Site Four Independent Observation!

The next site found us again at a dead tree, but this one was particularly intriguing to me, as there was a very marked hole directly in the top of the horizontal log.

As you can see, it was large and padded inside with fallen leaves.  Maybe this is a stretch, but I had to document this as a sign of life because it seemed so likely to me that a small animal could very easily and comfortably take shelter here. 

The wind and air felt burningly cold to me at this point, but sitting on the tree was still pleasant. People were chattering animatedly by this point, probably eager to get back inside or go home.

Site Three Independent Observation!

The third site we visited was a little hard to maneuver.  There was an abundance of almost oddly green briars and more than enough loose sticks for me to trip on.  However, the dead dree around which we were gathered was a wonderful bench or balance beam. 

The site smelled like decay, and it was cold and shady, but I found an interesting little village of fungus or lichen on a fallen tree.  It put me in mind of Fern Gully (the animated movie), which is sorta' weird.

Right after I took this picture, my foot sunk in a startling hole that had been covered with leaves.  Fun fact.

Site Two Independent Observation!

Many people in the group had trouble with this site.  I found it relaxing.  

This is the view I took from my chill spot, laying on the forest floor. It wasn't so cold and windy down there, either. I particularly like the one splotch of green from the tree in the bottom right corner of my sky-view picture.

The ground was entirely carpeted with dead leaves, beneath which bits of moss or fungus could be found.  The chirping of small birds was aparent over the wind.  We learned it was a  chickadee, although I saw another small, brown and white bird which I couldn't identify.

I found a nifty growth of moss wrapped around a tree trunk right near where my head was when I layed down.

Site One Independent Observation!

Although today's expedition consisted of individual observations, the entire class set out with a common goal in mind for the first site: to be quiet enough to view the geese which we knew were floating on the pond through the woods.

Although the class at large was not exactly stealthy, the geese weren't spooked into flying away.  Instead, they simply evaded us as well as they could within the perimiter of the pond.  The geese were strangely quiet compared to their trademark honking, but the buses behind them and the cars on the road certainly weren't.  Other than that, the only sound was the wind.

The water was sparkling with sun, but the wind was cold.  It was hard to get a good picture of the far-off geese!

Observation Site Number Four! :D

At this point in the group's observations, my hands were utterly numb.  I'd forgotten my gloves but had volunteered to take observations anyway, and my handwriting at site four had become large and far less controlled. 

Traffic was now audible over the sounds of wind and leaves, and I was excited to get back into the warmth.  The sun's bright heat was almost taunting, not providing quite enough heat to combat the winter wind.  My toes, I feared, had frozen solid.

Our group searched the area for any sign of life, finally finding one resting in a crook of the large, dead tree we were inspecting.  It was a tiny, brown acorn which we hypothesize was split open and eaten by some woodland critter (probably a squirrel).  The squirrel snack is pictured above.

Observation Site Number Three!

Site Three was, in my opinion, the most fascinating of the day.  The wind had died down by the time we reached the point in the woods where the creek appeared, and the sun was warming us after having emerged from behind the clouds.

The wind could still be heard in the tops of the trees, but there was no running water.  A thin layer of ice had formed over the small pool, trapping autumn-bright leaves beneath cloudy natural glass. 

I know that, by this point, my hands and feet felt like they were frozen solid.  Looking at the frozen water, I almost felt surprised to see this tiny carpet of moss growing so close to the bank, and the ice. 

Observation Site Number Two!

The next site offered some relief from the sharp wind of the field's ridge as our group moved into the cover of the woods.  It was still cold, but the wind had certainly lessened.

We combed the immediate area for signs of life, listening to the sound of classmates' footsteps and voices.  Our group was not for lack of evidence by the end of this observation, as we found a patch of moss, some very hyped up rabbit feces, and an old leaf which seemed to have been munched on by an insect at some point in its life. 

Observation Site Number One!

At Observation Site Number One, the wind was blowing something fierce.  Thus, we began to feel as though we might freeze to death.  It was a cold day in the dead of winter, and it seemed at first like everything must be dead.

However, as we spread out to look at the ridge that was our first sight, we encountered signs of life.  As dead leaves and branches rattled around us, we came upon some scrubby pine trees and a little, smelly present left behind by an unknown animal in the middle of the path.  Said specemin can be viewed above!