellow flower wilted last week but I was surprised to see that even its leaves were about to fall as they were dry and brown. I look forward to seeing the way this plant will change in the coming week.
plant #1: White Heath Aster
plant #2: Grey Field-speedwell
plant #3: Dandelion
The white heath aster looked like they will start to wilt soon. I look forward to seeing their hairy stem turn brown with the plant’s maturation. The grey field-speedwell that I captured was still there and I did not find any changes. I found many budding grey field-speedwells near that spot. I wonder if these will disappear the next week when I get there for my observation due to the nature of their life span. The dandelion was no longer there but I found some other blooming dandelions in my sit-spot.
1m2 plot
Bindweed
I chose a one square meter area under the dawn redwood tree. Honestly, there was so much going on that I felt overwhelmed for a while. There were two different kinds of grass; light green and dark green along with some brown remains of grass. I would say that around 15% of this area looked brown with dry brown leaves and remains of grasses and plants that grew there. I saw some brown and dry leaves of a red maple tree that is around 20 ft. far. I was surprised to see a blooming white flower which is known as bindweed. I found that bindweeds are climbing vine and are tough to deal with in terms of controlling their growth. There were more bindweeds around the tree and some of them were pink around their edges. There were some fallen branches too. I observed around 7 different species of grasses and plants and there were all small in terms of size. Some of them had woody stem while some were just grassy.
I did not find any signs of animals in this small area nor at my sit-spot. And this is what I will be focusing on during my next sit-spot. I enjoyed this observation as I felt like I was more aware of the surrounding of my sit-spot. The use of inaturalist has made it much more interesting as I get to know more about the different species that I observe. I look forward to my next sit-spot observation.
I absolutely love that a one meter patch of ground could be overwhelming – that means you were really seeing! Nice pictures and gray days actually make for better pictures!