Diario de ceaustin

I thought I would try to enter some general notes for days posted to iNaturalist. I'm entering them first into an Excel spreadsheet, then merging to a Word document. At the moment of writing, I have 12 entries, dating back to mid August. Over time, these entries may be adjusted or expanded.

As of the time of writing, the fields are as follows:
ID: Record Number in Spreadsheet
ENTRY DATE: Date of Visit
TIME ARRIVED: Approximate time of arrival to location, usually by car.
TIME LEFT: Approximate time of leaving location.
DATE COMMENT: Comment about significance of date/visit.
SUMMARY: General statement about visit.
WEATHER COMMENT: General comment about the weather.
WEATHER -
BLUE SKY PERCENT: Percentage of the sky that is blue
WEATHER CLARITY: The clarity of the sky (100 - blue, 50 - Pale blue, 25 - translucent clouds, 0 - cloudy/hazy).
WEATHER STATION REPORT: Location of most local weather station report on that day.
Pictures Taken For:

PICTURE POST: Picture Post is at http://picturepost.unh.edu (1 - Yes, 0 - No)
iNaturalist: (1/0)
Other: (1/0)
ROUTE TAKEN: General path taken during the visit, usually walking.
TERRAIN: General statement about the slope, habitats, and whether natural or human impacted.
PHENOLOGY: General statement on the phenology at the time of visit, plus highlights of life found.
CONVERSATIONS: Statements on any related conversations had at time of visit.
EXTRA NOTES: Misc statements.

ID: 1 ENTRY DATE: 20180929 TIME ARRIVED: 10:00:00 AM TIME LEFT: 12:30:00 PM

DATE COMMENT:

PLACE: Endean Meadows, Norwood, MA

SUMMARY: Sunny day with Norwood Trails Sub Committee to determine grade of paths.

WEATHER COMMENT: Sunny, warm temperature, calm winds, recently it rained.

WEATHER SKY - BLUE SKY PERCENTAGE: 100 WEATHER: SKY CLARITY: 100

WEATHER STATION REPORT: http://www.bluehill.org/Data/2018/september/sep29.txt

Pictures Taken For:
PICTURE POST: 0 iNaturalist: 1 OTHER: 1

ROUTE TAKEN: Generally followed the cross country running trail, which criss-crosses the park.

TERRAIN: Terrain is generally flat, with a large area at brook level and higher ground at middle school level. Phenology - saw monarch, killdeer, shelled hickory nuts - paths vary from good to needs repair.

PHENOLOGY: Early autumn, birds still present, leaves were mostly green.

CONVERSATIONS: Conversations compared paths and how paths were mapped on available maps. Other conversations were about invasives.

EXTRA NOTES:

ID: 2 ENTRY DATE: 20180929 TIME ARRIVED: 1:30:00 PM TIME LEFT: 3:20:00 PM

DATE COMMENT:

SUMMARY: Sunny date with cumulus in rows, red color visible in fowl meadow (red maples).

PLACE: Great Blue Hill, Blue Hills Reservation, Milton, MA

WEATHER COMMENT: Partly cloudy, 70s, temp, light breeze, rain previous night and week; streams are full.

WEATHER SKY - BLUE SKY PERCENTAGE: 50 WEATHER: SKY CLARITY: 100

WEATHER STATION REPORT: http://www.bluehill.org/Data/2018/september/sep29.txt

Pictures Taken For:
PICTURE POST: 1 iNaturalist: 1 OTHER: 0

ROUTE TAKEN: Parked in north lot. Walked up cutoff to summit rd, then along summit rd to summit. Down via main ski slope.

TERRAIN: Generally upland woods on highest point in Boston area, with both wooded and open areas.

PHENOLOGY: Ground turning more yellow, while trees are showing signs of color. Ash some color in most leaves, maples color here and there, hickories still holding onto nuts and color here and there in leaves.

CONVERSATIONS: Acted as impromptu tour guide to a family on the way up. Talked about phenology and picture post. Also had conversation with two men on tower.

EXTRA NOTES:
Florence mentioned in the news but there isn't nearly as much coverage as in past storms. Tsunami hit Indonesia and volcano getting active.

