October 25th, 2016
2:25 PM
63 degrees, scattered clouds but mostly sunny
No wind
I thought there were leaves on the ground before, but golly! The river is full of leaves, and the forest floor has turned into a crunchy brown and orange carpet, where nothing can move without producing noise. My primordial instincts put me on guard, because leaves falling behind me make the hair on the back of my neck stand up, as if someone is right behind me. The maple trees are the main perpetrators, and their decaying leaves hang in plants they don't belong to- it looks as though my Pacific Yew has turned into a big leaf maple! Here is a shot of my central spot. I think it looks fairly different from last time!
The lady ferns are more decayed than two weeks ago, and only the tallest reaching leaves of the salmon berries remain (they're surprisingly green a well). The brown leaves of the marsh plants from last time have decayed completely- only droopy green leaves splay out from the main shoot.
Everything is dying, but it seems less of a sloppy and droopy mess. I'm not really sure how to describe it. It's a crisper death?
For clarification, my small area for phenology observation is pictured below:
Since I've been here last, this small patch of moss has become a haven for detritus! cattails, cedar droppings, and leaves from salmon berries and maple trees have started to pile up. The leafier moss has all but dissappeared, and only the hairier moss remains. My guess is that it's Menzies' moss (but I could be super wrong about that). Some new mushrooms have popped up too. How long does it take for a mushroom to fully develop?
NOW FOR THE INVERT INVESTIGATION!!
There's a lot of evidence of the existence of inverts here. There are bite marks and trails on most of the plants that I can spot.
I sit for a while, trying to be as still as possible, while looking at the ground for any sign of movement. I started to lean closer towards the ground as I sit criss-cross apple-sauce in the grass behind my central cedar. I find a small lump of a slug curled up on a leaf. I think I startled it when I sat down. As I watched it, I noticed a thumbprint like pattern on its mantle, and a hole farther down for breathing. The upper tentacles guide the slow moving slug across a leaf, where it extends from the front to the back, in order to maintain balance on its leaf. The variation in surface area of the slug plays a vital role in ensuring that it doesn't stumble or fall. I never realized that even a blade of grass is an obstacle in the world of inverts. The slug contracts when it is alarmed, and the tentacles also retract.
My next invert was a little harder to view, just because it was very small and moved fairly quickly. It had six legs, and was about the size of my thumbnail. It moved faster when it was alarmed, but stood still for a while when it was calm. It had a hook like projection that reminded me of the mouth of a butterfly. The wings were very large in proportion to its body, but I don't think it could fly-otherwise it would have flown away from me when I startled it. The bark patterned wings are perfect for camouflage, because they are very bark patterned. The antennae helped it avoid obstacles, much like the tentacles of the slug. Its overall body shape is super tear-dropped, and its legs are striped.
Due to the flat abdomen, and the sucking mouth part, I think this bug is part of the Hemiptera order.
I was having a hard time trying to find more critters, but I luckily found a log near the "entrance" of my site. I found an earthworm! It moved like a slinky- front first, and everything else scrunched forwards to catch up with the head. The head is the end closer to the big lighter-colored projection, which I found out is called the clitellum. As I watched it move, I noticed that it would much rather go under debris, not over, which is not what its close cousin the slug would do. This must have to do with the fact that earthworms travel underground, and slugs do not. The worm was darker at one end than the other- I wonder why that is? The earthworm was probably 3 1/2 inches long.
Then, I found a millipede! It was about an inch long, and it was light in color- I wouldn't say white, but definitely a sandy color. I know it's kind of taboo to do, but I picked it up. I honestly thought it was dead, because it didn't move and didn't respond to touch for a solid minute. I moved it, and I couldn't tell if it was coiling up on its own, or if I was the one causing it to coil. After sixty seconds, it uncoiled, its antennae popped out, and it started to crawl around. I want to understand how it moves- does every other leg on the same side move in an opposite motion? It was too small and quick for me to tell. I couldn't get any more specific than the class of this millipede.
Well, it was fun to hunt for inverts this week. I can't wait to visit again next week!
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