Friday, June 28- 11:32AM
I chose to move my location to the Intervale Center because I was hoping to get a better variety of plant and animal species. The weather was nice, about 72ºF and sunny with a light breeze. The trails were quiet aside from some passing cars and rustling in the woods. I stayed and watched birds for a little while, I saw a robin come onto the trail and leave with an insect it found. The trail I walked began in the front lot and passed the “People’s Garden,” a small garden with a few types of brightly colored flowers but mostly empty plots- I assume crops that are now out of season. The trail led to a fork, and I followed it along a simple wooden fence for a little while. There were wildflowers growing at the base of the fence, attracting a couple of subtly yellow butterflies.
I found a couple interesting things hanging around: some nice flowers growing to the side of the trail, birds, as well as a slug that was tucked into the bushes that I found as I relocated an earth worm into the shade. The slug had a distinct sort of pattern on its back, one that I wasn’t familiar with. This was the species that I chose to identify. I found that it was an orange-banded arion, or Arion fasciatus (Living World of Molluscs, 2024). I found the species by looking up keywords to do with the distinctive band on the slug’s back. One interesting thing I found while researching was that they are not a native species! They originate from Northern Europe but was brought across the Atlantic during the colonial era.
Conclusion: I really enjoyed sketching in the field, I think it made me more attentive to details at my site because I was actively looking for interesting small subjects that might be a good opportunity to capture. It was a little challenging because I felt that I had to find the “best” parts of the landscape, but I knew that I would be back again and have another opportunity to capture other aspects! I’d like to go a little further off the trail next time to look at some cool critters deeper in the woods.
Sources:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arion_fasciatus
https://www.molluscs.at/gastropoda/terrestrial.html?/gastropoda/terrestrial/arionidae2.html
Sketches:
