My name is Khush Patel and detailed information is provided in this blog about my observations.
Location: St. Vital Park, 190 River Road, Winnipeg, Manitoba, R2M 5C4, Canada
Date: September 11th,2023,5:30 pm PST.
Weather: 10°C, sunny. Humidity: 71%,Wind:6km/h
Seasonality: fall
Size: Approximately 100 acres
St vital Park is located just beside Red River, so it is flourishing with flora and fauna. The park has many concrete pavements for human activities. Vegetation is grassland with long coniferous trees. It has a graveyard included in the park. I noticed the soil is very wet and is alluvial and ideal for plant growth. Most of the green vegetation was on the bank of the river and the side where people perform camping and recreational activities was less tress and more grassland.
Moreover, animals seen while observing were some Canada geese, red squirrels, crows, blue jays, and sparrows. There are a lot of public garbage bins, so they are utilized properly and don’t do any harm to the ecosystem. What I noticed animals mostly feeding at that time. Geese were feeding on healthy grass and making some disruptions within the grasslands. Sparrows and crows were tickling and making sounds and some squirrels were noticing humans near their territory.
Possible research questions:
- Why do squirrels panic when they feed?
- What are the advantages and disadvantages of squirrels digging holes near trees and hiding food? How do other small predators find them and what are the potential consequences for both?
- Why do Canadian geese graze on grass how that whole land is regenerated what are some environmental factors that also influence the growth of the grass?
- What are the major factors that are seen on the banks of the river and opposite to the river? Do plants grow the same? How does soil salinity affect it? If humans are going on banks for fishing, do they have many birds and big predators visiting?
Map photo used from Google Maps. https://www.google.com/maps/place/St.+Vital+Park/@49.82848,-97.1411245,16.39z/data=!4m7!3m6!1s0x52ea75da3f610df7:0xaa5e7c6ef54a6db4!8m2!3d49.828686!4d-97.141407!10e1!16s%2Fm%2F04z_bl_?entry=ttu
It sounds like you have a good study site picked out. Be careful with questions about animal behaviour like your question 1 as it is often not possible to answer these questions without detailed experimental studies. Remember to look for environmental gradients at your study site. You mention one gradient – areas with human use and areas without. Your last question also suggests there is a gradient along the river related to plants / soil. Perhaps put some more thought into what this might be. As you work through the next few modules there are tutorials and activities that will help you continue to work towards a question for your study.