22 de novembro de 2021

Week 10 - Sam McDonald Park

This weekend I took a visit to Sam McDonald Park to get my final observations before the end of the project. It had rained a little bit on Friday night, so the land was very moist, which was perfect as the main point of going to this park was to find a banana slug. I was very surprised by the diversity of fungi at this park. I was able to find so many different fungi, which is partially because of the recent rains, but the fact that there were so many unique species is what surprised me. In the end, I was able to find the banana slug along with multiple fungi and a couple plants. Besides the drive, I really liked Sam McDonald Park and would definitely go back and explore the other trails. I went on the Heritage Grove trail, which connects right to the parking lot. Lastly, I was able to find a worm in my backyard today after digging up some soil, so as long as it can get confirmed by the community I will have my 10 different phylums as well as 25 research grade observations.

Posted on 22 de novembro de 2021, 03:18 AM by tylernelson19 tylernelson19 | 0 comentários | Deixar um comentário

15 de novembro de 2021

Week 9 - Final Week

Unfortunately, I was not able to get anymore observations last week. I did take a weekend trip down to the Los Angeles area and it was interesting to compare the Southern California environment versus Northern California. One thing I noticed was that there were still many plants with flowers relative to the bay area right now. I think most of this can be credited to the warmer climate, but I still was surprised how many flowers were still intact in the middle of November. Another thing I noticed was the heavy amounts of smog, which I not sure if they at all affect the plants or animals, but it is so much more noticeable in Los Angeles relative to the Bay Area. This week I need to get out to one last park in order to finish up my observations. I'm still deciding between Fitzgerald Marine Reserve and Butano State Park. No matter where I end up going, I sure I will be able reach the 25 observation mark and 10 phylum requirement. I'm super excited to get back out to a park after a little break and a couple wet weeks!

Posted on 15 de novembro de 2021, 07:26 AM by tylernelson19 tylernelson19 | 0 comentários | Deixar um comentário

08 de novembro de 2021

Week 8 - Final steps

Unfortunately I was not able to get out to a park this weekend. Early last week, I was able to capture a photo of a western honey bee, which as part of the arthropod phylum, checked off a box for me. As of now, I only need one more phylum in order to complete the requirements. Two of the more common phylums that I think I will go for are the liverworts or mollusks. The weather recently has definitely cooled off and I have noticed more and more tree leaves on the ground. I do think the cooler weather helps damp environment animals show up more often, like banana slugs. Depending on how much free time I have, I want to go to somewhere in the Santa Cruz Mountains, such as Butano State Park, or back to Wunderlich Park. I know that banana slug findings are common at Butano Park and that would count for the Mollusca Phylum. Wunderlich can have banana slugs although less common and it would be easier to find liverworts. Either way, I think I am in a very good spot in this project.

Posted on 08 de novembro de 2021, 06:18 AM by tylernelson19 tylernelson19 | 0 comentários | Deixar um comentário

01 de novembro de 2021

Week 7 - Out and About

This week I was able to make good progress on the iNaturalist project. On Monday, I took a short visit to Foothills Nature Preserve in Palo Alto. I felt it was a good quick stop, but I wouldn't want to stay there too long because I didn't feel like there were that many different species there. On Saturday, I took visits to Wunderlich Park, El Corte de Madera Park and Windy Hill Preserve. In both El Corte de Madera Park and Windy Hill Preserve there were many fallen tree, some of which I would have guessed are from the large storm last week. One of my main goals was to find a species part of the Basidomycota group, and although I was able to find a couple, it was much more difficult than I anticipated. Although it was pretty wet, I don't think my timetable was realistic for many fungi to fully grow and develop. I currently have 7 out of the 10 required phyla, so I still need 3 more. I think that I will go for the arthropods and annelids because those should be pretty easy to find, like a house fly and earth worm. In addition, I still plan to go to one more park up in the Santa Cruz mountains so that I can find a banana slug, which will get me an animal in the Mollusca phylum

Posted on 01 de novembro de 2021, 01:59 AM by tylernelson19 tylernelson19 | 0 comentários | Deixar um comentário

25 de outubro de 2021

Week 6 - Update

Over this last week, I was not able to go to a park and make any observations. I already have my Saturday planned out to go out to parks and I am hopeful to also be able to go out one other day during the week as well. This Sunday the 24th, we just had a massive rainstorm, the first consistent storm since the spring. I think that this storm will help moisten some environments and make some organisms more abundant such as fungi. One park that I plan on visiting this week is Pescadero Creek Park. With this heavy rain fall, I think the creek should be flowing at a decent height. In addition, I've seen many pictures of banana slugs found in this park and slugs definitely tend to be more apparent in moist environments. I also plan on going out to Sam McDonald Park because of its proximity to Pescadero Creek Park. One of my main goals for this trip is to get multiple animal observations because I lack any observations from the Animal Kingdom.

