sheetalbhatia's Journal

This weekend I visited Central Park which is located in San Mateo. I visited the park in the evening around 5:30 pm during which it was 73 degrees Fahrenheit. I was hoping to find some interesting plants in the vicinity and I did in fact find a quite fascinating-looking flower! Though I did not expect to see too much bird activity in the area since I usually notice that birds are more active in the morning times, there were numerous squirrels climbing up and down trees. Next time, I hope to visit the Japanese Tea Garden and possibly find other plant and animal species--they have a koi fish pond so that would be fun to explore. I plan on visiting Laurelwood Park in San Mateo next week which is quite close to my house! I've noticed many different plant species in that area from previous visits, so I hope to capture some great pictures.

This week I visited Laurelwood Park in San Mateo as I planned out from last week's journal. I arrived at the park at 10:15 am this morning and the weather was rather a little warm for morning hours. (71 degrees Fahrenheit). I walked about a fourth of a mile around the park observing a variety of plants and trees. During this visit, I noticed multiple things regarding plants and trees in particular such as anthers, filaments, trunks, branches etc. I suspect that possibly arriving even earlier in the morning would have resulted in me seeing a little more animal action in terms of birds or other organisms living in the vicinity. Although, I did in fact happen to see a bumble bee flying from flower to flower on the Pacific Madrone tree. This park is about five minutes from my home so paying a visit to this park again is definitely something I will do in the future!

This week I walked around my neighborhood (Baywood Park area in San Mateo) to find some interesting looking plants. I've walked down the streets of my neighborhood before many times on my leisure time or for exercise and have seen many fascinating looking plants so I wanted to keep my eye out for unique looking plants this time, and that is exactly what I did! I went for a walk from 4 to 5 pm and observed many different plants. It was a little warm outside and a few of the plants I saw were damp from being watered. I did not see any birds at all the vicinity or any that were flying as I expect that they would be more active during the morning hours. I did in fact see many salamanders, however, they are so quick it's hard to take a picture of them up close without them running away. I hope to visit a city park next week, possibly Leo J. Ryan Park in Foster City as I have seen a variety of birds, specifically ducks, during the afternoon hours.

This week I went with my good friend Carson to both Central Park and Mariners Point. We first visited Central Park in San Mateo around 9:15 am in the morning. However, it was still quite warm especially for the morning hours. We walked around the park for a good hour and a half while visiting the Japanese Tea Garden as well as the rose garden. I saw quite a few honey bees, squirrels, butterflies, and bumble bees which I managed to capture photos of. I did see a hummingbird, however it is very difficult to take photos of them because they are so fast and it's hard to get close enough in order to get a clear picture. After spending some time there, we then visited a small beach at Mariners Point in Foster City and the tide was quite low so we were able to see many snails, clam shells, dried up seaweed and barnacles (most of which appeared dried out). We spent about an hour at the beach exploring the shoreline and in between the crevices of the rocky areas near the water. I hope to possibly visit some beaches in Half Moon Bay next week as I have heard there are small crabs and other aquatic species that may be found there.