September 7, 2015 4:30 p.m.
My first observation in nature for the month consists of a bench overlooking a river flowing south. The river is a musty green, almost brownish color. It is very windy so there are many ripples of water. There are fish in the river that occasionally make a little splash. Today is a sunny day with very few clouds roaming the sky.
my view from the bench
There are different kinds of trees; some have a big trunk to where if I hug them then my fingers barely touch. Others have smaller trunks that I can put my arms around easily. The trees are upright but growing on the little hill that surrounds the river.
There are bees flying around. There are few black birds that pass by every so often, mostly in groups. There is also pretty white bird with grey wings that passed by. Also, there is a type of insect I haven’t seen that has a rattle-like repetitive noise – I really hope it’s not a rattlesnake. I also hear crickets but it’s not the same noise of the rattle like one.
There are white flowers that open up like tulips. There are also small, bright yellow flowers growing in the grass that look like little sunflowers.
zoomed in picture of the little yellow flower
There are bike riders passing by since there is a trail behind me. On the other side of the river, there is a field full of plants and larger trees – almost forest like. There is poison ivy, which explains why there is a little fence blocking easy entry. There are green leaf plants growing alongside the fence and there are brown ones on the ground. After observing, I walked around and didn’t find any trash while I was there, which is a surprisingly good thing!
September 15, 2015 5:30 p.m.
I’m sitting on a bench facing La Maine, which is a large river that flows through Angers. It’s a warm, sunny day but quite windy.
The Maine in Angers
The trees are moving side to side as if waving hello. There are several yellow butterflies flying around me, soaking in the sun. There are ducks in the water, swimming in groups of four or five. After following them for about ten minutes, one quickly dove under water and the rest followed. I never knew ducks could swim, I always thought they were surface animals, so it was great witnessing first-hand how they dive into the water and come back up once they’ve caught their prey.
Ducks are usually found in groups
My favorite part was spotting a large group of swans. They are so beautiful. They all seem to be following an alpha because anywhere he moves, they all move.
Swan group
If I look above, I see a black and white bird along with a blue tone roaming the sky of Angers. It looked like a mix of a crow and blue jay. This bird is called the Black-billed Magpie and its scientific name is the Pica hudsonia. According to The Cornell Lab of Ornithology, the P. hudsonia “are entertaining, social birds” (“Black”).
Black-billed Magpie / Pica hudsonia
I could tell the birds were a little restless, flying around the same spot as if they were cold wanting to move around to get warm. Similarly, as Aldo Leopold addressed, “the chickadee’s fear of windy places is easily deduced from his behavior,” (Leopold 91) which was noted.
The crisp, blue water is flowing smoothly and in the distance I see several sailboats and a kite in the sky. It’s such a perfect day for both activities because it’s pretty windy.
There are quite a few fishermen alongside the shore. As I approach the water, I see little fish near the surface of the water, all in swarms. I wonder if the wind causes the current to go near the shore, pushing the small, lightweight fishes toward land.
There are small, yellow flowers in the grass, along with fallen leaves.
There are people running on the trail behind me. Some have brought their dogs with them. A blue-eyed husky that wasn’t on his leash came to sniff me and shortly after scurried away running back to its owner.
As far as littering went near The Maine, I found a chocolate bar wrapper dropped on the floor.
must have been a good snickers..
I looked around and realized there were no trash cans visible. The city of Angers should implement more disposal bins throughout the city in order to decrease littering within the community. After all, people will do whatever suits them or is at their convenience; therefore if there aren’t any trash bins, then they’ll be tempted to litter.
September 24, 2015 1:30 p.m.
I visited Sarzeau, Bretagne, France, which is a small little town west of Angers surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean. It’s definitely in the countryside and not busy city life like Angers, so I was excited to spend my time in nature. There was a horse I rode and he was beyond kind and gentle. I haven’t interacted with an animal in my time here in France (besides a dog) so I definitely treasured the moment.
horseback riding in Sarzeau, France
Equus ferus caballus – scientific name
When we were riding and got near the road, I heard a tractor in the distance and I immediately got a little frightened because I didn’t know how the horse was going to react. The horse was as stiff as ice. I stopped and caressed him as the loud tractor passed by. I then began thinking how animals must feel when humans impose on their territory. The sad part is that they can’t do anything about it. As Michael Bess inquires in The Light Green Society, “it boils down to a deceptively simple question: can wilderness and large numbers of humans coexist in the same space?” (Bess 171).
