Field Study over time(all 6 visits)

Panorama facing away from the lake

1st Field Visit

September 7, 2018

2nd Field Visit

September 30, 2018

3rd Field Visit

October 14, 2018


4th Field Visit
October 31, 2018
Panorama(today is from the opposite direction)

5th Field Visit

November 17, 2018

6th Field Visit

November 28, 2018

Picture of part of the game trail

1st Field Visit

September 7, 2018

2nd Field Visit

September 30, 2018

3rd Field Visit

October 14, 2018

4th Field Visit
October 31, 2018
Picture of part of the game trail(or as close as I could get)

5th Field Visit

November 17, 2018

6th Field Visit
November 28, 2018

6th and final field visit :(

6th Field Visit

November 28, 2018

Official photographs:

Panorama facing away from the lake

Picture of part of the game trail

Date: November 28, 2018

Time: 5:05 -- 5:40

Weather: Cloudy, light precipitation

Temperature: 27˚F

Temperature of the water: 32˚F

Length of Day: 9 hours, 19 minutes

Organism Observations: Since winter is now in full swing, there's just about no animals moving around. I was hoping to see some of the birds that live here year-round, but it was misting, and they were probably in their nests keeping warm. Most of the mammals have either moved away, or are taking it slow during the cold parts of the year. 

Organism Photographs: 

Tracks of small animals, the only sign of life I saw.

Other Observations: The snow has finally stuck, so now that most of the ground is covered, we have a sort of winter wonderland that reminds me of a Norman Rockwell canvas. It was near dark when I came to my field study, so the pictures, especially the panorama, were not nearly as high quality as usual. This, along with the lack of animals today, is to be expected, however, with the coming of winter and shortening of the days. Overall, I enjoyed the opportunity to participate in this semester-long project, and hope that further studies into biology will allow me to do something like this again someday.

Other Photographs:
                                                       The path to the lake is frozen!

 The sandbar is almost completely submerged.

 A picture fit(almost) for a Norman Rockwell canvas.

 The small inlet on the East side of the lake(and dad's truck).

 The south side of the lake.

 The rocks are totally covered in snow.

                                                          

5th field visit

5th Field Visit

November 17, 2018

Official photographs:

Panorama facing away from the lake

Picture of part of the game trail

Date: November 17, 2018

Time: 11:10 -- 11:48

Weather: Overcast, sporadic snow, 5 mph winds from the west

Temperature: 38˚F

Temperature of the water: 35˚F

Length of Day: 9 hours, 39 minutes

Organism Observations: Now that winter has set in, there's not as much animal activity to be observed. Many of the birds and mammals are less active in the cold weather. I seriously doubt that the heron or the hawks are going to be constantly flying around in this weather like they did earlier in the year. I did hear the call of a few chickadees and some crows, the latter of which I saw flying around, but there were no squirrels, turtles, or fish. All the trees have lost their leaves, so I missed out on seeing their best fall colors, as the last time I came out here, I was forced to observe from a different vantage point(the sandbar was 14 inches under water). The ground is still too warm for the snow to stick, so I am still waiting to see a winter wonderland, but I have a feeling that it will be here the next time I return! 

Organism Photographs: Sadly, I have no organism pictures.

Other Observations: Thank the Lord that the water level has receded, because I only had my boots to go on. Had the water been higher, the sandbar would have been completely flooded still, and I would have had to cross over a creek that was well over its normal banks. Nevertheless, I took the water temperature as normal, and got a reading of 35˚F. Unfortunately, in my doing so, I had stepped into water that was too deep, and water filled my right boot, so I had almost freezing water in my boot the whole way home!

Other Photographs:

                                                              The view across the lake

There's the road 

 The sandbar is still pretty small

 The creek is still wild

4th field visit: Houston, we have a problem

4th Field Visit
October 31, 2018
"Houston, we have a problem"


Panorama(today is from the opposite direction)
Normal

Today

Picture of part of the game trail(or as close as I could get)

         Well, we appear to have a slight problem, don't we? I drove up to my field study location, which is a sandbar in a lake, and noticed that it was fully and completely under water. After some investigation, I concluded that the sand is at least two and a half feet under water. Now, how long it takes for the water to recede I do not know. I am open to suggestions as to how to reach it, perhaps with waders, or to observe from a dry vantage point. Anyway, I did not get many organism observations, and would like to request an extension into next week.

