Diario de sheetalbhatia

This week I did not go anywhere in particular as I already have 10 phylums covered and I also had quite a busy schedule. However, I did go on a few walks this week around my neighborhood and particularly on November 18 around 4:30pm, I found some moss on a tree near my house. It was a little cloudy and cold outside and I walked about 3,000 steps in total during that walk. In addition, I didn't find too many mushrooms on my walk on November 16 around 1:15pm; however, I did find some along the edge of the sidewalk pavement where it met the front yard of one my neighbor's homes. It was a little cooler that day as well and I tracked an incline equivalent to 8 flights of stairs.

This week I went to Kiteboard Beach at Mariners Point in Foster City. I went around 1:15pm on November 12 as I expected the tide to be low during that time. The tide was very low and shoreline was covered in sea lettuce and alga as well as sponges. The temperature was quite warm since the suns rays were beaming down as I looked around the beach, and there was little to no breeze. My main goal was to just find a sponge which I did in fact find as they were abundant along the shoreline. However, I tried to find one with some color to it so that it may be easier to identify as almost all of them were brown. Fortunately I ended up finding a sponge with a orange/red color. I also found an abundance of mushrooms on November 9 during a walk around my neighborhood. Hopefully my sponge or one mushroom that I found get verified as I am in need of one more phylum.

This week, once again, I was very busy and didn't have any time to go anywhere. However, I wasn't too worried about not getting any observations into iNaturalist because I knew there would probably be many different mushrooms, most likely bigger and more apparent ones, since its been about two weeks since it has rained with off and on showers. I took yet another walk around my neighborhood from 12:45-1:15pm on November 2, trying to find as many mushrooms as I could and just as I expected I found a wide variety of different mushrooms! I tracked around 2,473 steps with an incline equivalent to 8 flights of stairs. As it has been my second week of observing mushrooms, I looked particularly closely in areas where I thought they would be growing. For example, near rocks, in small damp crevices, along the edge of the sidewalk where the grass and cement meet and where water may collect, as well as general areas of damp grass. I expect to have more time next week to possibly visit Coyote Point Marina in Foster City or possibly Laurelwood Park in San Mateo.

This week I was very busy in terms of my schedule so I didn't get a chance to go anywhere. However, thankfully it rained an ample amount about a week ago and has been drizzling over the past week so I was hoping to find some mushrooms. I went on a walk around 1:45 to 2:20 pm on October 30 around my neighborhood, expecting to find some mushrooms sprouted above the ground. I took about 1,700 steps in addition to an equivalent of 7 flights in incline. A lot of my neighbors had gorilla hair in their front yard, most of which was already dried up, so it was hard to find mushrooms along the edges of those yards. Although, there were a few homes that had soil in the front yard that was still wet near the edge of the sidewalk and I luckily found some mushrooms there. The most common places where I found mushrooms were next to a big rock or in small crevices. I hope to possibly go to Kiteboard Beach at Mariners Point in Foster City next week to find some sponges.

This week I had a very busy schedule and barely had time to go outside. However, I did manage to go on a walk outside around my neighborhood after it had rained. I expected to possibly see some earthworms, but the sidewalks were drying up so there weren't too many in plain sight. Some may have dried up and thus, not easy to distinguish. Although, I did find one earthworm that looked like it may have been stepped on, then dried up since its posterior end looked shriveled up. It hasn't been raining long enough for the mushrooms to emerge from the soil so I am looking forward to going outside next week and in the hopes of finding some different mushrooms which I have yet to observe.

Today I went with my bestie Carson to Fitzgerald Marine Reserve and Pescadero State Beach. We first arrived at Fitzgerald Marine Reserve around 9:30 am this morning. The weather was not too cold or warm, but it was breezy. We climbed some onto some rocks to look tidepools and we did in fact find some up on the higher rocks as the tide was somewhat high. I found some sea anemones, barnacles, and a dead crab. There were also a lot of red algae washed up from the tide. After spending about 45 minutes there we then went to Pescadero State Beach where I also saw an anemone, but there weren't any crustaceans visible. We spent about 40 minutes there as well. There were a lot of rocks and inclines we had to go through in order to explore the beach as much as we could. In total I walked about 3,500 steps. It would be hard to go at low tide which would be very early in the morning and later in the evening since it's a far drive for us. However, I will definitely go again to Fitzgerald Marine Reserve, possibly during the evening to look for other aquatic organisms such as starfish.

This week I went to Seal Point Park, Ryder Park and Mariners Point in Foster City. I arrived at Ryder Park around 3:00pm and was in search of some birds. It was quite windy, yet the weather was still pretty warm. I walked a total of 4,000 steps with no major incline. I first visited Ryder Park where I found quite a few different plants as well as what I thought to be a wasp. I then crossed a small bridge to Seal Point Park where I found a butterfly and some other plant species in addition to many different birds. After this, I drove to Mariners Point which was further down the street where there was a small isolated beach. The tide was high so it was difficult to find crabs and snails. However, I did in fact find some sea lettuce washed up on the shoreline. I hope to visit again when the sea is very low so it may be best to visit during the morning hours.

This week I did not get to visit Half Moon Bay as my allergies acted up quite severely resulting in my stay at home for most of the week. However, I did in fact get to find many species of lichen around my neighborhood. On September 29, I went on a walk around my neighborhood and found not only lichens, but flowers, a lizard, and a wolf spider as well. I began this walk around 2 pm so it was quite warm outside. I walked up and down hills and had an overall count of 3000 steps. I also uploaded some observations that I took last week from Central Park which I did not upload last week (the observation of the American Crow was from today). Next week I hope to visit the Fitzgerald Marine Reserve in Half Moon Bay to find different crabs and other types of aquatic animals.

This week I went with my good friend Carson to both Central Park and Mariners Point. We first visited Central Park in San Mateo around 9:15 am in the morning. However, it was still quite warm especially for the morning hours. We walked around the park for a good hour and a half while visiting the Japanese Tea Garden as well as the rose garden. I saw quite a few honey bees, squirrels, butterflies, and bumble bees which I managed to capture photos of. I did see a hummingbird, however it is very difficult to take photos of them because they are so fast and it's hard to get close enough in order to get a clear picture. After spending some time there, we then visited a small beach at Mariners Point in Foster City and the tide was quite low so we were able to see many snails, clam shells, dried up seaweed and barnacles (most of which appeared dried out). We spent about an hour at the beach exploring the shoreline and in between the crevices of the rocky areas near the water. I hope to possibly visit some beaches in Half Moon Bay next week as I have heard there are small crabs and other aquatic species that may be found there.

This week I walked around my neighborhood (Baywood Park area in San Mateo) to find some interesting looking plants. I've walked down the streets of my neighborhood before many times on my leisure time or for exercise and have seen many fascinating looking plants so I wanted to keep my eye out for unique looking plants this time, and that is exactly what I did! I went for a walk from 4 to 5 pm and observed many different plants. It was a little warm outside and a few of the plants I saw were damp from being watered. I did not see any birds at all the vicinity or any that were flying as I expect that they would be more active during the morning hours. I did in fact see many salamanders, however, they are so quick it's hard to take a picture of them up close without them running away. I hope to visit a city park next week, possibly Leo J. Ryan Park in Foster City as I have seen a variety of birds, specifically ducks, during the afternoon hours.