Setting down Roots in Thomas Woods

  Field Observations           As I walked around the wetland to my habitat, I noticed as I approached Thomas Woods that the patch of Rosinweed was much taller than me now. The mosquitoes have also made a pesky return, and they buzz around my ears, making me regret not applying some bug spray before my walk today.                However, I do not regret coming out here this afternoon, as I enjoy the shade of my trees preventing the late afternoon sun from blinding me as I look up at the tree tops, trying to see the shape of leaves of trees I wish to try to identify. I also look down at the ground as well, to see if there are any new plants flowering, and low and behold I see a new yellow flower that I have not previously seen this summer. Growing at the edge of the woods, the little sunflower turns out to be a Woodland Sunflower, at least that is where I ended up at in Newcomb's Wildflower Guide. I have grow...

Field Observations       This week, I decided to focus on birds since I had no classes on Friday which provided me an opportunity to go out in the early morning for some birding. I remember going out at 5:40 in the morning in my ornithology course in undergrad, but I was not able to bring myself to wake up quite that early. My morning outdoors began at 8 am, which is more like lunchtime for the birds who have been awake for as long as the sun has. I was struck by how the different my woods looked with the morning sun's rays glowing through the trees, and the mist hanging above the Kesling Wetland. It was 55 degrees F out but the sun made it quite pleasant but not too hot. The birds too, seemed to be enjoying this nice, cooler summer weather as they flew about from tree to tree, or over the prairies and fields. I heard so much more birdsong than my previous excursions later in the day. The morning belongs to the birds.      One male Goldfinch in particular k...

Field Observations     7/22-7/24/2020     This week I decided to focus on trees specifically when making my field observations because so often we forget to see the forest for the trees, we focus on the bigger picture while obscuring the details. I've focused a lot on insect and wildflower life in my habitat so far which is why I wanted to focus on trees for once since it is Thomas Woods and thus trees make up the most vegetation biomass in my habitat. Using my 101 Trees of Indiana field guide, I looked at my search for trees to ID as a sort of scavenger hunt since I also had plans to incorporate it in this week's creative piece. I looked for trees that I didn't know and which had interesting looking leaves. From an artistic perspective, patterns of leaves, unusual or common shapes, and color were part of what I was looking for to catch my eye and to inspire me to play with. Something I realized from this process is that identifying coniferous trees is very difficult...

Field Observations     July 20-25, 2020     This week I made 2 different visits to Thomas Woods: one during the day and one during the night (more info about the latter later in the blog). During the day trip, I went out at 4:30. The sun was out so I was hot on my walk to the woods but the moment I entered the forest's shadowy embrace the air was much cooler on my face.     The first sounds I heard were the very loud cicadas who seem to always be present. I also heard some type of woodpecker call and then the drumming of its bill into wood. While walking along the path, I happened to glance up and saw a cute little chipmunk or maybe young squirrel scurrying along the branch of a tree. I lost track of it before I could bring my binoculars up to inspect further.      This is my third week in my habitat, and this week I noticed there were a lot less wildflowers blooming than the past two weeks. I had to look a lot harder to find some more woodla...

Field Observations 7/16/2020 10 am to 11:45 am     Today I discovered a second childhood. My curiosity was renewed with a vigor after the Nature Photography lecture. I wanted to see what sort of interesting photos I could capture from my 2 hours in Thomas Woods today. Everything was new and super exciting, even the smallest plant or log. I believe I noticed and spent more time just crouching down than I normally would have otherwise, getting down on the level of various ground plants and insects.      I didn't stray far off the path today as it had rained that morning, but I did at least step in a bit to investigate some microbiomes that caught my eye. One particular tiny habitat that caught my eye was a a knee high tall stump which looked like something had been eating at it. I noticed many rectangular shaped wood pieces piled on the top. I found a millipede resting on one side, as well as various ants crawling around. They seemed to be carrying tiny white obje...