Observation #1

My area is a wetland behind the post office in Wilson. A wetland is a land transitional between terristial and aquatic systems where the water table is usually at or near the surface or where shallow water covers the land. Wetlands can also be refered to as marshes or swamps. Many types of organisms congregate around the wentlands including bevers, populations of birds, moose, muscrats, and much more. The moist soil also offers a prime place for all types of vegitation to thrive. I chose this area because I thought it would provide me with plenty of interesting ecology things to study!
In my observation today, May 10, it had just snowed the previous night so there was a light dusting of snow covering the ground. I visited my location at around 9:30am and it was 40 degrees. It was a fair day although it was slightly breezy, rather cold, and cloudy. The soil was frozen and covered in snow, but the soil in the area that I cleared of snow was very moist and swampy. In fact, the bottoms of my pants and my shoes were completly soaking by the time I had finished. I hypothisize that by my next observation, I will be able to see more signs of flowers begining to grow and blossum.
From previous knoledge and from my observations, I know that some of the plants that grow in my area include willows, pine trees, bog orchids, forget-me-nots, and lots of other vegitation that I was unable to identify. Some of the birds that I know that live in the area are a great blue heron, golden egles, yellow warblers, ducks, and robins. I saw and heared tons of birds flying around and fighting eachother for food. I think it was still to cold outside to see any fish, ducks, or other animals. I have decided to further study the beaver and the bog orchid.