User: | Open Learning Faculty Member:
I chose to do my Field Project at Pat Bay in Victoria BC, a short drive from my home. It is approximately half an acre located in Deep Cove, Victoria BC, just off the Pat Bay highway near the airport. Jagged rocks and grassy hills surround the bay, which also homes search and rescue boats and float planes. Vegetation includes many blackberry bushes, wildflowers that I have yet to identify, and arbutus trees covering a vast majority of the grasslands down to the water’s edge. Animals include a variety of birds such as sparrows, robins, and hummingbirds as well as honey bees, seagulls, geese, and the occasional seal passing through. A pathway separates the grassy hills from the water where quite often people will come to walk their dogs or entertain children.
My first visit was on June 10, 2017 at 18:36. The grass was damp, which indicated earlier rainfall, but at the time the sun was peaking out from behind white clouds dotting the blue sky. Pink and orange flowers poked up through the brush here and there, indicating that spring is upon us. A good indication of spring came from the honey bees buzzing about. Although only a few could be seen, their buzz was unmistakably heard through the soft sounds of the water’s edge. A hummingbird, which looked to be a juvenile, was spotted perched upon a tree branch, and sparrow bird chirp could be heard from within the bushes. No sign of aquatic animals, but it is a little too early for that.
My three questions are:
- How does the vegetation differ between the rocky beach of the bay and the grassy hills and why do they differ?
- What impact do the animals that habitat that space have on the vegetation?
- Does human interaction with the surroundings affect it in any way and if so, are the effects negative or positive?
