huntergutting1's Journal

For this third nature walk, I decided to walk around the Chestnut Hill Reservoir on lower campus around 3:00 PM on Thursday, October 17th. The sun was out, but it was a chilly and windy day. I was successfully able to identify all four main groups of plants while I was on my walk. First, I found multiple examples of mosses growing on surrounding trees and rocks, which is classified as a Bryophyta (nonvascular plant). Moreover, I was located two different small fields of sunflowers on the reservoir, which fall under the angiosperm (flowering plant) category. In the very beginning, I saw a pine tree - an example of a Gymnosperm (non-flowering seed plant) - off to the side. Lastly, at the end of my walk around the reservoir, I identified a group of ferns, which classify as a Polypodiopsida (seedless vascular plant). In conclusion, this was a very relaxing walk after taking two exams earlier in the day, and it was interesting that I could quickly find all four main groups of plants on my very own campus.

For the second nature walk, I decided to walk around the Pine Tree Reserve on lower campus. It was a beautiful, warm, and sunny day. I didn't realize Boston College had recently build this miniature reserve recently, so it was refreshing to check it out after a stressful week full of midterms. There wasn't a lot of evident fungi, but I was able to identify a few different examples. The most obvious and frequent was fungi that resided on trees or stones. However, I also found two different groups of mushrooms growing on the side of a branch, which was exciting to see. Overall, it was a nice 30 minute walk, but next time I believe that I will pick a larger area with more biodiversity.

I walked for about 30 minutes around my hometown neighborhood. It was warm - around 75 degrees, but cloudy. I have been taking walks around my neighborhood and its adjacent trails since I was in middle school, so I decided to take the opportunity to visit home this weekend and do it again. There was a lot of variety in the plants and trees that I observed, but not many animals were present on my walk. However, I did see a heron walking by my shed on my way back. This is a common occurrence in my backyard. The leaves have started to turn and its always a beautiful sight. Going on this walk allowed me to detach myself from this stressful week and reconnect with the beauty of where I grew up.