Observation #1

Site: My backyard
Date: 5/5/08
Time:4:26PM
Temperature: 70 Degrees F
Weather: Partly cloudy, Windy
Soil: Dry, rocky, except in the grass near stream and pond(marshy/muddy)

My observation area is located in my backyard in Wilson, WY. This area includes a pond, a stream and extends into a field. The flora in this area consists of many willows, and tall grasses. Around the stream exiting the pond is wet and marshy. Near the other edges of the pond the soil is dry and contains lots of rocks. Most of the grasses are brown, dead, and dried up, but a few green grasses are starting to emerge. In this area there is a continuous chirping of birds, geese honking and in the summer, frogs and crickets. Also in the winter moose feed on the willows and foxes pounce in the field. Across the pond in the field was a population of geese. There were 22 of them. After some time the geese made their way into the pond. When I first arrived at the site there was a crane(or blue heron?) standing near the pond, but due to my dog barking it quickly flew off. There were also 3 ducks in the pond. They were mallards, one was male and one was female. There were also 3 magpies in this area. Because of previous knowledge I know there are fish in the pond but I don't know about how many there are at this time. Hopefully over the next four weeks the grass will all turn green and many different ducks and birds will appear.