kingdok's Journal

I walked again in Cold Spring Park for around an hour, this time looking at plants instead of fungi. It was cool, around 60 degrees, and cloudy outside. Some of the leaves of deciduous trees had begun to change color. As the trail is in the woods, there was an abundance of plants of different varieties. I mostly took photos of angiosperms, as I found them the most interesting and, because of their flowers and fruit, easy to distinguish between species. I found several species with fruit, and photographed some bright red berries. It was also interesting to see where certain types of vegetation grew; under some types of trees, there was little undergrowth, while others supported more shrubs and ferns at their bases. The park also has some streams and ponds, which were surrounded by different types of plants than other areas, likely adapted to those environments with more water. Besides plants, I noticed many of the fungi I had seen last time, as well as chipmunks and birds.

I walked for around an hour in Cold Spring Park around sunset. The temperature was comfortable, just under 70F, and warmer than it had been the last few days. The air remained slightly humid after the rain from the previous day, and parts of the trail were wet and muddy. I had walked this trail before, but had not noticed the abundance and diversity of fungi until I looked for them specifically on this walk. I found a variety of species growing on the sides of trees and logs, shelf mushrooms but also bonnets and other types. Many species seemed to be adapted to proliferate across large sections of bark or log. One of the more notable fungi I found was bright orange mushroom growing among vegetation on the ground. Aside from fungi, the park contained a diversity of plant life, including many aquatic species in the ponds and streams, and I spotted a quite a few chipmunks, squirrels and rabbits.

I walked around the trails of the park as it was nearing sunset. The temperature was cool, around 55F, and parts of some trails were still muddy from rainfall the day before. It was cloudy, and the park was softly lit under the trees. I saw many different kinds of flowers scattered throughout the park, but did not see many animals other than the occasional robin and a few people walking their dogs.