hyoon1203's Journal

It was a gloomy day to say the least. The temperature was around 54 degrees, but according to the weather app, it felt like it was 48!!! It was COLD and very windy, especially by the water at the res. I wore the thickest coat I brought to Boston, but I was still very frozen the entire duration of my walk. I didn't know that there were more walking paths above the circular walkway that I usually walk around, so it was pretty neat to explore the more wooded areas. I was able to find a variety of mosses (nonvascular plants), angiosperms (flowering plants), and I snapped a picture of a conifer (gymnosperm). I unfortunately wasn't able to find a seedless vascular plant like a fern on my walk. I did see some landscaped ferns by campus, but because I wanted to keep this nature walk as "natural" as possible, I didn't include them. Even though it was a dark, gloomy day, it was nice to find some colorful plants around me!

I did an early morning hike of the trails of the Hammond Pond Reservation. I would describe the weather as THE perfect fall weather. It was nice and sunny but there was a crispness in the air that just screams fall! It was pretty chilly early this morning, so I wore a thin down jacket. I'd never seen Hammond Pond before, so I was pretty excited to explore. The pond was beautiful! It was great to just walk around, no music, hiking the trails. I kept my eye out for different types of fungi. To be honest, it was difficult to find them. I had to look high and low... literally! Some of the fungi I found on the tops of tree trunks, while others I had to crouch down on the ground and check whether they were really fungi or not. I think I saw the most lichens on my walk; most were on trees, but I was able to take a picture of one species on a rock (smoked-eye boulder lichen). It had super interesting dark spots all over it. My other observations were all fungi that I found on or near tree trunks. I think my favorite fungi that I found was from the Genus Grifola. I found it near the base of a rotting tree trunk. It looked quite intricate but had a cool, almost geometric, pattern about it. Overall, I enjoyed my hike and plan on going to the trails again if I ever want a peaceful start to my day.

My friends and I kayaked on the Charles River this afternoon! The weather was AMAZING: it was sunny, warm but not humid, and an overall beautiful day to be outside. I think we were near Harvard? We could also see parts of the Boston skyline, including the Prudential Center. While different from your typical nature "walk," I was able to snap some photos of wildlife while in my kayak and on land in the surrounding area. My phone was in a plastic bag to avoid getting wet, so some of the photos aren't the best quality. However, you can still see the different organisms! There were mallards and geese swimming in the river... A LOT OF GEESE. We had to constantly make sure we didn't crash into groups of them in the water! Also, I spotted some really cool mushrooms on a tree while in my kayak and quickly whipped out my phone to take a snapshot. I found some green lichen on a tree once I was on land. I also found a plant with pretty purple flowers on it and another plant with a yellow flower that I thought I would include.