ckonicek's Journal

Colin Konicek
BIO 142
Nature observation

For this naturalistic observation I was right outside of Olin hall along the sidewalk. I thought it would be a good idea to do the observation there because whenever I walk in I always seem to notice some type of bug while I’m walking. I noticed a lot of different bugs and organisms while I was observing. The weather when I did it was around 62 degrees Fahrenheit, I went late at night so it was somewhat dark but I used my flashlight to be able to see the ground and the bugs around me. I chose to go later at night because not many people would be walking around and distracting me while I was trying to find the bugs. Some of the details of the organisms I found out with the Ring-legged Earwig was how fast it was, I actually struggled getting a photo of it because of how quickly it moved while I was trying to take a picture. Another thing that I thought was really interesting was I got to see a moth carry a Lady beetle. I thought that part was really cool to watch it carry it. A personal reflection from last night, I actually enjoyed this homework. I thought it was cool to see what type of bugs were around the dorm that I live in and I got to see where they came from before. I think that going at night was a lot better than I thought it was going to be. I felt like I was able to focus a lot better rather than me going in the day. I think I will be able to see a different change in bugs as time goes on throughout this block and see some new things.

On Sunday October 18 it was a cold 43 degrees and somewhat sunny with a bit of clouds. I was once again in front of the Olin hall steps around the main entrance. The weather was the same as last week just except it was earlier in the day today than last week. I haven't noticed any changes since last week I saw most of the same bugs but I did see a new spider this week and then got a plant that I didn't have last week. I didn't observe anything different with the bugs most of them were just standing still or weren't eating . I used the red spots on the red alder to tell it was that plant versus the other ones. I learned that all of these bugs have been in Mount Vernon for a while and that the giant crib spider isn't actually as big as you would think it is with the name giant. I think I have seen all of these bugs before except for the giant crab spider. There are a lot of of the red alder plants outside of olin and I see the False honey ants and the genus halyomorpha quite often. The only one I don't see a lot is the spider, that was a new one for me to see today. A personal reflection of the assignment for me today was I enjoyed the other one a little bit more, partly because I was cold outside today. But I also found more interesting bugs last week compared to the ones I saw this year. I still found out some things I didn't know this week with some of the bugs.

On Sunday October 25 outside of Olin Hall it was a very cold and somewhat windy thirty seven degrees with lots of clouds and not much sun. I went outside in a sweatshirt and shorts and I was pretty cold for this nature observation. That probably wasn't a good choice but other than that the weather was not to bad. For one of the photos, it was a maple seed which we saw on the board one day but I could not find it on INaturalist. Once again, I didn't notice much changes in the area, the weather has dropped a little bit, but I was still seeing the same insects and organisms. I actually observed one of the insects dead this time but the others weren't doing much while I was able to observe them. I used the visible features I was able to see, for example the stinger on the ground yellow jacket. I was able to tell that was the yellow jacket by the stinger in the back. I learned that the portuguese millipede is from Australia and has moved around since then. The personal reflections from this nature observation is that I enjoyed this assignment again, other than being cold today I liked doing all of these observations. I was able to figure out some new insects and where they come from and little aspects about the insects and what makes them what they are. I was able to see the insects that live right outside of my dorm.