ID: 4 ENTRY DATE: 20180915 TIME ARRIVED: 10:30:00 AM TIME LEFT: 1:00:00 PM

DATE COMMENT:

SUMMARY: Mostly cloudy (cloudy transitioning to sunny) skies, with flocks of gold finches on the slopes; fall not far away.

PLACE: Great Blue Hill, Blue Hills Reservation, Milton, MA

WEATHER COMMENT: Heavy overcast at start, possibly low ceiling or fog. As I was alking to car, the sun broke out - sunny rest of day. No rain; vegetation wet maybe from mist., warm temp.

WEATHER SKY - BLUE SKY PERCENTAGE: 50 WEATHER: SKY CLARITY: 100

WEATHER STATION REPORT: http://www.bluehill.org/Data/2018/september/sep15.txt

Pictures Taken For:
PICTURE POST: 1 iNaturalist: OTHER:

ROUTE TAKEN: Parked in north lot. Went up cutoff to Summit Rd., then Summit Rd to Summit. Down via main ski slope.

TERRAIN: Sloping terrain on highest hill in Boston metro area.

PHENOLOGY: The vegetation is saying fall is not far away. The temp. and humidity say otherwise. Some color visible in plants, especially ground cover. I saw brown birds and a goldfinch on ski slope. They may be readying to go south. Golden rods. BHO had deer mous

CONVERSATIONS:

EXTRA NOTES:
Local news talking about the number of dead and dying trees - blamed on the drought and gypsy moth damage.
Hurrcane Florence slammed in to the Carolinas, bringing lots fo rain.
Forest fires continue in California.

ID: 5 ENTRY DATE: 20180908 TIME ARRIVED: 3:00:00 PM TIME LEFT: 6:00:00 PM

DATE COMMENT:

SUMMARY: Start of color in some trees.

WEATHER COMMENT: Light breeze from north, 60s, rain showers Thursday afternoon

WEATHER SKY - BLUE SKY PERCENTAGE: 0 SKY CLARITY: 0

WEATHER STATION REPORT: http://www.bluehill.org/Data/2018/september/sep08.txt

Pictures Taken For:
PICTURE POST: 1 iNaturalist: 1 OTHER: 0

ROUTE TAKEN: Parked in main lot - walked up N. Dot Tr, to Summit Road to Summit. Down via main ski slope.

TERRAIN: Slopy terrain on highest hill in Boston metro area.

PHENOLOGY: Vegetation in trees mostly green - some with start of color. Much of the ground vegetation is colors, like cat brier and grasses.

CONVERSATIONS: Talked with people at tower top about visibility.

EXTRA NOTES:

ID: 6 ENTRY DATE: 20180902 TIME ARRIVED: 11:00:00 AM TIME LEFT: 5:00:00 PM

DATE COMMENT:

SUMMARY: A trip to Tidmarsh Sanctuary, a former cranberry bog, and Miles Standish State Forest, a part of a pine barren habitat.

WEATHER COMMENT: Sunny, hot temperature, calm

WEATHER SKY - BLUE SKY PERCENTAGE: 100 WEATHER: SKY CLARITY: 100

WEATHER STATION REPORT: http://www.bluehill.org/Data/2018/september/sep02.txt

Pictures Taken For:
PICTURE POST: 1 iNaturalist: 1 OTHER:

ROUTE TAKEN: Tidmarsh, from t he parking lot on Beaver Dam Rd, walked main trail through park. in Miles Standish, starting from the trailhead for East Head Pond and walked around the pond

TERRAIN: Tidmarsh - generally flat, with some morains with views of the brook; mixed vegetation. Miles Standish - flat terrain in a mixed pine barren and deciduous forest.

PHENOLOGY: Bog was recently recovered and is still in that process to fully revert to a wetland. Saw a hawk, dragon flies, and a turtle. Miles Standish - mixed forest similar to Blue Hill make up; nearby is pure pine barren.

CONVERSATIONS: Had interesting conversation with ranger in information center - we talked about pine barren habitat, forest fire past events and present threats, other subject matter.

EXTRA NOTES:

ID: 7 ENTRY DATE: 20180901 TIME ARRIVED: 15:00 TIME LEFT: 16:00:00

DATE COMMENT:

SUMMARY: A visit to the Picture Post location at MassAudubon Wildlife Sanctuary, Sharon, MA and Great Blue Hill, Blue Hills Reservation, Milton, MA.

