cooper-schmitz's Journal

For my recent nature walk, I went around the woods in New Hampshire. I am lucky enough that I live near such amazing ecosystems and I particularly enjoyed walking around a dried up pond near my house. I found a lot of mosses during my walk and that must've been due to the wet living conditions. Tying this back to what we have learned in class I could see the correlations with how land plants arose from water plants. It was clear to see how well the mosses grew in the wet environments, with my favorite observation being the picture that shows moss covering the entire ground-level of the tree. I also found a lot of ferns on my walk. They were in many different colors - from dark green to light green and dark brown to tan. I believe that may be because of hydration, but iNaturalist was labeling them as different species. The weather was fair, with some clouds and a little wind chill. But, overall my walk was a calming way to end my fall break.

I had some extra free time on Monday so I went on a jog to Newton, and then walked around the backwoods area near the soccer field for my nature walk. The temperature was chilly, but nothing too bad. There are a bunch of paths all throughout Newton, and I found them very peaceful. I bet the walks are beautiful for snowshoeing since everything is covered by trees, so having snow on them would make it even cooler. The theme for this week was Fungi, so I searched all throughout the paths for them. It took me a while! The first time I found some fungi was when I started walking down towards a river/stream, which I found very interesting as there was a change in the environment. But, after I found the first fungi, which I identified as Tapioca Slime Mold, I found a lot more. My favorite fungi were the all-white ones since they stood out from all the brown and green of the forest floor. I took a loop around the Newton paths and got back to the soccer field without losing my way. Overall it was a great walk, and since I had a lot of work due earlier that day, it was a great way to clear my mind!

Went on a walk that began in the new MDC Park next to Margot Connell's Rec Center and took me around the Res. It was very hot on my walk, and my goal some of the time was to find the spots with the most shade. The temperature felt like the mid to high 70s, so it was beautiful out. Even though I found a lot of cultivated plants, there was some other wild species that were growing on the hill just outside of the path. I really found the American Pokeweed's color to stand out amongst the green plants around. It was a very vibrant red that I really enjoyed looking at. Also, I loved the Low Smartweed (as identified by iNaturalist) since I do not really find purple plants around. They had great coloring to them and it was definitely my favorite plant on the walk. My favorite animal on the other hand were the two Swans that I found looking for food. They would swim for a little but, and then duck their heads under the water for a minute or two before resurfacing. I spent some of my time fondly watching them and I enjoyed it thoroughly. Finally, I ran into these Wood Asters at the end of my hike that had an array of yellows, reds, and purples. Overall, I found my walk around the Res relaxing, as I it was my first time walking, not running, around it.