I visited my plot today (November 17, 2008) on the first snowy day of the year. We got quite a bit of snow and it was fun to get out and enjoy the beauty of it on my plot. The air temperature today was around 32 degrees while the water temperature remained around 40 degrees. The snow is great although it made driving to my plot a little more difficult! The air temperature dropped below the water for the second time by the biggest margin of 8 degrees.

First traces of snow!

Lichen!

hardly any leaves left on the trees

November 10, 2008

I visited my field study plot again today on a very cold and blistery day. Once again I am reminded of the 80 degree days that occured about a month ago! The leaves have changed quite dramatically. The leaves that were there last time I visited are almost completely gone. It was a cloudy day with a cold wind and even some occassional snowflakes. The water temperature was 40 degrees while the air temperature was 36. This is the first time that the water temperature is actually higher than the air temperature. The difference of these two data points is -4 degrees.

October 26, 2008

Today I made another trip to my plot for the field study. It was not quite as nice of a day as last time and I am beginning to miss the 83 degree days that this blog reminds me of :). Nonetheless, it was another gift from god. A nice (although cool), fall day with plenty of color in sight. It was interesting to note the change in color from 2 weeks ago. There are trees who have lost all of their leaves who 2 weeks ago were green. The maple trees seemed to be the most colorful in the picture that I took. Also, there are still even some trees who have yet to turn colors. The temperature of the air was a 52 degrees (dropping just over 30 degrees from last time) while the water was 48 (dropping 10 degrees from last time). It was a cool and pretty windy day. I didn't really see too many organisms except another mushroom (boring I know... but still an organism). To be honest, if I were an animal I probably would have stayed inside today too if I didn't have to do the field study. :)

October 12, 2008

Today I visited my field study location to observe and collect data. It was an amazing fall day, one that is a true gift from God. It was great observing the area in this weather and seeing the squirrels running across the ground (which I couldn't catch a picture of because of their speed), and hearing the birds sing and even seeing the cool-looking mushrooms on the ground (which I did manage to catch a picture of). It was a very warm day (82 degrees fahrenheit) and very sunny with no clouds in the sky. The leaves were also beginning to change on some of the trees, creating an even more wonderful day in the woods.
Air temp: 82 degrees Water temp: 58 degrees Difference: 25 degrees