PLACE: Great Blue Hill, Blue Hills Reservation, Milton, MA and MassAudubon Moose Hill Wildlife Sanctuary, Sharon, MA

WEATHER COMMENT:

WEATHER SKY - BLUE SKY PERCENTAGE: - WEATHER: SKY CLARITY: -

WEATHER STATION REPORT: http://www.bluehill.org/Data/2018/august/sep01.txt

Pictures Taken For:
PICTURE POST: 1 iNaturalist: 1 OTHER:

ROUTE TAKEN: Moose Hill: Parked In Nature Center, then walked the Billings Loop. Blue Hill: Parked in lot, then walked up summit road to summit. Down via main ski slope.

TERRAIN: Moose Hill: Path generally flat through wetland, meadow, and successional field. Blue Hill: Sloped terrain on a hill overlooking the Boston metro area.

PHENOLOGY: Generally green.

CONVERSATIONS:

EXTRA NOTES:

ID: 7 ENTRY DATE: 20180825 TIME ARRIVED: 7:30:00 AM TIME LEFT: 9:00:00 AM

DATE COMMENT: Second trip to Ponkapoag Pond, walked on bog trail to end.

PLACE: Ponkapoag Pond Bog, Blue Hills Reservation, Canton, MA

SUMMARY: Nice morning to enjoy the flora and fauna on the bog.

WEATHER COMMENT: Mostly cloudy, 80s temperature, calm, haze.

WEATHER SKY - BLUE SKY PERCENTAGE: 75 WEATHER: SKY CLARITY: 75

WEATHER STATION REPORT: http://www.bluehill.org/Data/2018/august/aug26.txt

Pictures Taken For:
PICTURE POST: 0 iNaturalist: 1 OTHER: 0

ROUTE TAKEN: Parked off Exit at I-93, walked south to bog trail, then bog trail to end. Back in reverse.

TERRAIN: Path from I-93 goes down a gentle grade to pond - flat from there.

PHENOLOGY: Green vegetation from there.

CONVERSATIONS:

EXTRA NOTES:

ID: 8 ENTRY DATE: 20180825 TIME ARRIVED: 9:30:00 AM TIME LEFT: 11:30:00 AM

DATE COMMENT: 18:00-20:00 on trip to Ponkapoag Pond.

SUMMARY: Nice day after steamy days during week. Two trips: one to Great Blue Hill and other to Ponkapoag Pond.

PLACE: Great Blue Hill and Ponkapoag Pond, Great Blue Hills Reservation, Milton and Canton, MA

WEATHER COMMENT: Hazy Day

WEATHER SKY - BLUE SKY PERCENTAGE: 75 WEATHER: SKY CLARITY: 75

WEATHER STATION REPORT: http://www.bluehill.org/Data/2018/august/aug25.txt

Pictures Taken For:
PICTURE POST: 1 iNaturalist: 1 OTHER: 0

ROUTE TAKEN: Blue Hill: Parked in lot, walked up summit road to summit. Down via main ski slope. Parked at golf course; walked on Maple Ave to dam. Walked to bog trail and started on it before turning back as it was darkening.

TERRAIN: Flat

PHENOLOGY: Green. Ponkapoag Bog is a floating bog on the west side of the pond. It has white cedars, pitcher plants and other plants in this unusual habitat.

CONVERSATIONS:

EXTRA NOTES:

ID: 10 ENTRY DATE: 20180819 TIME ARRIVED: 9:00:00 AM TIME LEFT: 11:00:00 AM

DATE COMMENT:

SUMMARY: Weather finally becoming ooler and drier.

WEATHER COMMENT: Temp, 70s, breezy (~20 mph). No precip at the time of visit. About 1/2 inch fell in prev. 24 hrs.

WEATHER SKYBLUE SKY PERCENTAGE: 25 WEATHER: SKY CLARITY: 75

WEATHER STATION REPORT: http://www.bluehill.org/Data/2018/august/aug19.txt

Pictures Taken For:
PICTURE POST: 1 iNaturalist: 1 OTHER:

ROUTE TAKEN:

TERRAIN:

PHENOLOGY:

CONVERSATIONS:

EXTRA NOTES: