Flora Report

In the Horse Hole, there are many aspen trees, or populus tremula. The wood is white, light, soft and durable if kept dry. These plants loose their leaves in the winter and grow them back in the spring. The leaves are mostly mostly circular with a tip on the end and about an inch in diameter. They can grow up to 30 feet tall. These trees prefer habitats full of light, so if a larger tree grows and takes up all the light, than that destroys the niche for the aspen tree.



Works Cited:
www.2020site.org/trees/aspen.html

www.colostate.edu/Dept/CoopExt/4dmg/Trees/aspencan.htm

Observation 4

When I observed the horse hole, on June 2 around 4:00 PM, the temperature was about 50 degrees Fahrenheit. It was over cast, again! I wonder when the weather will get better. The air was calm, and I good hear robins, Turdus Migratorius; Magpies, Pica Hudsonia; and even a Chickadee, Poecile Atricapillus. I also noticed that a lot of Forget-Me-Not's, or Myosotis Sylvatica, have begun to bloom. There's still no water in the pond yet. I'm starting to think it won't fill until after school gets out, so this won't affect the environment much.

Observation 3

When I observed the horse hole, on May 31, it was about 8:30 PM, and around 55 degrees Fahrenheit. It had rained earlier that day, and I noticed there was more water in the pond, but not much, yet. The grass was wet and the air and the soil was damp, so this will help with the growth of the plants. The plants will also be able to provide food for grazing animals, such as the horses that go through there, or the chiselers, Spermophilus Beecheyi, that I have seen every time I go outside. These ground squirrels, then, provide food for larger animals. This is the transfer of energy in the environment, so once the chiseler dies, it decomposes and provides energy for the producers, and starts the cycle again. I hope the pond fills soon.

Obersation 2

When I went out to observe the horse hole, on May 23, I noticed that there were lots of dandelions, and that, as I expected, there wasn't any water in the pond. Well, there was a little bit of water from previous precipitation. This is where I got the mud that I used for my ecology picture! It was about 2:00 during my observation, and I saw willows, aspens, moss, a Hairy Woodpecker, a Blue Violet, other plants that I couldn't find the name of, and lots of grasses. It was mostly sunny with partial cloud cover, around 65 degrees, and a small, not very noticeable breeze. The soil appeared to be very fertile, because there was lots of different species of plant growing in this area. As I was leaving, I saw two undefinable birds that were possibly mating. I wonder when the pond will fill.

Fauna Report

During my first observation, I found a Hairy Woodpecker, or Picoides villosus, hunting in an aspen tree. This bird can be any where from 7.1 to 10.2 inches and 1.4 to 3.4 ounces. It has a white breast, black wings, and a large chisel-shaped bill. The male has a red patch on the back of his head. That means the one I saw was male. This bird can be confused with the Downy Woodpecker, except that the Downy is much smaller, and has a proportionally smaller bill. This is also a bird that is non migratory. This species of bird prefers to hunt for the tree-boring beetle larvae, they do this by feeling the vibrations of the insects in the bark. This would be one of the woodpeckers' niche, to eat the beetles that pose a threat to the host tree. Another niche that the Hairy woodpecker has is to proved food for other predators, like my cat. The Hairy Woodpecker likes to live in mature forests, but can be seen in suburbs and open woodlands as well. Once the female woodpecker is ready to lay her eggs, she excavates a branch that is at an angle with the ground. She will do this less than two weeks before she lays the eggs. I wonder if I'll see one nesting...

Picture from: http://www.sunrisesidesnapshots.com/photo-series/hairy-woodpecker
Information from: http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Hairy_Woodpecker/id
AND
Birds of Grand Teton National Park and the Surrounding Area. by Bert Reynes. pg 51

Observation 1

The area I decided to observe is "The Horse Hole" out behind my house. It is a partially forested region a little smaller than a football field with a pond that holds water in the summer. The pond is about a third the size of an Olympic swimming pool, and is home to wild ducks, and other water fowl in the summer.This habitat is just north of The Aspens. I'm not completely sure why my family and I call it "The Horse Hole," but I assume it's because we turn horses out there, and a neighboring ranch, in the summer. This is a pretty healthy habitat, so I expect to observe lots of organisms!