Diario de maggiekleahy

On Sunday as a break I decided to take a walk down to the reservoir. While walking down from my dorm on upper I was lucky and was able to see the group of six turkeys that frequent that part of campus. They were walking around very close to the sidewalk and did not seem very bothered by the amount of students walking close by. As I continued walking I decided to cut through the small park by the Plex. While walking I did not see much animal life, but all of a sudden saw a chipmunk scuttle across some leaves. If I hadn't been very observant I would have completely missed it, and it was really interesting seeing it in such a habitat that it was able to camouflage. I kept walking and came to the Reservoir. I was able to see the swans, mallards, and geese that share the water. Finally as I headed back up to my dorm I decided to take the "scenic" route back and to avoid the stairs walked along Beacon Street. As I walked past the backyard area of the dorms I saw several squirrels that enjoy the oak trees there. They were close by to where the turkeys were, and neither species bothered the other. It was interesting observing as all of these animals were preparing for winter, gathering food and feasting while they can.

This evening I took a walk down to the Reservoir on campus, which was nearby the Chestnut Hill Reservation, where I did my previous nature walk. This time, about three weeks later, it was interesting to see how much the appearance of the plant wildlife had changed. Before, all of the trees were green and there were not many berries or fruits to be seen, however now, the leaves are just starting to change color. I was able to see some yellow hickory leaves as well as some flowers and berries. As I was walking around some trees looked like they had barely any leaves, while others still had many. It was interesting comparing this walk to my last walk and I thought a lot about how quickly the seasons can change. The fall foliage, while beautiful, also reminded me of the passing of time.

Today I walked down to Chestnut Hill Reservation in hopes that I might see some birds or animals of some sort, however it seemed like a fairly quite evening, and I was unable to spot any that I could photograph. However, I saw more variety of plants than I had expected. Initially it seemed like there were only a few different types of trees like oaks, honeysuckles, and pines, but as I continued walking around I began to take more notice of the shrubs around the base of the trees. While they didn't stand out at first, as I looked closer there were many different types, a few of which I chose to photograph. It was interesting how even though there were many large trees, much of the greenery on the ground was from the shrubs at the base of the trees. I wrapped up my walk right as the sun was setting, and it was a nice end of the day.