Two is for Mirth

Observer: Eloise Bacher
Date: 7 October, 2008
Time: 1225-1240
Location: Bridge between Goudy and Smith.
Weather: Sunny, a slight breeze, some clouds.

I’ve see this Scrub Jay before, I think s/he was the one that screamed at me a few weeks ago in this spot, from the small twisted tree by Smith. Now he’s on top of the rock next to the bridge and the Mill Stream, alarming again. I can see bands on his left leg; one of them is red. I get out my camera, but s/he’s too quick for me and flies across the path and into a tree. S/he starts out low on the tree, but continues hopping up, in and out of sight, until I can’t hear or see hir anymore. It seems like s/he’s disappeared completely, but then I see hir at the top of a tree a little ways down the path. Then s/he flies away again, back into hir original tree. I circle around the tree to see if I can find hir, and two crows fly through the tree, heavily flapping their wings. The jay is on the ground on the other side of the stream, pecking at the dirt.

Macroinvertebrates

Observer: Eloise Bacher

Date: 21 September, 2008

Time: 1440-1515

Location: Mill Stream, near library.

Weather: Overcast, drizzling a little, warm.

It's raining now, but at first it was simply overcast. I went into the Mill Stream with the intention of looking for macroinvertebrates to see if I could determine the health of the stream. I didn't have high hopes because of what we talked about on Friday, that the bottom of the stream is concrete. The main organism I found were these pure black, smallish snails that didn't have the best grip on the rocks (they were falling off as I lifted the rock out of the water). There were at least a dozen of them on each rock I picked up, and I could see more in the water. There was another type of snail, with greenish yellow shells that were smooth and kind of bulbous. There were less of these, but there were a bunch of their shells, empty, in a little pile on the side of the stream where it gets sandy/silty and very shallow and even gentler. There were also these clusters of tiny rocks, which are either Caddisfly or Stonefly larva, can't remember which right now. Either way, it's a good sign. The water feels pretty warm, however, and it doesn't flow very fast in this location. Which reminds me...I was visiting with a dog a few minutes before this observation and her owner said that they had seen a Nutria here before, in this part of the stream. Is it possible that there are Nutria here? I've seen Muskrats in urbanized areas in Portland, so I wouldn't be surprised to see one of those here, but I'm going to keep my eyes open for either of these animals.

*Photo (Caddisfly Larva) courtesy of http://www.troutnut.com/im_underwater/picture_235_medium.jpg

Birds and Food Gathering

Observer: Eloise Bacher

Date: 20 September, 2008

Time: 1452-1509

Location: Mill Stream/Botanical Garden

Weather: Cloudy, no breeze.

I'm sitting on one of the large cut pieces of tree right near the bridge that leads to East Side. It's pretty secluded here; I haven't seen anyone come through yet. It also feels a little more natural, like this part of the Mill Stream would be this way even if campus wasn't here. There are a couple female Mallards wandering around a ways away, poking their beaks into the dirt and munching on something. Across the stream I can see a squirrel digging in the dirt as well, and a Scrub Jay that has something in hir beak. Looks like the animals are settling in for fall/winter. Does this mean actual fall weather is going to start soon? The Scrub Jay looks at me sideways and flys off with hir food. The ducks have wandered further away, and the squirrel continues digging frantically, but in a different place.

*Photo courtesy of http://buildyourownbirdhouseplans.com/images/Scrub%20Jay%20with%20prize%20by%20WIlliam%20G.%20Mancebo.jpg

The Mill Stream

Observer: Eloise Bacher

Date: 9 September, 2008

Place: Mill Stream, under a tree on the opposite side of the bridge from Goudy.

Time: 1005- 1020

Weather: Sunny but with a decent breeze and cool temperatures in the shade.

I'm sitting by the Mill Stream under a tree. I don't know what kind, but it's small and has white papery bark. Maybe a birch? Looking at the stream makes me wonder how it was different years ago. Where now it's shallow, wide, and fairly gentle, was it narrower and faster back when it wasn't confined by walls? What about when it was in the pipes underneath the campus? How does it change between campus and where it goes into the Willamette at Riverfront Park? I see a lot of ducks around, and now there's a crow in the tree above me screaming at something. Maybe me, maybe something else. What kinds of animals were here when the Mill Stream was just going through nature? Crows and ducks, most likely, but what about fish? A lot of animals probably showed up around here because of the water source. Was it the city that drove them away, or the water being put underground? Oh...darn. That crow just pooped on me. Great.

*Photo courtesy of http://salemdailyphoto.com/pics/wu_green.jpg