sábado, 07 de diciembre de 2019

iNaturalist Outing #3

19/11/29 @1200hrs
Belt line trail in Toronto
Weather was 0 degrees Celcius with little wind and no precipitation, slightly sunny but mostly cloudy.

For my third iNaturalist outing on I took a 45 minute walk along the Kay Gardener Belt Line in Toronto which is a 9km long path lined by small forested sections, and connects to a park. I spent the first half of my walk along the belt line noticing mainly rodent species of American Red Squirrel (Tamiasciurus hudsonicus), Eastern Chipmunks (Tamias striatus), and some Eastern Grey squirrels (Sciurus carolinensis). There were different kinds of trees, some coniferous but mainly deciduous. I could identify some of the tree types as pine, maple, birch, oak, white ash, and cedar. The beltline in Toronto has a thin forest that lines the trail as a barrier for backyards of homes that back onto the Beltline. I had a feeling I would not see a variety of species because it is now winter and the species diversity changes especially during this time. It was also the coldest it had been so far in November so I predicted only seeing rodent kinds of animals and minimal birds. There were various kinds of scat that I think were from rabbits, and possibly skunks. There was some dead common milkweed along the Beltline near some dead indistinguishable shrubs.

Publicado el sábado, 07 de diciembre de 2019 a las 01:17 AM por diana_davey diana_davey | 0 comentarios | Deja un comentario

iNaturalist Outing #2

Second outing – Waterloo Park
Main grass area & forested area lining Laurel Stream that runs through Waterloo Park. Weather was 0 degree Celcius with some wind and slight overcast. Habitat would be classified as grass area and forest.
19/10/18 @1300 hrs

On October 18 I did my second iNaturalist outing at Waterloo Park, and walked along the main forested grass area, into the forested area by the stream (Laurel stream). The duration of this outing was 60 minutes in length. I had more luck on this excursion with actually seeing species, and not just evidence of species e.g. scat, or footprints. The first species we noticed was the Eastern Grey squirrel (Sciurus carolinensis) running through the forest floor up a maple tree. There was lots of Common buckthorn (Rhamnus cathartica) intermittent through the forest. Dead Common teasel (Dipsacus fullonum) was also present by the shrub areas. I heard the crow of the Common raven (Corvus corax) and then later saw a few near the end of my outing. Some mushrooms were noticed on the sides of various trees, the unidentified mushrooms could be dryad’s saddle and with further research this confirmed my guess. There were no ducks swimming in stream, but I saw several different kinds of birds. The most distinct was colour poking through the trees of the Northern Cardinal (Cardinalis cardinalis) and then in contrast with the blue of the Blue Jay (Cyanoccita cristata). It was easy to spot the birds because of their bright colours and constant moving between the tree branches. There were many crows circling around just above the treeline and squawking quite loudly, the sound helped us identify the American crows (Corvus brachyrhynchos).

Publicado el sábado, 07 de diciembre de 2019 a las 01:04 AM por diana_davey diana_davey | 0 comentarios | Deja un comentario

iNaturalist Outing #1

Header: 19/09/25 @1500 hrs, Waterloo Campus grass area before bridge across from EV3 leading to St. Paul’s Residence. Weather was about 22 Celsius, little gusts of wind, no precipitation, sunny with minor moments of cloud cover. Habitat would be classified as a grassland near a river.
Topic: ERS 346 Outing #1

On September 25, 2019 I did my first iNaturalist outing at Laurel Creek stream that runs through campus, near the bridge crossing from EV3 to the University College Residences (St. Paul’s). The area surrounding the streams edge was slightly forested with various species of trees, coniferous and deciduous, with grass lining the area between the trees and the main road leading to the stream. I heard the distinct sound of a woodpecker, but did not see what species of woodpecker it was. I’m guessing it may have been a pileated woodpecker or red-bellied woodpecker (Melanerpes carolinus) because they are two common woodpeckers in the Region of Waterloo at the end of summer. I observed scat that looked like it was from rabbit because I see very similar scat at my cottage and it is from a jack rabbit that lives near there. The shape of the scat in comparison with an ID website also helped confirm this educated guess of an Eastern Cottontail. In the forested area that lines the section of the creek I observed, I also saw a black-capped chickadee. The defined song for the bird “chicka-dee-dee-dee” confirmed my prediction. In the stream I watched for the longest time of my outing, and I saw a mallard, and another indistinguishable duck. With research after my outing I narrowed this duck to being a Northern Pintail. I smelled lots of geese poop and saw plenty on the grass, although I did not see any common geese during my outing. I walk by this area a lot so I know geese are usually in that area, and that is why there is so much poop there. In my final minutes of observing I saw an Eastern Grey Squirrel, American Red Squirrel, and an Eastern Chipmunk. I had help confirming my animal ID’s with iNaturalist.ca. Some other tree species I noticed were oak, white birch, and beechwood.

Publicado el sábado, 07 de diciembre de 2019 a las 12:53 AM por diana_davey diana_davey | 0 comentarios | Deja un comentario

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