Topic: ERS 246 Outing #1

Time and Date: 19/09/18 12:25
Duration: 45 minutes
Location: Waterloo Park, Waterloo, ON
Weather: Sunny and 24 degrees
Habitat: Pond, trails, garden

I went for a walk around Waterloo park in the Afternoon. There were many people biking and walking along the paths. I noticed a lot of Canada goldenrod throughout the entirety of my walk. The main three areas I focused my observations around were around silver lake, the garden surrounding the east gazebo, and along the LRT tracks. There was a group of people feeding mallards and Canadian geese breadcrumbs along the waterfront which also attracted squirrels. Two great blue herons were perched on a log and a rock in the middle of silver lake. I tried to see what fish might have attracted them to this pond but could not see much from my vantage point. Throughout my walk I heard other bird calls as well but was unable to identify which species produced these calls (something to practice!). I saw pollinators such as monarchs and the common eastern bumble bee in the garden area surrounding the gazebo. They were attracted to the hydrangeas and black-eyed Susan which were in bloom.

This first field journal made me much more conscious of the impact’s humans have in a natural park area like Waterloo park. A few examples of this are: the excessive amount of wild carrot (native to Europe and Asia), the fragmentation caused by the LRT tracks, bird feeders, people feeding wildlife, and gardens planted with non-native flowers (Chickory).

Posted on September 19, 2019 08:32 PM by savitao