Getting Outside

This week for Environmental Science we had a particularly easy assignment to complete. What we were asked to do, was to go outside somewhere in nature, even our backyard would do just fine, and simply sit and observe the environment around us. Imagining a sphere around ourselves and sitting quietly in nature for  a minimum a 20 minutes, we will take note of the things that we observe. Biotic and abiotic interactions  and relationships are what we were specifically asked to observe. In other words the interactions between living and non-living things. After our observations we are to reflect and describe where we sat.
   The place I chose to observe was about a mile away from my house in the hills where I used to ride motorcycles. I sat beside a creek that I have explored many times in the past. I encountered several different things while sitting and observing, but I really thought in going to the creek that I would see more interaction between things in the environment. I really didn't see many. First off I couldn't help but notice the annoying little insect that was constantly flying around my head while I tried to concentrate on observing my surroundings. The most common form of life I saw were insects. I saw a swarm of little bugs which I believe were nats, all huddled together in a small swarm just flying in circles but still staying in a group. In the creek next to me was a little school of tiny fish, or tadpoles, I really couldn't tell from where I was sitting. They all seemed to be looking for food and swimming down the creek along with the current. There was a dragon fly circling a large distance over my head, he would disappear, and then reappear, flying back and forth but staying in the same area. All sorts of different kinds of plants covered the area, along with rocks and boulders. The rocks that came in contact with the creek were growing moss on them which was a greenish black.
   One thing I found to be kind of funny was that, no matter how far out in the hills I was, I still some how managed to come in contact with another human. It was a man riding by on a motorcycle wondering if everything was okay, and if I needed help. I just awkwardly said, "No, I'm just sitting here doing homework." Then he left no word, just probably wondering what kind homework I'm doing sitting by a creek all by myself. When I began sitting I started with what was in front of me and I gradually began to observe things further and further around me. First was all of the sounds that came with being in the ecosystem of a creek. The sounds of a waterfall in the background, along with the croaking of frogs, and the chirping of crickets. I started to notice that although I was away from people, and in such a nice scenery that still there was a lot of trash. It was scattered throughout the brush and all along where I parked. To add to all the trash in the area, I even saw rocks that had graffiti all over them. To be honest it sucked seeing those kind of things in a place where I used to play as a kid. As I continued to looked around, I saw an interesting rock formation which looked as if a big rock was being held up by a small rock, like something you would see on television. The hills all around me were dry and covered with huge rocks that seemed to be all evenly scattered across the face of the hill. As I was getting ready to leave a bird flew right past my head, then all of a sudden dove to catch something. It was the most action I had seen yet!
   After spending time outside observing I found myself giving a lot of attention to my surrounding and the environment on the way home. Although it was assignment, In a way I felt that it brought me a little closer with nature , and I think sitting outside and observing my environment is something that I am going to do more often.
P.S. I included some pictures of where I chose to observe but I wasn't able to take many before my camera died!!