Date: October 31, 2018

Time: 3:41 -- 4:20

Weather: Sunny, no wind

Temperature: 52˚F

Temperature of the water: 52˚F

Length of Day: 10 hours, 19 minutes

Organism Observations: There were very few organisms, probably because I was basically observing from the road. All I saw was a crow fly by, and while driving on the way to the field study, I saw a deer on the side of the road just standing there at the edge of a field.

Organism Photographs: None
Other Photographs:
                                     I observed from that concrete pipe in the foreground
                                           (The sandbar is directly above it in the picture)

The creek was flowing very quickly today!

 Is this supposed to be a bridge?

That's what I have to go over to get to field study

                                                     

3rd field visit

3rd Field Visit

October 14, 2018

Official photographs:

Panorama facing away from the lake

Picture of part of the game trail

Date: October 14, 2018

Time: 5:32 -- 6:10

Weather: Mostly Sunny, 6 mph winds from the West

Temperature: 55˚F

Temperature of the water: 57˚F

Length of Day: 11 hours, 5 minutes

Organism Observations: Today, I finally caught that Great Blue Heron on camera! I was walking out on the sand when I saw a large bird with long legs flying toward the lake. I promptly recognized it, and was able to get my camera on and take two pictures before it flew out of effective camera range. Although I did not see them at the lake, I believe that some deer had been walking in the sand, as there were tracks leading up to the water. My theory was strengthened because as we were driving back home, less than a mile away from my study location, several deer were walking through a corn field. There were also some assorted birds and insects. I heard several crows cawing, and crickets chirping. Unfortunately, the sounds of nearby animals were overshadowed by the rather loud water in the nearby creek. It has been raining on and off this week, and there was a lot of excess water running into the lake, and boy, was it loud. Finally, on the way out, less than 500 feet up the road, there was a raccoon that appeared to have been run over a short time ago. It was not the prettiest sight, and if you don't like disturbing pictures, I would advise you to stop reading right about now.

Organism Photographs:

                                                      Found the Great Blue Heron

Deer tracks

Where do they lead to? (The lake)

 ROADKILL!!

 

 Up close, it's not so pretty

Other Observations: Since Summer is now turning to Fall(finally), I was able to explore a game trail that runs south from my plot, and I made an interesting discovery. There were some steel posts standing in the ground behind a fallen log. They were in a straight line, but there was nothing else around them. I can only think that it is a "No Trespassing" sign of sorts, because the Van Andel family owns property in the area, so they probably want people to stay off. Also, my plot had a different shape, since there has been a ton of rain recently. The sandbar had shrunk, and extended farther West into the lake, and the creek leading into the lake was overflowing. 

Other Photographs:

                                                               Changing fall colors

 Overflowing creek

 Litter on the trail!

 Posts in the ground

The sandbar is changing shape! 

2nd field visit

2nd Field Visit

September 30, 2018

Official photographs:

Panorama facing away from the lake

Picture of part of the game trail

Date: September 30, 2018

Time: 3:12 --3:50

Weather: Overcast with light rain showers, 5 mph winds from the West

Temperature: 50˚F

Temperature of the water: 65˚F

Length of Day: 11 hours, 45 minutes

Organism Observations: Although it was rainy today, there were significantly more animals present than during my last visit. There were numerous birds calling out to each other constantly. Unfortunately, they were very camera-shy, and I got only a few pictures. Right when I arrived, I saw a heron of some kind, most likely a green or juvenile great blue heron. Several other species of birds were flying around, mostly those who stay in the winter, such as cardinals, and chickadees. Several of them were calling out to one another, especially the cardinals. One other kind of bird was there, the only one I got a picture of, albeit at long range. It was sitting in a dead tree, and was quite large. I could not see enough of it to identify it, but it was most likely some kind of hawk. While walking to the lake, I came across some bark that had apparently fallen off the tree. On the inside of the bark was an insect that looked like a roly-poly bug, but it was too small, so it would be reasonable to assume that it has been carving some of the tunnels. Overall, there were more animals, but I still noticed a lack of mammals in the ecosystem.

Organism Photographs:

                                The Hawk is sitting in the dead tree looking for lunch

A little bug is sitting in the bark, perhaps it is the organism who carved the tunnels

Other Observations: A few trees have begun their turn to fall colors, so more pictures about that will probably be forthcoming. Also, I saw a few fish jumping in the water, so eventually, I would like try and catch one.

Other Photographs:

A rainy day at the lake

Leaves starting to turn fall colors

Questions/Comments: None at this time.