Sit And Watch...

In order to be completely honest, I will first say that my sit and watch was fairly dull.  The sights included a view of the clear sky, which was dotted with a few wispy white cirrus clouds.  The first thing I noticed with my sense of sight was that my ecosystem now has water.  This is phenomenal, considering I have completed all but one entry without my water.  After about 4 minutes, I see a large bird fly by.  According to my compass, he is flying south, which makes sense because winter is approaching.  In retrospect, I should have photographed these things, but I unfortunately never get my camera out quickly enough.  I feel the wind, which is stronger than usual today.  from the way I am facing, it is hitting me directly in the face.  I can hear a constant buzz and clicking sound of the murmuring katydids.  They sort of become part of the background after a while, and I get completely used to them.  I see the weeds that are growing out of the creek area.  Despite the inconvenience in journaling, I am glad I had the opportunity to see the bottom of the creek without water in it.  The pliant stems of weeds and grasses are softly swaying with the breeze.  Not harshly, but still swiftly.  After fifteen minutes, it is very slightly darker and  the wind is no longer hitting me in the face.  I did not witness very much wildlife in action, but my dormant ecosystem still had it's high points to observe.

Another Update!!

December 2, 2010

3:41 PM

Detailed Weather: 

Wind - 

• More wind than I have ever seen in my ecosystem! There was a heavier breeze, though nowhere near the storm yesterday.  
• Beaufort Scale: 5
• North: I confirmed this by bringing a compass and measuring 

Clouds - 

• There were large puffy white clouds covering the majority of the sky.  
• They were very light grey to white, and puffy like cotton balls.
• cumulus clouds.  

Temperature -

• Air: 36° Fahrenheit
• Fahrenheit to Celsius: 

     

C = (36 - 32) x 5/9

C = 4 x 5/9

C = 4/1 x 5/9

C = 20/9

C = 2.22222222222222222222222

• 2.2222222222° Celsius
• Water:  The storm yesterday brought my water back!  Woho!  
• Water Temperature: 25° Fahrenheit

• C = (25 - 32) x 5/9
• C = -7 x 5/9
• C = -7/1 x 5/9
• C = -35/9 
• C = -3.88888888888888

Water Temperature = -3.88888° Celsius

General Observations: 

Measurements - 

• Bur oak tree branch - 64.75 inches 
• inches to centimeters conversion - 

2.54n = c

2.54(64.75) = c

c = 164.465

• bur oak tree branch = 164.465 cm
• water depth: 9 inches
• inches to centimeters conversion

2.54n = c

2.54(9) = c

22.86 = c

• water temperature = 22.86 centimeters: Not bad! 

Biota - 

• 2 bur oak trees
• common green foxtail
• crabgrass
• common virtuoso katydid

Differences from previous months - 

• Seasonal changes: 
• Because of the huge storm yesterday, I finally have water!  This will make my ecosystem visits far more interesting
• It is getting MUCH colder!  
• I am required to visit earlier now because it gets dark so much earlier

• my bur oak tree "measuring branch" has grown since last month by a total of 8.255 centimeters.  I wonder if the tree will continue to grow in the winter or stop? 
• It seemed completely abandoned now.  Very little vegetation, and no animals.  Hardly any insects as well.  

November Entry

Ms. Sbarro,
I wrote down my November Entry and never got around to blogging it, so that is why I am posting both entries tonight!

November 24, 2010

1:12 PM

Detailed Weather: 

Wind - 

• Very light wind.  It sort of went on and off but was never above a 2 on the Beaufort Scale.  
• Beaufort Scale: 1-2
• East: I brought a compass and turned until the wind was blowing my hair away from my head.  I read the compass as East.  

Clouds - 

• There were many white cirrus clouds, but the sky was somewhat clear.  The clouds were high in the sky, so most of the sky did not have clouds.   
• They were very purely white.
• cirrus clouds.  

Temperature -

• Air: 50° Fahrenheit
• Fahrenheit to Celsius: 

     

C = (50 - 32) x 5/9

C = 18 x 5/9

C = 18/1 x 5/9

C = 90/9

C = 10

• 10° Celsius
• Water: my water is still dried up!!! argh!  We need rain! 

General Observations: 

Measurements - 

• Bur oak tree branch - 61.5 inches 
• inches to centimeters conversion - 

2.54n = c

2.54(61.5) = c

c = 156.21

• bur oak tree branch = 156.21 cm
• water depth: my water is still dried up!!

Biota - 

• 2 bur oak trees
• common green foxtail
• 1 wild turkey 
• miniature daisy
• 
  

Differences from previous months - 

• Seasonal changes: 
• NO leaves on BOTH bur oak trees!  
• Fewer leaves on the ground
• Temperature dropping again - it is the afternoon and the same temperature as nighttime last month.  
• I went in the afternoon this time, since we had the day off.  There was much of a difference in the wildlife.  There were no crickets, since they come out at night.  I saw a wild turkey walking through the woods multiple times, but I didn't get my camera out quickly enough.  

• my bur oak tree "measuring branch" has grown since last month by a total of 4.17 centimeters. 
• Last month I noticed some holes in the ground.  This time, the holes have been covered up.  Animals like groundhogs are hibernating.