My Awesome Backyard!

            Today’s assignment has me sitting in my backyard being as still and as quiet as I possibly can while observing nature. I am not new to this, as I just sit and relax in my backyard from time to time just seeing nature do what it does. Although, I will say that I definitely was looking a little bit harder at the abiotic (non-living) things than I normally do. So I spent time on the concrete near the pool where I had a visual of most of the back yard. So as I am sitting I am focusing on what I am seeing and hearing and if possible pointing out interactions. (Some of these pictures were taken after I was done being silent and still)

            The first thing I notice is that there are a few birds chirping in a tree behind my banana trees. They continue to chirp but never make an appearance. There were more birds that would dart into this bushy tree, but they moved so fast I really couldn't get a clear look at them. The only bird I could actually identify with certainty was the red-tailed hawk that made a brief 30 second appearance which I luckily got a quick camera shot of.

            I admit for a bit of time I was looking around thinking of just how little I am seeing. But that was because I was focusing on the large things. I started to try to focus on the little things. I could only identify about two of the insects. The first was one I did notice the whole time, a large pretty yellow butterfly that I think is a giant swallowtail, which sadly moved too fast to get a good picture of. And the honey bees I would see collecting pollen in the flowers across from me on the other side of the pool (mutualism). Those were the noticeable activities. The stuff that kind of made me speechless is when I looked up a little bit and focused in the middle of the trees on the incline across from me, I could see hundreds of different flying insects zooming back and forth…none of which I could tell. Even after when I got up and took a closer look I couldn't tell what sort of insects they were only could see them zoom back and forth between the trees. Oh, and there were a couple of annoying house flies next to me.

            There were some interesting sounds I was unable to decipher. There was a strange rustling of leaves and branches. I never saw what was making the noise the whole time, but it was for a VERY long period of time that I heard the noise…so it kind of bugs me that I wasn't able to find out what it was.

            I enjoyed the time I spent in the backyard and noticed I needed to do a few things. Well…I need to mow the backyard/weed whack the heck out of it. And I need to add some more soil to a couple of plants. I usually come back at night from classes so lately I have not been out there with actual light.

Biotic (living) things I noticed.

Honey bees (at least 30), lemon tree (1), eucalyptus tree(1), red tailed hawk(1), grass(lots), pomegranate trees (4), banana tree(3), random house flies(2), unknown birds in the bushy tree (also unknown amount but 1 bushy tree), large amounts of unknown insects flying in-between trees, large yellow butterfly (possibly a giant swallowtail)(1), and my dog who sat next to me very still while I watched everything.

Abiotic (non-living) things I noticed.

            Dirt, dead leaves, fence, water hose, pots, statue, BBQ, the elements, and of course all of the rocks.