Observation Log for Blog Brandon Jenkins

Observation Log -Brandon Jenkins
Times & Date: 11:20-11:50, 10/29/12
Location: Eaton Canyon

I hiked northwest up the main trail about a quarter mile, until I stopped to do my observation log at 11:20 I took a set area of about 20 paces wide and 30 paces long, and observed what I saw, and the changes that happened over the half hour that I was there.

Observations: 
11:20: Just arrived, temperature 84˚F (28.8˚C), sunny, clear skies. Main trail passes through the area, with many different plants and vegetation. I walked around the area, looking for animals and plants.

11:25: Plant-wise, I saw three oak trees, one cactus plant, shrubs, grass, rocks, & bushes. So far, I have seen a small lizard that ran away as soon as a made a movement towards it, a bunny that was hidden in a bush and ran away, and a few bees hovering around in the air. There are rocks scattered all over the area, varying in size from sand-like to boulders half the size of me.

11:30: I heard a woodpecker off in the distance west, somewhere in a tree, pecking away. The ground cover is mostly small rocks, shrubs, trail, and near oak trees, the ground is covered in hundreds of their dead leaves. A bluebird landed stopped to stick its head at something on the ground, but then flew away.

11:35: Flies have been hovering around all the time. There are small amounts of green grass covering the ground. The grass is very thin, meaning there is not very much of it packed together. They are just sticking up from the ground separately, and there is a very small amount of it. I saw another small lizard that ran away.

11:40: I went up close to the cactus, and saw that it had a red bulb growing on top of it. My partner, Brandon Nguyen, said that it might be a dragon fruit, but he was not sure. More small birds have flown over me. The shrubs that cover most of the ground look very dead and out of water. The creek at the beginning of the trail is dry too, so this must be the dry season.

11:45: I saw three deer! I was at one end of the area, turned around, and there they were, eating or sniffing something off of the ground. All three looked full-grown to me. I slowly approached them, while my partner took a video. They stopped and looked at us, as they let us slowly creep closer and closer to them. We got very close, within 30 feet of them, before they got uncomfortable and ran away east into the brush.

11:50: The end of my observations. Temperature had risen to 86˚F (30˚C), sky was still sunny and clear. I gathered my things and hiked back down the trail southeast.