I saw chickens and hens in a barn. At night, two of them escaped their little house and wandered into the yard, where there was a black lab. A few minutes later when I went outside, all I saw was feathers on the ground. Either the dog was hungry or just really liked chickens. To my surprise, “domestic dogs are the most common predators of chickens in both suburban and rural areas” (Chicken Care). This is a prime example of predation – when one species kills and eats another species.
I went to the ocean for the first time in France. It was beautiful.
l’ocean Atlantique
Atlantic Ocean
There were lots of fishermen with their poles near the shore. They weren’t having any luck, perhaps because the weather conditions that day weren’t suitable for the fish they were attempting to catch.
fisherman near the shore
In the countryside, I saw fields of corn growing. I have only seen corn growing in large fields if I’m in the car looking out the window on road trips, so this was the first time I saw it up close and actually got the chance to touch it.
fields of corn!
In this little rural town in the countryside, I noticed there was far less littering compared to Angers. As a matter of fact, “in cities, communities tend to be less cohesive and rely on volunteers to clean up a large urban area” (“Latest”). In turn, this mentality has a huge effect on the environment.
September 29, 2015 7:00 p.m.
For my next hour of observation, I spent some time in a forest. All around me was pure green; I loved it.
beautiful scenery
Birds were constantly chirping and if I listened closely I could differentiate between two birds having a conversation. As I looked up, I saw bird nests on the tall 30-foot trees. There’s a river near me, but the water is pretty still because there is no wind today. I heard strange animal noises and as I scanned the area, I saw that all the way across the river there was a large herd of white cattle. They are called Charolais cattle, which is their common name and Bos taurus is their scientific name (“Bos”).
Bos taurus – Charolais Cattle
In the grass, I saw large mushrooms growing.
FUNGI
Next to it were red berries growing on a tree branch, but a lot of them had fallen off the tree and were on the ground.
Red Berries
I saw a beautiful red flower with a bee on top of it – pollinating. Actually, “researchers’ observations of how patterns of pigmentation on flower petals influence bumblebees’ behavior suggests that color veins give clues to the location of the nectar” (Springer).
a bee at work
Ultimately, I saw a hidden can of soda hiding behind a bush, which comes to show whoever littered it purposely planted it there. Although it is a forest and not a park with trashcans in every corner, the person who littered should have waited until they could properly dispose of it.
littered soda can
I began putting myself in their shoes wondering the reason behind their littering. Perhaps holding onto it until they found a trash can was going to be an inconvenience? Or maybe they are the type of people to not care about the environment. Regardless, by increasing awareness of littering and the harm it causes the environment as well as implementing more trash cans throughout Angers, we can hopefully reduce the overall littering in the country and eventually the planet.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
1. Bess, Michael. “The Light Green Society.” The University of Chicago Press. 2003. Print.
2. “Black Billed Magpie.” All About Birds. The Cornell Lab of Ornithology.
http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Black-billed_Magpie/id
3. “Bos Taurus.” National Center for Biotechnology Information.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/Taxonomy/Browser/wwwtax.cgi?id=9913
4. “Chicken Care.” My Pet Chicken. http://www.mypetchicken.com/backyard-chickens/chicken-help/What-do-I-need-to-know-about-dogs-if-I-keep-H175.aspx
5. “Latest IBAL Litter Survey Reveals Growing Urban – Rural Divide.” Irish Business Against Litter. 18 August 2014. http://www.ibal.ie/press_releases/2014/PressRelease(2).pdf
6. Leopold, Aldo. “The Sand County Almanac.” Oxford University Press. 1949. Print.
7. Springer Science and Business Media. “Bees Attracted To Contrasting Colors When Looking For Nectar.” Science Daily. 21 February 2013.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/02/130221084707.htm