As I did during September and October, for the month of November I visited and observed Blunn Creek for my nature blog. The month of November was a time of noticeable changes in the Blunn Creek Park. For starters, the amount of trash that was present in the creek area grew over the passing weeks. It consisted of mostly cups, wrappers, and cigarettes. While the trash in the creek was increasing, the trash present on the trails and dry terrain remained at a constant level. The next obvious change was the shredding of some bark of the trees. The trees which were shedding were closer to the creek than the ones that were not. After this past weekend, when I went to observe, the water level in the creek had risen an obvious amount compared to the other weekends due to the heavy rain the city received in the short period of time. The leaves on the trees surrounding the area which I sat to observe were changing from green to a brown-orange color. The temperature of the park also changed, it became colder as the month progressed and breezier as well. In the wind, “a tree tries to argue, bare limbs waving, but there is no detaining the wind” (Leopold, 66). More leaves seemed to have fallen off the trees and plants as the season progressed into winter. Besides there having been multiple changes, the park did have some consistencies. The plants overall still seemed to be pretty alive and healthy despite the temperature dropping. Also, the birds were still a present sight throughout November. Despite heavy rain during one weekend, the terrain (besides the creek) remained dry and rugged. There was still numerous ants around the area I sit and observe at like there had been in the previous months. Overall, the land seems to experience the same amount of human interactions such as people walking, smoking, or even the occasional runner I have seen over the months. While there was water present in the creek, it didn’t seem to flow at all and remained still. A few bugs flew over the water after it had rained due to the air still being a little humid and damp. The sound of birds chirping and singing in the air was constant throughout my observations except for the last weekend; which could have been due to the closeness of construction workers who appeared to be fixing the surrounding fence outside of the park. The sounds of the machines and vehicles seemed to chase away the birds as I only saw a few during my last visit of the month to Blunn Creek. Another observation I made, was I saw a rabbit during one of my visits across the creek. It ran across in the leaves towards the back area of the park. Only once before had I observed a rabbit in my trips to the area. This month contained a lower species richness than previous months due to lack of aquatic life; I saw no turtles or fish during the month of November.
