beauduffney's Journal

During my day on June 5th, I was lucky to see my first frog of the year. I had heard spring peepers earlier in the year, but never saw any. Since living in the city, I rarely see amphibians, so seeing a green frog was a nice change. Although this was a short walk for me, it was rewarding. I also got to capture pictures of what I believe to be a seaweed fly, which I was unsuccessful in doing on previous trips. Overall, when looking back at a month prior, I already feel a sense that I can feel this ecosystem changing in response to the seasons. Whether it be the continuous sprouting of plants, or the increase in the presence of insect species, there is always something interesting to interact with.

I took some time to explore more of Point Pleasant Park. The diversity of plants is a big contrast to what I'm used to seeing around the city. Since it was late spring, there was many blooming plants, and migratory birds such as multiple American Robins. This day trip made me further appreciate the changing habitats that Point Pleasant has to offer, between the forest and the coast.

The weather was extremely foggy on this day, but luckily there was not any rain which allowed me to safely conduct my experiment. I focused on intertidal species, however I found some interested species outside of this habitat while walking to the location of my experiment. There was a variety of small invertebrates around washed up seaweed. I never took the time before to notice the abundance of small habitats that exist all around us. Reflecting back on this day makes me greatly appreciate how each individual plays an important role in the larger ecosystem, and it goes to show just hoe everything is intertwined.

Throughout the term, I was able to observe many diverse species throughout urban Halifax. Many of these observations occurred on my way to and from Dalhousie University and my house, along with other excursions. I enjoyed capturing the young blooms of plants as we shift into the warmer seasons. I was honestly surprised with the amount of species I was able to record during this period of time. Many of the plants I saw were new to me, or at least I hadn't noticed them in previous years. Seeing the growth of different kinds of lichens on trees was fascinating to me. Even on the same tree, each lichen had its own texture, colour, and growth pattern.