Entry #3
Lake Quannapowitt, Wakefield, MA
It is Tuesday, July 4th, 2023, at 13:00 and the weather is cloudy and warm at 75 degrees F.
Description:
At the shoreside site on the lake, the weather today is very cloudy and the air is moist and thick with humidity. Initially, when I first arrived, there didn’t seem to be any type of breeze but when I eventually moved closer to the water’s edge I noticed that there was a very slight breeze that picked up every few minutes before the air was somewhat still again. The weather throughout the last three or so days in this area as well as surrounding areas has been cloudy with off and on rain varying from a drizzle to a downpour. Upon looking closely at the ground, plants, and rocks at this site, it was clear it had been raining earlier this morning here and even during last night. Many leaves of plants and many flowers were covered with beads of water while the blades of grass on the ground and soil underneath were soggy and wet and for most steps I took there was an audible ‘squish’ and ‘squelch’ sound. I then turned my attention to the surface of the lake itself where I observed a small flock of geese swimming in the water adjacent to the shoreline. They swam up and down along the shore for a while and then eventually swam a bit further out where they ended up in a large surface area covered by lily pads. Eventually, a couple of geese swam ashore and ventured out of the water onto the shore through some thick brush. These two geese then walked further away to a larger open grassy area where they began grazing on the grass while the rest of their flock remained in the water. Later on, a third goose exited the water and joined the other two geese in their grazing for the remainder of the time I was at this site. I also noticed a small blackbird hopping around the open grassy area and initially though it was a common crow, but upon further inspection I was able to identify it as one of Brewer’s Blackbirds with its small, smooth, black feathers and body as well as distinct yellow eyes.
Natural History Mystery:
During this visit, and on previous visits, I always make note of the large amounts of Canada Geese that I observe at this site, but I had never previously thought about that might be until now. There are plenty of other birds that I observe while visiting the site, but none as consistently numerous as the Cana Geese are. Therefore, today while observing the flock of geese close to the shore of the lake, I wondered, ‘how is the population of Canada Geese here so large?’ After some minor research, I believe that the reason why Canada Geese may be so numerous in this area is because: 1)they tend to live longer lives in more urban areas (which is how I would classify this site’s surrounding) which would mean that because they are living longer, they are also getting more opportunities to reproduce more in their lifetimes. 2)they do not have any natural predators in the area which means there is very chance of their populations being affected by any predation and would therefore keep their populations more numerous.
Pictures:
(1) For this mushroom, I wanted to try and offer a unique and different perspective of viewing it. Usually we see mushrooms from above, but I thought it would be cool to capture the perspective of perhaps a bug or some small creature and how they might view the mushroom.
(2) There are many aquatic plants along the shore and in the water of this lake so I wanted to capture the prominence of the aquatic plants but from a new angle so I chose to position my phone at the surface of the water to capture the plants.
(3) This white flower really stuck out to me in an area where most everything else was green and did not have any flowers so I wanted to capture it. I also thought it looked especially beautiful with all the water droplets on it from a previous rain.
(4) The area where I found this budding plant mostly consisted of shorter, more brush-like plants so I thought it was pretty neat that this one, tall, budding plant existed here and almost looks to me like it is overlooking the lake.
(5) For this final image, I wanted to capture something within all of the thick/dense green shoreline plants and found this flat leaf with a couple of water droplets on it. I found it really cool that these drops of water are still sitting on this leaf and are so clear.
Conclusion:
While I was taking these photos, I noticed how difficult it is to find the right angle and position of the phone (in my case) or camera. I found that I would take a picture and think I had it all right and then upon reviewing the picture, I realized what angle, lighting, and focus I needed to adjust and then I would take another photo to try again. This process definitely changed my understanding of this site because many of the subjects for me photos are things that I previously hadn’t really noticed or didn’t really ever stop to look at or observe. I found that taking these photos similar to sketching in the sense that there was lots of trial and error and figuring out what worked and what different. A difference between the two for me was that I felt like I was able to get up close and personal with the subjects of my photos more so than the subjects for my drawings. My entry for this week is probably my favorite so far because I am very impressed by how much of a difference taking these photos made on my comprehension and connection to this site. It was really great to experience trying to find good subjects, angles, and lighting; this entry definitely made me aware of how detailed and diverse this site truly is.