Lab 8: Signs of Spring

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Views and Plants from my Apartment

April 1, 2020

Inner Sunset, San Francisco

Signs of Spring –

1. The tree pictured above is right outside my bedroom window and within the last couple of weeks, I have been woken up from the noise of birds chirping as soon as the sun comes up in the morning. At least 15 small birds, I’m guessing finches, gather on this tree and consistently chirp following a hint of light in the sky. I consider this a sign of spring because I hadn’t really noticed this until a couple of weeks ago, which was when the season started. I find it to be a very pleasant sound and a much more pleasing alarm than what I am normally used to.
2. I have been walking to Golden Gate Park a lot ever since the shelter-in-place started and I have been observing pairs of hawks circling in the air the past few weeks. I looked it up, and for Red-tailed Hawks, their breeding season is in the early spring, where you can see migrants begin their aerial courtship displays. This is when pairs soar together in wide circles high in the sky and the males typically fly above and slightly behind the female. I find this super fascinating because this is exactly what I have been seeing, so it is nice to put an explanation behind it.
3. Another sign of spring that I’ve noticed is the abundance of bees pollinating flowering plants in Golden Gate Park. I have been venturing to the park to play frisbee with my roommate, and occasionally the frisbee lands by these flowering bushes, which always have a swarm of bees around it lately. Now that it is already April, temperatures are warmer and flowers are beginning to bloom, which cause the bees to be really active.

Leaf Descriptions –

Narrative – 

I have been observing signs of spring for the last couple of weeks now and I really enjoyed researching and finding out why birds are chirping, hawks are flying, and bees are buzzing this time of year. I noted all of these signs in Golden Gate Park and I am very appreciative, especially in a time like this, to have access to one of the nation’s largest urban parks where I can witness these beautiful signs of spring. For my leaf descriptions, I decided to focus on the plants I have in my apartment in aim to learn more about their morphologies and I found it to be a productive use of my time.

LAB 7: Independent Field Excursion

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Golden Gate Park

May 25, 2020

Lat: 37.76, Long: -122.48, Acc: 24 m

Site – 

  • Topography: relatively flat, minor changes in elevation
  • General Habitat: grassland, Eucalyptus/Pine forest

Species 1 – Japanese Cherry (Prunus serrulata)

Species 2 – Steller’s Jay (Cyanocitta stelleri)

Species 3 – Pride of Madeira (Echium candicans)

Species 4 – Mallard (Anas platyrhynchos)

Species 5 – Crimson Bottlebrush (Melaleuca citrina)

Species 6 – Red-tailed Hawk (Buteo jamaicensis)

Detailed Species Description:

  • Observations: Two hawks flying in a pair – darker body feathers with brighter orange tail feathers – gradually following each other to higher elevation, then diving down, closely following one after the other, occasional calls, this “play/monitoring” cycle repeated without rest
  • A fellow passerby mentioned that it is currently the Red-tailed Hawk’s nesting season, so she had been seeing them more recently in the area
  • Observed in the sky at Lat: 37.76 Long: -122.48 Acc: 6 m, about 50 m from Elk Glen Lake
  • Information gathered from “All About Birds” Cornell Lab https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Red-tailed_Hawk/id
    • Size & Shape: large hawks with broad, rounded wings, and short, wide tail
    • Coloring: rich brown body, pale under, red tail
    • Behavior: soar in wide circles high above a field, attack in a slow, controlled dive
      • generally monogamous, they initiate courtship and maintain the pair bond with aerial maneuvers performed by both members of the pair
      • migration is diurnal, depending on weather, with northern populations traveling south
    • Distribution: most widespread birds of prey in North America

Narrative –

I left my house around 1 pm and walked three blocks to the 19th Ave entrance to Golden Gate Park. I was prepared with my hand sanitizer and I observed many people out, either alone or in pairs, on their way to the park. Throughout my excursion, I noticed that people were very mindful of keeping distance and I gladly found myself alone on the trail for most of my walk. It was blue skies and sunny out, but the air was still brisk, which was a refreshing change from being inside. It was also nice to get outside and have a change of perspective. When I was on my walk, I realized how beautiful and unfazed nature was and it was nice to find a place of peace, especially with everything going on in the world right now.

The specific path I took on my excursion

The area of Golden Gate Park I explored