nsajor's Journal

For this nature walk, I once again returned to the Res. Due to this week's focus on plants, I had to look at the area from a new angle. When previously there, most of my focus was on the animals and just the most colorful plants. Now, I made an effort too focus on plants that weren't the most colorful or noticeable, but had unique characteristics. This, combined with the suggestion to look for the 4 main types of plants, led me to document some plants which I normally would have overlooked. Such discovery is related to our in-class discussions of taxonomy and organism classification. By learning more about the categorizations of plants and the specifics of their diversity, I was able to find examples of them in nature and enhance my outdoor experience.

For this walk, I returned to the Chestnut Hill Reservoir. Compared to last week, the weather today was rainy and gloomy, making the area almost abandoned and reducing the amount of animals I saw in there. The need to find fungi during the walk made me look in different areas than I previously have, focusing mainly on the ground. I had to walk off the main path to find fungi, and while it took some time, I eventually saw multiple instances, all growing off from trees. While not all fungi come from trees, their shared existence reminded me of the interconnectivity of life we discussed in class. Because plants and fungi are closely related in the Eukaryotic kingdom, it would explain the fungi's ability to grow out from trees. This relationship is very interesting, and as we further explore these organisms I hope to better understand the nature of their interactions.

For this nature walk, I spent an hour walking around the Chestnut Hill Reservoir, commonly referred to as 'The Res' by us BC students. Though I have been there many times before, this assignment let me see the area in a new light. By being forced to look closer at the flora and fauna around the Res, I saw how many organisms used this natural space as a place to live, surrounded by the Chestnut Hill community. My favorite part of this walk was hearing a bird call , and instead of dismissing it as background noise as I usually would, it inspired me to look around and try to find the source. This led me to spotting my favorite observation from this walk, the Blue Jay. The small effort I put into peering through the trees to see its bright blue feathers made spotting it feel like an achievement, instead of an assignment. Its bright colors also reminded me of how such adaptations are important for sexual selection of a mate, as we discussed in class.