Oct 31st, 2019
While exploring my area, I identified 6 living organisms that I thought characterized my site. These organisms included minnows, burdocks, raspberry bushes, a snail, buckthorn, and slugs. Personally, I feel that the minnows resinate with the site the most due to the presence of the brook. Every-time I have gone you could see the minnows darting back and forth in the water. However, the other living organisms are just as important. The burdocks for example are a key feature that border the walk way when you first arrive. Furthermore, there are countless patches of raspberry bushes spread out across the surrounding area. They are especially noticeable now due to still having green/yellow leaves. To find animals I had to really look, especially because of the cooling weather. One spot I checked was under the rocks in the stream. There I found grey snails, smaller than my pinky nail, stuck to the bottom of the rocks. Another very noticeable plant at this site is buckthorn. I think this invasive also characterizes this site due to being located in many different spots. In fact, as soon as you walk over the bridge there is buckthorn growing from the bank. Lastly, another organism I found were slugs. Because there are fallen down branches and logs around the brook, it’s very common to find slugs either under them or on them when it rains.
When comparing my notes from last visit and my own observations, a variety of changes at the site where noticed. The most apparent was the very little amount of leaves left on the trees. Last time I was there, the leaves were in full fall color and not many trees had started to go bare. Continuing on the pattern of plant color, another change was the weeds and grasses starting to turn. Some, like the raspberry bushes, where finally starting to turn yellow. Contrarily, one thing that has stayed the same is the soil. Each time I have visited the ground has been very muddy and moist. Especially Around the banks of the brook. The soil overall all though is more gravely around the water while the rest is more clay like.
When creating this map, I found that in doing so I discovered a lot more prominent features in the area. I really had to look around and observe my surroundings to find markers that people could follow. Most of the ones I did find I hadn’t even noticed before. The vine for example, that is pictured below, I had never noticed until making this map.
Prominent Features:
