Observation #9 (the final one)

I was going to have the beaver pursuit be my last observation, but instead I decided to have one last one comparing my site from when I first started until now. There was still snow covering the ground during my first observation and now there is tons of vegetation that has completely taken over. Over this entire process, I have become more aware of the different species of birds and plants that are everywhere around Jackson. The amount of birds occupying my area was absolutely fascinating. The massive amounts of birds would just swoop out of nowhere in every direction. One thing that I realized I have neglected to mention throughout this entire project is that I have a terrible fear of birds. I have been attacked on multiple occasions by birds in neighborhood so over the years my fear of birds has continued to escalate. I was super proud of myself for persisting in my observations despite my terrible fear. Honestly, I thought that this project was going to be extremely boring, but it actually turned out to be rather interesting!

Observation #8 (the incredible beaver persuit!!)

Instead of doing my normal observation at my site, I decided to go on a quest for beavers. It was around 8:00 at night and 46 degrees. Luckily, the rain had subsided and there were only some clouds. I was very pessimistic at first because I thought there would be no way I would see a beaver dam let alone a beaver. Reluctantly, I drove down Fishe Creek Road and searched for beaver dams in the creek. As I was driving over a cattle guard, I swas this big pile of sticks on the side of the road. I honestly didn't think much of it other that it being a big pile that someone had discarded. As I continued on, I decided to turn around just to make sure that it was nothing more than a pile of sticks. I pulled off to the side of the road and went to investigate. Immeadiatly, I realized it was a beaver dam! Not only was there one beaver dam, but there were four! My assumption is that the four dams must have been the creation of one beaver family because I doubt there would be enough resources for multiple beaver populations. As I looked around, I became aware that all of the trees and willows had been completely gnawed down. It was absolutly incredible to witness the astonishing amount of work that the beavers must have put in to establish such complex dams. I was able to see how the beaver's dams were capable of slowing the water and creating a larger niche for themselves as well as other organisms. I examined the branches that the beavers had chewed down and I was able to see exactly where their teeth had sawed through the wood. Needing to get a closer look, I crept down towards the creek, careful not to disturb anything. As much as I had wanted to, I knew that I would probably not be able to see the actual beavers because they would be hiding away in their dams from the predator (me) that was lurking near thir home. I stood there for a while longer andall othe the sudden, I saw a little baby beaver swimming!!! The little beaver did not seem to mind me at all; it just swam around and did flips with it's large, flat tail following behind. It was so fascinating to watch this little baby beaver and then, another little one came out and joined it! They were so adorable, but I had to leave eventually so I returned home and left them in peace.

Observation #7

Today was a rainy day for the most part, but during my observation it was actually really nice. It was right as the sun was about to set behind the mountains around 7:26. I think that the thermometer in our car was temporarily broken because it said it was 50 degrees, but it felt more like 40 to me. There was a party going on with a whole bunch of really noisy kids taking place right near where my observation sight so the birds seemed to be hiding in their nests. They were not to scared though because as I sat there, they swooped out from the tops of trees to catch there food. I saw an abundance of yellow warblers flying from tree to tree. One even landed on a branch right near me until it noticed that I was right next to it and it flew away. I saw the male and female mallard ducks that I have seen on several other occasions. There were also a couple of birds that were blue, black, and white. While waiting for something interesting to happen, I saw a population of hummingbirds swarming around a tree. There were many other species of birds flying around, but I was unable to identify them because they flew to fast and they blended into the trees. The bugs were everywhere. They probably enjoyed the muggy air from the days of rain that we have had.
The flora at my observation site was flourishing. There is an abundance of dandelions and other species of weeds invading the are as well as several other types of plants. To my disappointment, the forget-me-nots have still neglected to bloom. There are countless forget-me-not bundles lining the stream, but none of them have a single flower on them. All of the willows have green leaves on them. Although it is still very early in the season, some even seem to be going to seed. I saw some moss growing on the bark of a tree which is new to my area. The larger trees such as the aspens have grown new, bright green leaves. All of the rich vegetation that is continuously emerging is making everything look more like summer!

