Proper Field Trip with my class

On October 5th 

I had my first field trip with Sarah Arnold on October 5th. Our field trip started with us going to the car park in front of the library to make notes of various plants and flowers in the pots placed around the building.

As we took notes of the flowers, we found some appeared to be suffering from the current weather conditions, whilst others were doing fine due to their traits like drought resistance and the time of year. Whilst observing the plants, we noticed a bee trying to pollinate them. Sarah managed to capture the bee into a bit tube, allowing me to take a picture of the bee before letting her back out. Sarah explained that some plants' flowers are too small for the bee to pollinate. Our group also found some mushrooms inside the pots, some flat whilst others were round. Sarah explained that the presence of the mushrooms was due to the soil being waterlogged.

We then walked around the campus and discussed the grasslands and trees surrounding the campus, and we were asked about the benefits they provided. We agreed that it wasn't just the scenery; they were also natural noise walls against the traffic on the other side of campus. Sarah also wanted to point to the grasslands and discuss whether we could contemplate removing the area and replacing it with tarmac? My guess was to make room for more cars, not a reasonable argument. Then we were asked why we should preserve it. The reasons ranged from the soil and grass allowing the rain to soak away naturally, helping to drain the area and putting water back into the underground watercourses to preserve an ecosystem of insects that live in the area. 

As we walked towards the park, we were told to look at a place where a former salt bin was removed and showed that the ground was saline because of the salt left behind. As a result,

moss was in place, which prompted me to ask about what would happen if salt was sown on farmlands.

Afterwards, we took notes of various trees planted by human hands at different hillsides; we learned that trees have the extra advantage of preventing mudslides from happening. Among the trees that were produced were Hazelnut, Hawthorns and Beech Trees.

We then went towards the park, and we started with the main paths on the playground before we stopped at the first tree, a Sweet Chestnut tree, to shake it with a large stick with a basket underneath, and we found Ladybirds, Psocids and Spiders. After we took the notes, we then crossed a bridge, during which we noted that there were a lot of stinging nettles due to vibrant soils, which demonstrated that a balance of dirt can be beneficial to ecosystems, otherwise greedy plants will dominate the area and cause other plants to struggle.

Soon we went to neglected areas in the park to watch how weeds of various types were growing, and I made sure I took pictures of insects and plants. Sarah discussed the likelihood that certain animals would find these overgrown areas the ideal habitat for mice, voles and caterpillars. These, in turn, would be hunting grounds for owls, foxes and dragonflies and be part of the ecosystem.

Our trip was interrupted by dog walkers, one of which had a Great Dane, a giant dog, which spooked one of the other students. I wasn't scared myself. But it got me thinking about how people would walk the area with their dogs and wonder if these dogs ever looked for these wild animals, which might affect the ecosystem? I am aware that domestic cats can decimate rodent populations and kill many birds.

We continued across bridges and other places of interest, such as a searchlight placement overgrown by the foliage, including toadflax, then we walked towards a car park. Sarah wanted us to think about what happened since World War I and II and imagine how the landscapes had changed over the decades because of the circumstances. For example, when we built these emplacements to protect ourselves from the Germans, we likely did so without thinking about the ecosystems in the area because our survival was the critical objective. When the war ended, we abandoned these structures as we had no use for them anymore. This caused nature to move into these environments and adapt to the new surroundings, which must have been more challenging for some.

As we went on the field trip, we would shake more trees down to see what insects were living inside, and Sarah was happy to let me write down the species in question, such as ladybirds with different patterns of spots, Leafhoppers and flea beetles, to name a few. 

We then returned to the campus, noting the bat sanctuary I walked past earlier, and on the way, shook one last tree, which was a Hollow Oak, to locate more insects, though we felt there weren't as many as we hoped.

We had to recap what we had seen, and we were given a sheet of paper to help us identify the trees. Sarah told us that some of the trees we had seen originated in the UK, but others were imported from other countries. While this can improve biodiversity, it also risks invasive species, which can be detrimental to ecosystems. We have to be careful about what we bring back if we visit other countries.

On the way back, we met a woman working for Iceland, and she gave us free bags of goodies. These included a large bag of Doritos, a couple of cereal boxes, an energy drink, and a bottle of hot sauce. There was also a tiny pizza box for which we would get a free pizza and some vouchers.