Habitat Trips

For this assignment, I explored the riparian forest of Anderson Lake County Park, through which Coyote Creek flows, as well as a nearby field that seemed to be a grassland of some sort. Both of these ecosystems were found in Morgan Hill, the southernmost city in Santa Clara County. My trip to Anderson Lake County Park took place a couple of months ago, before the rain and official start of Spring. Besides the actual lake (which is part of Anderson Dam as well), Coyote Creek flows through the park. In addition, there are freshwater ponds and pools of water that form after rainfall. This ecosystem had an abundance of species, including plant and animal life. That's probably attributable to the plentiful water sources that make it a more hospitable ecosystem for life, in general, as well as the shade from the tree cover provided by the large Oaks and other such plants. The sunlight can be very intense in Morgan Hill as it is located in a valley in the Southern Bay Area. In this ecosystem, which can be characterized as a riparian forest, I observed many flowering plants as well as ducks.

More recently, I explored a flat field of wild grass. This ecosystem could be characterized as a grassland or prairie. There weren't any large shrubs or trees and the soil was relatively dry. In addition, most of the plants were small and grasslike. In this ecosystem I observed flowering plants. These plants seemed to be smaller and closer to the ground because there isn't a water source close by. However, the plants here were green anyway because it had rained heavily in the weeks prior. I observed a ladybug, which I picked up to take a better picture of (a first for me), as well as a spider, beetle, and reddish ant which I wasn't quick enough to photograph. As I was leaving the field, I nearly stepped on a gopher snake. At first I thought it might be a rattlesnake, but recalled that in class we had discussed the differentiating features between the two, including the narrower shape of its head and lack of rattled tail. It was around 7 feet long. Snakes do well in grassland ecosystems because they can easily blend in and have little trouble catching small animals, like mice. My dad managed to get a hold of it so that I could get a better picture before releasing it back into the field.

Posted on April 7, 2014 11:21 PM by turmiyah