Observer: Kaitlyn Rice
Date: 24 September 2008
Time: 1938 hours
Location: Picnic table at the south west corner of the Hatfield Library
Weather: Raining and slightly breezy
Umbrella Trees
I have just finished my dinner and decided why not take a moment in the rain and write a nature observation. I found myself a sheltered spot in an isolated corner. I had never actually noticed it before and so it was neat to see it back there. I took a left before I got to the hedges at the Chicken Fountain and found a secluded area with a picnic table. Though it had been raining off and on all afternoon, the area was still relatively dry. This is because there were huge and towering trees growing up and over the area, protecting it from the rain. It was not too cold, even though there was a slight breeze blowing my moist hair around. Looking down at the ground around me, I noticed that the cement tiles were growing green from enduring countless months of rain. There were also several orange leaves that had already found their ways to the ground below. Already, the rain is letting up and sounds can be heard from Sparks Field where the girl’s soccer game is taking place. My eyes followed over to the base of some of the same types of “bushes” as were in my last week’s observation. I noticed the leaf variations right away. As I looked around even more, I notice a plant that was definitely a bush. Its branches did not separate from a trunk, but instead came out straight from the ground in different, twisting methods. Stretching up, the branches had leaves only on the ends of them and not lining each like the tree outside of my dorm. Each bush stood about five feet tall. As the rain picks back up again, I decide that it is time to head back in.
Date: 26 September 2008
Time: 2310 hours
Location: Sidewalk in front of East House
Weather: Very cool, but not bad for being 11 at night
Stargazing
I thought that it might be sort of interesting to make a nature observation while I was in a toga and so this was taken while I was waiting in line for the Odyssey 2008 dance. Even for being wrapped in three yards of fabric, I was not that cold. Perhaps it was because my walk across the Skybridge helped to warm me up. Either way, I was not complaining. Coming from inside of the building, a strobe light pulsed over the bushes that were in front of the house. Everything was a dark green otherwise since it was so dark outside. Looking towards twelfth street, I noticed some of the landscaping. From where I stood, the row of hedges that lined the lawn looked as though they were about three feet tall, but I know that if I had walked over to them they would have been closer to four feet in height. On the west side of the hedge was a line of trees on the lawn. They were mature and grew tall into the sky. They were some sort of fir and their branches slightly drooped, the needles making it seem like it was a hard task to hold them up. Looking up at the tops of the trees, I noticed the stars. Trying to pick out a constellation from the madness, I see the W, the queen’s chair, Cassiopeia. It was difficult trying to see many more because I had a limited amount of space to look up at. On the east side was a line of trees and blocking my west side was the East House. It was still nice to be able to pick out one constellation though.
Date: 27 September 2008
Time: 1814 hours
Location: Second floor balcony of Kaneko
Weather: Perfect! Not too hot and not too cold and with a slight breeze as the sun starts to set.
My Neighboring Tree
Today my observation was made from my second level balcony in hopes of getting the same perspective on Kaneko Commons as “my” tree does. First of all, this tree is relatively young. I love it because it has a great contrast between the vibrant green leaves and its rich brown trunk and branches. The leaves are interesting in that they are round in shape, but also slightly cupped. I wonder if this is not an adaptation that the tree has gained so that it will get more water. The cup of the leave would lead water drops straight to the branch. The leaves are also all lined perfectly on each branch. They stem straight across from one another and I wonder how funny it would be if the branches were to do that too. They do not though: they grow sporadically from the trunk.
Looking up into the sky, it is a perfect and clear blue. In the west, it is turning a golden color as the sun sets and it’s light rays reflect off of the particles in the atmosphere. On the other side of the Skybridge, an Amtrak train pulls up to pick up its next set of passengers. Down below me, I observe some of the landscaping from the tree’s point of view. There is some sort of shrub that spreads across the ground and has wide, dark green leaves. In the corner next to the sidewalk, a red flower grows. Details are hard to see from here, but it looks like there might be some sort of stem that many smaller red flowers grow up.
Date: 28 September 2008
Time: 1330 hours
Location: Tom McCall Waterfront Park
Weather: Sunny and pleasant!
Portland Adventures
This past week, Jane and I had been talking about getting out of town and exploring something new. With this idea, we headed north on Interstate 5 and found our way to downtown Portland. We had a few destinations in mind, but with no map, it was up to our sense of direction and common sense. I must say, we did not do too badly. One of our stops was at the Tom McCall Waterfront Park. This very long and narrow park spanned along the Willamette River that flows straight through downtown Portland. Of course, what drew me to the park was the enormous fountain that was spraying water from its circumference into it’s middle. There were many people hanging out here, which is easy to understand since it was so warm today. Being at this park almost reminded me of being New York City because, as you went down to the river, there was no beach, but instead, a large wall that you could look over and down. Upon doing so, Jane and I spotted five Mallard ducks just hanging out in the water below. Three of these were females as can be determined by their lack of vibrant feathers. The park was very pretty with several different breeds of trees planted all around.
Upon returning home from our trip, I decided to do some research on the park because I thought, but could not remember specifically if Tom McCall had been an Oregon governor. As I had suspected, he had been one starting in 1967. Another interesting fact about the park is that this is where Barack Obama had spoken in May of 2008.
Date: 28 September 2008
Time 1820 hours
Location: back of Kaneko commons in front of the softball fields
Weather: Clear skies, still warm
Was this made for my observation?
While I was walking back in from the extremely isolated parking lot, I was thinking about how I still needed to make another nature observation before sunset. I did not know where I wanted to make it until I walked past the softball field and noticed a small little area to my left (the west side of the sidewalk). It looked like it had been made specifically for someone to sit there and have time alone, time to think about how their day had been spent. Walking up the large and flat gray rocks, I sat on what they led to—a large boulder of the same type of rock as the steps had been. Lining the short path to my new perch was a type of ornamental grass. It was about one to two feet tall and some blades were topped with a tuft of where I am assuming the seeds are kept for the plant. While the grass itself was green, the tufts were a beige color. Though for the most part this area was very simple, there were some splashes of color to brighten it up in the corner of the landscaping. One was a plant with broad, red leaves. The others were two smaller plants that had a variation of colors: one color was almost a yellow and then inside of that was a red. And, as I am racing the sun, I must go post this!
d hanging downward. The east side has a bundle of less vibrant red leaves, some even brown in color. I heard several juncos chirping nearby on the tree with yellow dead leaves. The tree still appeared the same in comparison to the last time I had analyzed it, with only several leaves fallen. I wondered if it was originally a shade of gold such that the withered leaves are merely a normal result of autumn. An elevating machine was raised up into a nearby tree with ovate leaves but it didn’t seem the bother the juncos. As I stood there observing the birds, large droplets of water falling from the leaves barraged me while the juncos continued to chirp happily. Were they communicating with each other or celebrating the first rainfall of the month? The tree had deep furrows and mosses lightly coated the top of the branches like green snow. I saw a small bird with a needle beak fly up to the top of the yellow-leaved tree as I was heading back into Olin’s but a crow flew over and perhaps chased it away. It flew back momentarily and rested at approximately the same spot. I heard a squeaking door sound and mistook it for a machine or something but to my surprise, it actually originated from the bird. According to Dave, my colloquium professor, the sound is used for mating. I could barely see the bird, but I noticed that it remained perched for some time before flying off. From the picture I managed to take, I saw that the bird had a white breast and a streak through its eye. I would deduce it was either the Rufous or Allen’s hummingbird but unfortunately, I could not observed the color to definitely identify which of the two species.