Flora Report

Shauna North
Ms. Overly
4th Hour
May 22, 2008

Fireweed
Fireweed, whose scientific name is Epilobium angustifolium is given its name because it is usually the first plant to establish itself after a fire. The fireweed is extremely important to the burnt ecosystem because it spreads easily and colonizes the primary community. Within a single year, fireweed is capable of taking over a completely charred area due to its rapidly spreading seeds.
The beautiful blossoms of the fireweed are magenta pink to purple. Each flower has four petals that are clustered in groups of over fifteen per stem. The flowers begin to bloom at the bottom of the steam and slowly work their way up to the top. The blooming occurs in June through September. The stem can grow anywhere from one to seven feet tall, is thick and has an abundance of leaves growing up it. The fruit of fireweed comes in the form of seed pods with 300-500 seeds in each. When the seed pod splits, it releases small, fluffy, white seeds. The large amounts of seeds that are dispersed by the wind promote the rapid production of fireweed. The primary conditions for the growth of fireweed are full sunlight or with slight shade and little to no water. These requirements are the reason why fireweed is so successful after a fire.
Fireweed is key to primary succession because it is the first organism to take over an area after a large disturbance such as a fire. It colonizes the community and encourages the growth of other plant life, helping the new community replace the old one. Another advantage of the fireweed is that it has many healing qualities such as healing a sore throat, reducing the itching of eczema, a pain reducer, and more. Like most organisms, with benefits come drawbacks. Although fireweed remedies can benefit humans, it is poisonous for certain animals including dogs. Fireweed is very competitive with other species because it is an aggressive weed that is capable of taking over fields and killing plants in its way. Not only does it take over ecosystems, but it destroys the soil by extracting nutrients from it.
The Fireweed is native to Alaska as well as many other places around the world. It is said by some Alaskans that when the fireweed begins to go to seed, there are six weeks left until winter. Although this fact is not scientifically proven, there are many myths about fireweeds that seem to be true.

Work Cited

Andreas Viclund. Beaver Looking. May 28, 2008. [http://dnr.state.il.us/orc/wildlife/virtual_news/images/beaver/beaver_looking_camera.jpg]

Beaver- Castor candensis. 2008. Nature Works. May, 28, 2008. [http://www.nhptv.org/Natureworks/beaver.htm]

Don. Fireweed. May 28, 2008. [http://www.dontveter.com/howtogrow/fireweed2000.jpg]

Mathews, Daniel. Rocky Mountain Natural History. Canada, Altitude Publishing,2003.

Shaw, Richard. Plants of Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks. Salt Lake City, Utah: Wheelwright Press, 1981

The Beaver. 2002. Beavers: Wetlands and Wildlife. May 28, 2008. [http://www.beaversww.org/index.html]

Observation #6

Yesterday, May 21 at 4:10pm, it was pouring rain. Not only was it raining but it was a chilly 38 degrees. Although I was not to enthused with the weather, the birds absolutely LOVED it! The rain brought out lots of worms and other creatures that intrigued birds of all kind because they were flying around everywhere. There were loads of different species of birds such as ones with red heads, yellow ones, robins, and much more. It seemed as though they also enjoyed the rain because they could stay cool and rinse off. I wish I could identify all of the birds, but that seems like an almost impossible task. Because of the rain I was using an umbrella so it muted the sound of the birds somewhat. It was absolutely infeasible for me to attempt to hold an umbrella over my head and and try to take notes all with one hand so I was forced to close the umbrella and get very wet. As I closed the umbrella, I was overwhelmed by all of the different songs sung by all of the diverse species of birds. I have never heard so many birds chirping at once. Whatever was brought out by the rain, the birds sure loved to eat it because they were all consuming whatever it was. The birds would latch on to tiny branches that did not seem capable of supporting there weight and they would snatch food into their beaks from the water. During the spring and summer months, I usually only see humming birds congregating around humming bird feeders and never in their natural habitat. Although, the rain seemed to bring them out from hiding as well. I saw this weird looking bird that just seemed to be hovering and flying backwards. It wasn't that windy, so the wind could not have been pushing it back and from previous knowledge, I knew that hummingbirds are the only birds that can fly backwards. So, I was able to determine it was a hummingbird. It was the biggest hummingbird I have ever seen. I saw several more normal-sized hummingbirds and a slew of other types of birds and by then I was freezing cold and totally drenched so I decided to leave. If the weather improves by my next observation, I plan to go on an adventure down Fish Creek to see if I will be able to find evidence of beavers beginning their dams.

Observation #5

Today was a mild day. It was cloudy, but it was still 68 degrees. Looking at the sky, it looks as if it is going to rain. It was around 6:00pm on Tuesday, May 20. Usually I see tons of birds swarming the sky, but today they were not flying around as much as they normally do. I know they were still around because I could hear them all chirping, but they were not flying about like crazy. I predict that this is because somebody was in my area before me and created a disturbance that scared them away. That or they were taking shelter from a storm that was about to take place. I sat there for a while, waiting for the birds to come out of hiding when I saw a couple of butterflies. They were not colorful like most butterflies, they were white and very fast. I looked and looked for something interesting and I saw a bird in a little swampy island eating something. Then I saw two mallard ducks (a male and a female) floating down the stream. The beginning of the big nest that I saw in my previous observation was considerably bigger. I could not see the birds that live in it, but I will hopefully get to see the little chicks that will hatch in the near future. That was the extent of the fauna that I saw in this observation.
Unfortunately, the forget-me-nots did not bloom as I had hoped they would. They had just spread down the stream bank. There were a whole bunch dandelions that had grown though. The willows that take up my entire area have grown even bigger green blooms. On some of them they even have fuzzy things with yellow tips. As I was driving to my site, I noticed that flat creek, fish creek, and the snake river were all super full and murky due to the run off. I expected for my wetland to be very full and swampy everywhere and murky as well, but it was not. The water level had slightly risen, but it was not murky at all what-so-ever. This is probably because the water in wetlands are purified. Hopefully that in my next observation there will be more changes that will be really interesting.