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!