caseychamberlain's Journal

Today I made my first iNaturalist observation during our lab section. I took a walk up and down my street and discovered what I believe to be a Powdery Sunburst Lichen (Xanthomendoza ulophyllodes) on a fence. Once this semester's project gets fully under way, I am excited to make time each weekend to go out to the various parks and open space preserves located near me and see what other kinds of observations I can make. Additionally, my family recently got a boat to use for fishing, and we took it out on the ocean for the first time last weekend. My parents and brother caught a number of fish from all different places in the water column, and we were also able to see other organisms like dolphins, sea lions, seals, and jellyfish! I think having this boat will present great opportunities to observe more marine organisms this fall.

Week 1 of our iNaturalist Project is wrapping up today, and although I unfortunately was not able to get out into the field this week to make any observations, I am planning to get to one or more locations over the next several days. Next Saturday I might have an opportunity to go out on my family's boat to fish, which would allow me to observe all sorts of fish, as well as marine birds and mammals. If that does not work out, I am also going to go to either Huddart Park or Windy Hill Preserve over the course of the following week. Both of these locations have a wide variety of plants and fungi, so I hope that I can find something eye-catching while on a hike.

Today marks the end of Week 2 of our iNaturalist project. This morning, I went to take a walk in Huddart Park and took some photos of a variety of plants, as well as one fungus. It was so nice to be able to slow down and really take in everything around me as a looked for observations to make. I heard a number of interesting bird calls in the park, as well, although I wasn't able to see the birds making them. This upcoming week I would like to plan to potentially go to the coast to observe some species in tidepools. This was an activity I did frequently as a kid, and I was always surprised by the abundance and variation of the organisms I could find. If that does not work out, I will see if I can either get out on my family's boat or go for a hike at Windy Hill Preserve to make some observations there.