Week 4

Week 4: Noticing the Biotic and Abiotic Changes


The day's details: Sun out all day, mid 60s F, shaded in my area with a little sunlight coming through from the west, yet the ground was slightly damp, no wind.

Before I identify 5 invertebrates at my nature site, I wanted to document some of the new species I am seeing and able to identify on my own through what I have learned through field work in class.

Species I have been able to identify on my own:
(Pictured below)

Sword Fern
Western Red Cedar
Salmon Berry
Holly Bush
Beaked Hazelnut
Pacific Yew and
Douglas Fir

I looked back at my albums for my previous weeks of observation of this area and there are a lot more leaves on the ground.  When I first found my area there was a definite trace on the forest floor that it was most definitely fall.  Compared to now, where I have to physically move leaves from the ground to see what is growing, or living beneath.
The only new species arrivals that I have seen so far this week were probably the teeny tiny ones I was neglecting, that I will go into more detail about below, and the new bird that flew into my line of sight as I entered my nature area.
Below are fuzzy pictures of this particular Chestnut-Backed Chickadee. (located in the middle of both)

http://www.inaturalist.org/observations/cmmaylor

The five invertebrates sketched in pictures (with noted details) below are a few centipedes, two different spiders, one Daddy-long Leg-Arachnid class, a Banana Slug-Gastropod class, and a Common Pillbug-Crustacean class. 

The centipedes sketched, and in a photo below, are unclassified right now on my iNaturalist site because I am not positive, if they are of the centipede class or a larvae that I can not distinguish yet. 

The invertebrate above seemed so small that it might not be a centipede, but perhaps a larvae of some kind.  They were existing on a leaf that was resting upright against the wood of an old fallen tree stump.  They did not move for the entirety that I sat there sketching them and observing them. 

The spider above moved so quickly across the leaf on which I found it, I hardly had time to take a picture of it.  In the end I gave up and just tried to be still and watch it skitter across the small bush's leaves.  Luckily for me, it ended up looking a lot like daddy-long leg picture n Audubon's field guide.  I also have lots of these spiders in my garage at home so I am used to this particular spider.  When it was scurrying away from me, it couldn't have really run directly away, he went more down under the leaves to escape me. 

The banana slug above was about 12 paces away from my central point near the creek, so I infer that this slug isn't too fond of the wet.  It was also in a pretty dry area, which is impressive because my area is typically pretty damp since I am near the creek and under a lot of trees.
Last but not least is the pill bug I found when got on my stomach to look closer at the forest floor.  I lowered myself down so that I could take a look at what was under the tree stump.  There I found the pill bug, studied it, and then did a memory sketch because I had to stand up.  I then reached back under the stump and picked out this pill bug, mostly because I always did that as a kid, and it curled up into its instinctive ball, where I sketched it again.  Then I set the little guy in a place that I could easily see it and sketch it while it was out on its legs exploring the tree log I put him on.

Cassie Maylor