Diario de erin

1. Here we see a local campus Fox Squirrel enjoying a delicious acorn on a sunny day.
2. In this observation, I saw a symbiotic relationship demonstrated between lichen and this old and dried out branch of a tree.
3. This observation shows an American Robin I saw near Evans Hall eating some kind of fruit or berries from a tall bush on campus.

My observing adventures since February 28 have mainly centered around the exciting Pillar Point Tide Pool field trip last Thursday. I was ridiculously excited to go on this trip, particularly because I haven't been on a field trip since I was 15 and because I've never really got to observe all the various types of life forms that make up tide pools! I've always been fascinated by the ocean and its wildlife so I was fortunate enough to have Professor Loarie and his fellow colleagues lead the way and show us students how awesome tide pools are. It was nice to have professionals/scientists/people who know what they're talking about point out to us things we would have otherwise overlooked. For example, I was able to see sea urchins, barnacles, iridescent algae, mussels, and so many different colored sea stars and sea anemones! Additionally, Professor Loarie was able to retrieve different types of crabs, sea urchins, and (I think it was) a lancelet. These things I would have never been able to see without some help! It was also really cool learning about sea lettuce, and I actually tasted it for the first time, too (haha).

As you can see, the field trip was quite the observation adventure! Although, I personally am not familiar enough with tide pool life forms to deduce that the following observations I made have some correlation with the changing of seasons... perhaps the change in weather/temperature affects the wildlife that I've observed? Since it is spring, and Northern California is starting to warm up (very slowly), there might be some connection between tide pool life and the shifting of seasons.

Irregular Flower: Calla Lily

Regular Flower: Yellow flower I found (ID please!)

Sunflower family: Bright Yellow Daisy-looking flowers I initially identified as Family Asteraceae

Gymnosperm: Small Pinecone I initially identified as Pinophyta

A terrestrial plant that is not a seed plant: Some type of fern I found

Pinnate Leaves: 5 leafed plant (ID please!)

Opposite Leaves: ID needed for this one as well but this long-leafed plant with paralleled, opposite leaves

Monocot: Sea Grass

Dicot: 5 petaled purple flower

Fabacae: orchid