Field Study #2

 Time: 4:21 - 4:44 pm


Climate Conditions: Partly sunny & dry

Temperature: 68°F

Length of Day: 12hrs 1min

Animals:


I saw these same tracks earlier in the week as well, but the first one I'm not really sure what caused it since it didn't really leave any clear marks. But, after doing some research, I'm pretty confident that the second print was left by a raccoon, and with its easy access to water and relative closeness to urban areas, it's not an unlikely habitat. (Info found from Animal Diversity Web and the Michigan DNR) 


I was this on my way back from the field study, but this bee (honeybee?) was all over these flowers for a few minutes. I think they're White Heath Asners after looking at pictures, but I could definitely be wrong. These flowers were spread all over my area: near trees, hidden under the long grass, and many of them were clustered around small red berries.


There were also a lot of half-eaten small leaves all around, with relatively small and irregular holes. This was likely caused by caterpillars or some other sort of insect.


Plants/Vegetation:



I believe this is bittersweet nightshade (solanum dulcamara), an invasive perennial that blooms purple flowers through the summer, and grow berries like these, which I had found in previous trips but hadn't yet identified. This plant contains a toxic chemical called solanine that affects humans, pets, and livestock.
(Which in other words means I wouldn't recommend touching it.) 
https://www.pei-untamed.com/post/bittersweet-nightshade




I found this white, powdery residue on some plants that I wasn't really sure what it was, but I thought it was something good to mention. It was mostly near a tree (some type of cherry tree), and I didn't notice it anywhere else, which makes me wonder if it has something to do with the tree or another organism that lives near it.


Other notes:





The creek was slightly deeper than my previous visit (around 1 1/2 to 2 ft deep), and it also was slightly clearer than last time, though it still had debris in it. Also, a lot of the plants were leaning towards the East, so I wonder if there was any strong wind recently that might've caused that.


Comments

  1. hc biologySeptember 28, 2026 at 2:48 PM

    Fantastic work! I love how it seems like you're observing and wondering as you walk around! Your integration of pictures with information is excellent and I love that you're working to answer some of your own questions! Keep it up!

    ReplyDelete

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Field Study #1

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Time: 03:28 pm Climate Conditions: Wet & Cloudy Temperature: 77°F Length of Day: 12hrs 50min Organisms: I didn't see any animals other than a few insects (some bees and mosquitos), but I did see plenty of interesting plants.  I saw two different types of berries, one that grew on trees and the other on a small bush. I also ran into a few different types of colorful flowers and weeds spread throughout the area. Some, like the white flowers, were very small scattered, and had small stems so they were harder to find, while the yellow weeds grew in large clusters that were tall and were much easier to find. The creek had very murky and dirty water, and wasn't flowing very fast even though it had rained most of yesterday and today. It was only a few inches deep and had a lot of sticks and dead grass in it. I didn't get a good picture of it, but I plan to next time.
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