Castellanos: January

For my first blog entry I’ll be writing when I went to Highlands Reservoir place back home that I’ve never gone before. It was around 4:15 p.m on January 17, 2015. It was a sunny day with clouds and lots of wind almost a typical January day near the gulf, only this day with a little more sunlight than other winter days. In order to reach the location where my observation took place it was necessary to climb a small hill, probably man made to protect the body of water either from pollution or from flooding.

Highlands Reservoir #1

I really didn’t know what to expect while climbing up the hill but a polluted small body of water, which are common around the area. Once on top of the hill, I was pretty amazed the view was pretty incredible it was an extensive body of water surrounded by land. The small body of water could be perceived as being full with life from the very beginning.

It is hard to really tell if the body of water was fully freshwater or if it may have contained a small percentage of salt in it, also known as brackish water. This is hard to tell due, to the close location to the Gulf of Mexico. I have studied estuaries in the area before which contain brackish, however this water of body was so extensive I couldn’t be so sure if it connected to an estuary.

Highlands Reservoir #2

While walking on the edge I observed a turtle sunbathing on a log, I believe it was a Red-Eared Slider turtle, who tends to come out to sunbathe. Sunbathing allows them to regulate their body temperature especially during the chilly winter months and it seemed like the perfect afternoon with the sun out. These types of turtles are regularly in freshwater bodies meaning that the body of water is probably not connected to an estuary or contains a high concentration of salt.

In the center of the body of water there were huge flock of birds I’m unsure what exact species they were. The number of them is hard to tell as well from how far they were, there were probably a couple of hundred of them. From a distance their color was perceived as black or a dark color. It may be that these birds had migrated to the South in order to avoid the harsh climate in the North. Although they may have been far their cry of joy resounded. A cry of joy perhaps from reaching a safe and warm place to stay.

It was a very pleasant afternoon even though it was chilly, never before was I able to interact with nature in the winter months. Usually during the winter months I rarely come out and spend outside to interact with nature. Although, I was very disappointed when I saw that there lots of trash nearby that could affect the body of water and the animal life living in it. I believe we should take care of our environment.

highlands reservoir #3

“We know now what was unknown to all the preceding caravan of generations: that men are only fellow-voyagers with other creatures in the odyssey of evolution. This new knowledge should have given us, by this time, a sense of kinship with fellow-creatures; a wish to live and let live: a sense of wonder over the magnitude and duration of the biotic enterprise.”

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