Diario de landsb

On February 7th, 2019 at the Dixie Plantation in Hollywood, South Carolina, the weather was warm and partly cloudy. There was really no breeze and it was a bit humid. We wore waiters in order to walk through the swamps on the Plantation, retrieving traps for crawfish and any other possible specimens in the waters. We also walked through part of the woods and saw very many things. At the beginning of our walk, a single violet flower was spotted. I thought this was need seeing how we only one small violet flower through the whole trip and violets have a special meaning to me from my great grandmother so that was really neat to me. From the waters, we caught several crawfish from the Genus Procambarus. They were interesting in their claws and their abdomens. They kind of looked like mini lobsters to me. I also noticed that one claw seemed to be bigger. We also caught a Green Sunfish, a couple Pygmy Sunfishes, and a Southern Cricket Frog. The Green Sunfish was bigger than the Pygmy Sunfish and, unironically, had a more green hue to it. In the waters, a snake was spotted but we were unable to get a photo of it. It was most likely a Water Moccasin. Further down we observed more plants, the ones along a stream seemed to be a lot taller. I identified a Cane plant and Parrot's Feather. A little further down we found a Green Tree Frog, which I think was my favorite part of the trip. Walking through the woods I observed a mossy like plant on the ground and originally identified it as Star Moss because the leaves kind of form a star shape, but several other people correctly identified it as Atrichum. Through the woods we also spotted a trail of possible deer blood, which honestly made me concerned because just before we saw about eight deer run in that direction. A little further down were the bones of a deer. It had already been eaten likely by coyotes, but the skull was fully in tact and the ribs several other bones were still there, which was pretty neat to see. On the way back, there was a ton of Yaupon Holly which has a very interesting history.

On February 21, 2019, we walked through part of the Francis Marion National Forest. The weather this day was warm and very sunny with a little bit of a breeze. Along the trail I identified many Greenbriers and even Star Moss which I thought I had found at the Dixie Plantation. On top of two fallen logs, there were a couple of funguses, False Turkey Tail and Dyrad's Saddle. They both looked fairly similar with a round shape, irregular edges and grew off the log in the same way. The False Turkey Tail had interesting colors, I can see where it got its name from. Under the logs was a Horned Passalus Beetle which made a very weird noise and had a hard exoskeleton. Another interesting observation along the trail was an Airplant which really just looked like a ball of hay. There were many beautiful Oak Trees with Spanish Moss and some had Resurrection Ferns. Near an Oak Tree, I identified a Water Oak. At the edge of a creek we observed a Great Egret which I tried to capture with my phone through binoculars. A few minutes later, a small Alligator appeared near the Great Egret. I tried to get a photo but it was hard to distinguish the gator from the water and only the top of his head was above the water. Away from the water in the woods, I observed a lot more 'random' things. I spotted an Oriental False Hawksbeard, a Yellow Jessamine, a Gallberry bush, and a couple of Pineland Daisies. I thought this was interesting because most of them were single or there were only a couple in a small area. The woods were full of Longleaf Pines. At one point, above us were a group of birds flying above the tree line. We observed one to be a Bald Eagle and the others seemed to be vultures. I think this was my favorite part because I had never seen a Bald Eagle freely flying so closely and it was interesting to see it interacting with vultures.

On Thursday, February 28 we walked through part of the College of Charleston campus and down Bull Street near a small pond. That day it was 71 degrees, partly cloudy with a little bit of a breeze. Starting our walk we saw an Umbrella Papyrus which has an interesting history that I never connected. The plant was used for paper. We then saw an Eastern Redbud which was really pretty and reminded me of a cherry blossom. Walking through the cistern yard we of course saw all the oak trees which had Resurrection Fern which were all pretty much green from the recent rain. Near the alumni services we saw a Saw Palmetto which if you look closely at the base, it has things that stick out that look like pine needles. Near it was a Japanese Camellia bush which was really pretty but the edges of the petals look like there was either some deficiency or something damaging it. We found a Sago Cycad in a yard in front of one of the office buildings of cougar mall. I noticed these leaves were a very dark green and had very defined leaves. Finally after all the Holly we've seen on our trips, we observed an American Holly tree. Across the yard was a Saucer Magnolia which was really pretty, I also wonder what makes it have that pink hue. In the yard we also observed some Buckeyes which a few had already sprouted tiny little trees, I found this interesting because I honestly did not know that Buckeyes grew into trees. Walking towards Bull Street, we observed an Tsutsusi Azalea which was gorgeous and I would love to plant in my yard one day. I then saw a Cabbage Palmetto sprouting by the base of a tree, I found this interesting that it looked like it was literally growing from the tree. The leaves kind of remind me of a taco shape. We saw a fence covered in Yellow Jessamine, they sort of looked like honey suckles to me. A few yards away I observed a single blossom Japanese Kerria which I found really interesting. Not too far from that was a tree with Carolina Laurelcherry and a Souther Magnolia tree right by it. I love Magnolia trees and how big the leaves are. We also observed a Red Maple tree and I noticed that it's 'veins' were red and wonder if thats why they named it Red Maple. A little further in a driveway I noticed a Japanese Camellia bush again, but this one looked a little different kind of in a bad way. I wonder why the ones in this are looks much more lifeless than the other ones. Right on the edge of the sidewalk we observed a Chusan Palm which is poisonous, so it's kind of questionable why someone would put that right next to a sidewalk. In some bushes we found a Green Anole, I usually hate lizards but this one was kind of cute and I think it was my favorite part of this trip.