- Sunday July 3, 2022. 2:45 pm. the weather is sunny and warm outside.
2. Something that is new to me that I noticed was next to the wooden shed there was a sunflower, just one sunflower. It is pretty large too. I wonder why it’s there and why there is only one and not more. It’s also in an open space on wood chips and there’s no other plants around it. I thought that was rather interesting and kind of strange. I am able to explore a small area that I didn’t go to before because there’s usually people in that area for summer camp but since it’s Sunday there wasn’t anyone there. In this area there’s a little stream of water thats pretty cool. I wonder if it’s natural or if someone built it. And there’s a table here where you can eat lunch and theres even a roof for shade too. This table is enclosed by a stone circle barrier which gives it a cozy feel. The park definitely feels a lot more quiet and peaceful without the usual campers here.
3. Something that is definitely intriguing at my site is there is this “bee hotel” and each time I wonder why it’s there. It’s curious to me because it’s made of wood logs and some are tiny and some are bigger so I wonder why that is. And since this is something that always gets my attention whenever I go to the park, I’ll share it here. According to the signage, solitary tunnel nesting bees use holes of dead trees, crevices underneath rocks or bark, and hollow stems of twigs in the wild. This was built because solitary bee numbers are declining due to lack of natural nesting areas and pesticides. And so depending on the species of bee, egg-laying may take place in fall or spring in this “hotel”. The eggs develop inside the tube until the larvae is mature and ready to emerge. As for the different size logs, this is to accommodate the sizes of different tunnel-nesting bee species. A solitary bee may use added materials like clay and soft leaves and collect pollen and leave it in the tunnel.
4.
Something new that I noticed as I took these photos was the red flowers on my 5th photo. They were higher up and so I hadn’t seen them before, I also hadn’t really explored much of the edge of the botanical garden. It was similar to sketching because you really had to look closely for things to photograph, just like I had to for sketches. It was different because I could take pictures of animals, which constantly move because taking a picture is just pressing a button in one second whereas drawing requires a lot of time and so you need your subject to be still for a long period of time. Theres a lot more options with photography. This assignment was really fun for me because I love photography, it’s one of my hobbies and so I was finally able to get some good shots of this place and the species in it. This really made me appreciate the variety of species in this garden and also gave me a greater appreciation for the creatures in general. For example, I see squirrels all the time, but watching this one closely and seeing it move and seeing it watching me made me realize how intelligent and cute they are. And looking back at the photos for my entry allowed me to see all the small details and complexities of each animal and just gave me a sense of awe for the animals and whoever/whatever created them.