Topic: ERS 246 Outing 4

Time and Date: 04/11/2019 15:30-16:40
Duration: 70 minutes
Location: Huron Natural Area
Weather: Overcast, light rain, bursts of wind and 8 degrees.
Habitat: Wetland, trails, forest, meadow, ponds

Monday November 4th my classmate/friend and I went to Huron natural area to do our first field journal for the month of November. It was raining slightly when we arrived and continued to sprinkle on/off throughout the duration of our time there. We started out in a meadow habitat where the recent snow and overnight frost had made many of the vegetation communities go into dormancy. The wild carrot which i had observed in two previous journal outings was no longer in bloom and almost all of the Canada goldenrods were no longer yellow. As we walked through the meadow portion we saw a crow overhead and heard a few other bird species (unfortunately neither of us are birders and could only speculate about what they might be). Another bird species we saw on this outing was the Canada goose.
At one point i noticed a few burrs had attached themselves to my leg, which got me thinking about the dispersal methods of different plant species. I noticed a milkweed seed pod still attached to the white fibers so that it could increase its dispersal range. Buckthorn berries are also an example of how quick dispersal can be achieved when interacting with other species. In this case of mutualism a species can eat the berry and gain nutritional benefits while aiding in the dispersal of the buckthorn seeds.
There were a lot of signs promoting the protection for the Blandings turtle, a threatened species which can be found at Huron Natural Area.

Evidence of beavers were apparent throughout the outing including: a beaver dam in one of the waterbodies, teeth marks on trees, and trees that had been felled by beavers.
I noticed a lot of goldenrod gall fly galls, usually in clusters.

There was a sign which listed a few different species that could be found within the natural area including the red-backed salamander - maybe ill come back on a warmer day in the spring/summer to see if I can find any!

Posted on November 5, 2019 09:50 PM by savitao