It was chilly today when we went on our walk. It truly felt like autumn. The sun was brilliant. What a relief to see the sun after days of gray clouds and rain. We really wanted to find some wildlife today. I thought this was going to be a very big challenge considering our urban study area. However, we saw a squirrel, a wheel bug, and a ladybug who really wanted to go home with us (look closely at the photo of the crayon).
We also wanted to find a dead tree to follow for a year. We saw two possibilities. One of the trees we are considering was hard to get to but had interesting fungi on it. The second tree was easier to reach and was filled with termite and other bug holes. The second tree was covered with poison vines. I am not sure which one we are going to follow.
We checked the river to see how it was doing after all the rain. It was still high but not near the banks. The water was moving much faster than last week.
Next, we went to see our tree. We are trying to figure out if it is a Mountain Maple or Red Maple. We may not know for sure until spring when it flowers. We took bark rubbings of the tree and also did free hand drawings of the bark.
They added the drawings to their nature journals when we got home. It was another lovely nature study.
Blessings, Dawn
I love the bug up the top. I've never seen that before - is it the wheel bug you mentioned?
ReplyDeleteIt looks like you are all having a thoroughly lovely time.