Diario de shelbycolvin

Today I went to a different creek near my house- one that is a little more interacted with by humans; there were clear imprints from bicycles and the bayou was almost desolate of water. There were signs out recommending conservation of water, but why were there no preemptive laws to protect this area?

The temperature was down a lot from the last nature walk and it's rained the last couple of days, so while I saw some of the same species as the other bayou, certain abiotic factors could affect what was out today. I saw very few animals but heard everything from cicadas to frogs to birds. I looked everywhere in the trees and the marsh for the source of different sounds, but the animals must have evolved some very good ways of hiding themselves.

On the walk, I thought a lot about species relationships. The cicadas that hide out in the trees, the lichens and vines crawling up the bark, the turtles eating the bugs on the riverbank, and many more. It was apparent that crape-myrtle trees may be an invasive species on this trail. There were full-grown crape-myrtles on the other side of the residential fences and it looked like many of them pollinated the natural side of the fence and have begun to grow. They're making their homes surrounding many of the native trees and bushes and I'd like to look into their role in this environment.

Overall, it was a pleasant trip but I had hoped to see more.

The temperature today was deadly- the real feel was 108 all day- so I had to go out just before sunset to escape the humidity. It was a pleasant walk, aside from the heat and the wasps; I visit the bayou and the nearby trails frequently, but almost never stop to look around as much as I did today (I didn't even realize I crossed a city line until looking at the location of my posts). I hardly spotted fungus which was unexpected but I believe I spotted all four types of plants we have discussed. On the trails, there were oak trees, moss growing on almost every branch, ferns at the base of most of them, and scattered flowers all along the bayou. Aside from the flowers, all of the other plants seemed to grow clustered with one another and it was almost hard to distinguish where a bush began or a tree started. For the animal kingdom, it was mostly birds, insects, and a few fish jumping around. There was a notable spider and a beautiful purple dragonfly that wouldn't stay still long enough for a picture. Overall, it was a great walk and I'd love to make more observations when the temperatures chills out.