Diario de adorapitcock

This past weekend I had gone into San Francisco to meet up with friends before we went out on a boat in the bay. Before meeting up with them I was able to observe a Western Honey Bee and a Showy Honey-Myrtle before noon. Going out into the city was enjoyable since I have not been able to do that recently and it was nice to also see some nature. I think the time of day did not affect what I was able to see but there may have been less people if I had gone earlier. It also would have been better if I had gone out earlier in the morning due to how hot it was, so I will take that into account for next time.

During this week, I could not go out as much as I would like besides when I went out to San Francisco earlier in the week. I saw a common hibiscus (I think) and was able to take a picture of it. I've still been struggling with using iNaturalist and learning how to upload pictures of the species I observe. I think something I need to improve on with my photos is taking more than one and taking pictures from multiple angles to get more in-depth photos of the species. I also will start bringing my camera out to get more professional photos.

Unfortunately, I didn't go out this week at all due to a super bad cold. My sister has been going back to school in person which means she's also bringing back colds she's been getting. I've been staying home and quarantining just so I don't spread it to the rest of my family. In the meantime though, I have been working more on iNaturalist and learning how to use it, and finally downloading the app on my phone to make uploading photos while out a lot easier. iNaturalist has helped me to make a list of places I want to travel to in the coming weeks to observe different phyla. Next week I am going further up north and hope to make more observations there.

This weekend we went up to Lake Siskiyou to celebrate my brother's 21st birthday. I was hoping to make a lot of observations of the different kinds of species up in this area but there weren't many out. When we got up to Lake Siskiyou we found out that almost the whole lake was emptied out so there weren't many animals around during the daytime. I was able to take a picture of a Chinese Mystery Snail I found while walking out towards where the middle of the lake used to be. I was able to take some photos of the dried-out lake and bear tracks and possibly elk tracks ( I'm not sure if elks reside in that area but the prints resembled that). It's interesting to see how the fires in California and climate change have affected the lowering water levels of lakes and how it is affecting species' environments in the area with them coming out at different times. Hopefully, the water levels will slowly start rising in lakes again.

This past weekend we went to a pumpkin patch and I saw some baby Juliana pigs that I took some pictures of. I don't believe that can be included as a species observation since they were captive animals instead of wild.

Today I made it out for a run which is something I haven't done since June. I ran from my house to Sharp Park Beach and was able to make some quick observations along the run. I observed silver beachweed, a European Searocket plant, Chilean sea fig, and a tree I believe is called Pōhutukawa. The run was a little disappointing since I only ran about 0.88 miles, but we all have to start somewhere. If I could redo the run I probably would've gone out earlier in the day since I went out at 5 o'clock and it was super hot and crowded with people walking to Mori Point. Next week I plan to go to Fitzgerald Marine Reserve with my family and hopefully make a few observations there.

I made it out to Fitzgerald Marine Reserve this weekend, but I completely forgot to check the tide tables, so of course, when I arrived it was high tide so I wasn't able to get out to the tide pools. It ended up working out in the end though because we drove back to Pacifica and I was able to make an observation of two different bird species at Rockaway Beach which is a new phylum I can add to my taxonomy table at the end of the project. The next day, I went out with some friends to Frontierland Park in Pacifica. We found some cool steps there that led to a trail near the park. While going up the trail I was able to find two different species of fern and some moss. I think we went at a good time in the day because there weren't many people out and it was a good temperature. Next week I want to go out on Devil's Slide Trail and make some more observations. Also, this coming week I will go on some walks around my neighborhood in hopes of finding some worms or fungi.