Journal Entry #4

Journal Entry #3

Journal Entry #2

Journal Entry #1

Photo Collage

Here are 2 pages of photos that I included with my project.  I still have many more to post.

Site Overview

            My site is part of a marsh located at Baylands Nature Preserve in East Palo Alto.  It is just off to the right of the sailing dock.  My area is a portion of the marsh across from the Harriet Mundy Marsh and several feet from the sailing dock.  The site is near and almost encompasses a small rivulet of water.  The rivulet is mostly muddy with a small amount of water, which will hopefully increase once the rainy season starts.  It is just off the gravel trail from the parking lot.  The area is approximately a rectangle of 10 by 14 meters.  Its length is 10 meters while its width is 14 meters.  The area of the site is 140 m². 

            Where do pollinators (such as bees and butterflies) get their food when flowers aren’t in season?  How do plants adapt to extremely hot or cold weather?  How do organisms living in streams that exist only during parts of the year survive in the summer when the streams dry up?

My study area is littered with numerous different species.  The area is relatively flat with a slow 1 foot incline and immediate 3 foot decline after.  The soil is mostly dry and rocky until reaching the rivulet where it turns muddy and standing water appears.  The area contains two bushes; both are most likely coyote bushes.  Pollinators, for example, wasps, yellow jackets, honey bees, and butterflies, like the small green flowers on the bushes and usually exist in abundance in areas around the plant.  The rest of the ground is littered with pickleweed.  The cactus like substance is not prickly but contains multicolored tubes of red, yellow, and green as stalks/stems.  In addition the area contains salt grass or possibly cord grass with brown and sometimes yellow stalks.  Song sparrows like to perch on these stalks as well as hide out in the coyote bushes. Pygmy Blue, a small type of butterfly, like to perch on the grass and sometimes the pickleweed but it is uncertain what they eat.  Pillbugs crawl through the brush and can occasionally be seen in openings in the grass.  Underneath a large pickleweed is an old hole in the ground.  This hole might have been a home or nesting ground for a burrowing owl or jack rabbit.  The water source is a small rivulet not quite extending into the study area.  The ground is mostly muddy with a small puddle of water.  The area’s climate appears to be temperate and could possibly become wet in the winter with frequent rainfall.

            From Sequoia High School’s senior parking lot, turn right onto Elwood Street.  At the stop sign turn right onto Brewster Avenue.  Drive 0.6 miles on Brewster and make a left onto Veterans Boulevard.  Drive 0.3 miles down Veterans and make the second right onto Whipple Avenue.  Make a slight right to merge onto US-101 S towards San Jose.  Drive 6.8 miles on the 101 S.  Take the exit to Oregon Expressway and make a right on Embarcadero Road.  After 1 mile make a left towards the Palo Alto Airport to stay on Embarcadero.  Continue past the Duck Pond and Nature Preserve.  Park in the 3^rd (last) parking lot by the sailing station.  Travel along the gravel path towards the right of the sailing station for about 20 feet to my designated field study site (beyond the sign).  

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