Charismatic Species
Today I visited Centennial Woods again. Since my last visit, it has gotten a lot colder and the trees have lost all of their leaves. I visited later in the day as the sun was setting and it was only about 45 degrees. The wind was also fairly strong. There is much less green than last time I was here. The leaves are now all on the ground and there is not as much greenery on the forest floor. Many bushes and small trees still have some leaves, but they are shades of orange, red, and brown. There is still some green grass and green low-growing plants like ferns. Moss also covers many of the rocks, trees, and bridges around the streams. I noticed a lot of large mushrooms on trees as well.
The soil was muddy due to the flash flooding the night before. The brook was a chocolate-brown color and had a very heavy flow. Around the banks of the brook, it was all washed out. There is not much plant life on certain parts of the banks to hold it together and prevent heavy erosion.
I did not see much in the way of wildlife. I didn’t notice any insect life, most likely because it has frosted since my last visit. I didn’t hear many birds or see many squirrels either. Most of the moving organisms I saw were just other people and dogs.
The photos I took were of a maple tree, moss, ferns, paper birch, some type of weed, a pine tree. These are all living organisms that are plentiful in Centennial Woods, so they represent the forest. There are a variety of trees in the forest, including many maple, pine, and birch. Most of the plants that were still green were the weeds and ones like the ferns. There was also a lot of moss in the forest, especially in wet areas.