Posted on 25 de outubro de 2021, 02:23 AM by tylernelson19 tylernelson19 | 0 comentários | Deixar um comentário

18 de outubro de 2021

Week 5 - Windy Hill Preserve

On Thursday, I was able to take a quick visit to the Windy Hill Preserve. I didn't have much time but I was able to capture 5 observations. The park was very nice and had multiple 5+ mile long trails, but I only went about 1/4 of a mile in. I was able to find a lichen and 4 other plants. Unfortunately, one of the plants that I observed wasn't able to be identified by iNaturalist, so it most likely won't become research grade. But out of the other 4 observations, 2 have already become research grade, so I am very happy about that. I started taking 2-3 photos per observation, so I think that is helping my observations become research grade. This is somewhere I would definitely go again, because there was so much of the park that I didn't explore. I was disappointed because I saw a deer, but unfortunately my phone was not able to get a clear photo from the distance. Overall, I was glad that I was able to get a quick 5 observations and also find a new park to visit again.

Posted on 18 de outubro de 2021, 03:40 AM by tylernelson19 tylernelson19 | 0 comentários | Deixar um comentário

11 de outubro de 2021

Week 4 Journal Post - Pillar Point Planning

Although I was not able to make it out to any parks this weekend, I did some planning for a future visit to Pillar Point. I went to Pillar Point as a field trip during my senior year and enjoyed it so I really want to go back. I remember seeing many anemones and sea urchins which will be great to add to my observations as they aren't easily found anywhere else. When I looked at the low tide predictions, both Saturday and Sunday have low tides in the afternoon, around three or four. Both the tides are predicted to be around 1.7 feet. Although the Fitzgerald Marine Reserve website recommends the tides to be 1 foot or less, to clearly see the organisms, I still think that I will be able to find a fair amount of organisms near the coast. I may also go early to Pillar Point because there are many birds species, which could help me with the animal kingdom requirement.

Posted on 11 de outubro de 2021, 05:48 AM by tylernelson19 tylernelson19 | 0 comentários | Deixar um comentário

04 de outubro de 2021

Week 3 Journal - El Palo Alto Park

This weekend I took a visit to El Palo Alto Park. It is a small little park right by the Stanford Mall. Although there was no water, usually the San Francisquito Creek runs through the park. I was able to find two lichen species and many plant species during my time there. I had no luck in finding any fungi, but that is most likely because of the lack of rain, not the location. One of the lichen species was found on top of a rock and the other along the metal part of a bridge. If I need more plant species for this project, I will probably go back to this location because there were so many plants that I didn't take pictures of. I think it would also be interesting to visit when the creek has some water in it.

Posted on 04 de outubro de 2021, 04:29 AM by tylernelson19 tylernelson19 | 0 comentários | Deixar um comentário

27 de setembro de 2021

Week 2 Journal Post - Planning

Unfortunately, I was not able to make it out to a park this weekend, but I did some research on future parks to visit. I went on the San Mateo County website and found two parks that are very close to me, Huddart Park and Wunderlich Park. I'm leaning towards Wunderlich because it is closer to me and has free parking. Time is my biggest issue with this project, so I am very excited to find a couple parks that are only 15 minutes away. Both parks seem to have similar landscapes of many redwood trees in the hills. According to the San Mateo County Parks website, Wunderlich Park seems to have many plants for observations. The website also lists many animals, but it may be hard to get close and take a picture of some smaller animals, such as squirrels and lizards. I'm hoping to visit this park either this week or the next week!

Posted on 27 de setembro de 2021, 03:47 AM by tylernelson19 tylernelson19 | 0 comentários | Deixar um comentário

08 de setembro de 2021

My First Observation!

This morning, I recorded my first observation, which was a Gardenia found in my backyard. I'm actually very excited for this project and already thinking of places I need to visit! I'm planning on visiting Bedwell Bayfront Park next. I've never been there before, but I've driven by it countless times and I can imagine there are tons of unique organisms in the marshlands.

Posted on 08 de setembro de 2021, 05:21 AM by tylernelson19 tylernelson19 | 0 comentários | Deixar um comentário

Arquivos