Dead Birds, an Orange, and a Bike...

Yesterday I walked to my back door ready to take in nature and all it's glory, when my attempt was quickly brought to a halt. When I opened my back door, there lay a dead bird in the middle of my porch. Because I am ridiculously afraid of birds, I slammed the door and ran to the opposite end of the house. Funny for everyone else, not so funny for me. Turns out my cat decided to drop off the bird as a little present for her owners. She was very proud of her accomplishment, purring and meowing as my mother preceded to dispose of the bird. Discouraged but not defeated, I proceeded back outside (OK, it took me a few hours to overcome the shock and fear) to observe a little nature. The reason for hanging out in my backyard all of a sudden? Our assignment this week was to find a spot, anywhere, outside and sit for 20 minutes and record what we see. When given the assignment I quickly dismissed the thought of sitting somewhere as simple as my backyard, but realized that maybe I'm wrong, maybe there are more things to be seen in the unexpected place.

Now, I know what you're wondering, where's the picture of the dead bird? Yeah right. Like I said I slammed the door and ran and didn't return until the carcus was long gone. I did, however, take a picture of the killer cat.

In the case of the cat and blue bird, the cat played the role of the predator (the chaser)  and the bird was the prey (the chased). Unlike most predator-prey relationships, the cat did not feed on its victim. Interestingly enough I know that blue bird nests are often overtaken by the Sparrow, another inhabitant of my backyard. When Sparrows overtake a nest or smash the eggs of blue birds the blue bird again becomes the prey. The Sparrow and Blue Bird compete for resources (food, shelter, etc) within their niche (the way a species lives within their ecosystem).

OK, I'm starting to feel bad for the poor Blue Bird... NOT.

As I watch two Sparrows fly from bush to bush, I am thankful that they are there to eat all the insects and bugs (another example of predator-prey relationships). But don't think the Sparrow always wins. Cats often eat Sparrows. I noticed a black cat and an all white cat laying under my patio furniture. Where did these feral cats come from and why are they here? Are they competing with each other to catch the Sparrows for food? Or are they stealing my cats food that is kept on the back porch? Also, I've heard that parasites kill Sparrows (an example of a parasitism, when one organism feeds on another)
Is it going to far to say that the interactions between the Cat, Sparrow, Blue Bird, and Parasites is an example of a food web?

In the center of my backyard we have a big, beautiful orange tree. I'm always too lazy to pick oranges from the tree because I have to spend so much time picking up fallen oranges off of the ground. In my observations that day I noticed one orange in particular laying on the ground. At first I though it was rotting away, but when I looked closer I noticed it appeared to be half eaten. It was covered in ants and fruit fly were surrounding the air above it. Were the ants and flies a part of interspecific competition (when two species compete for the same resources, such as food)? Or were they each eating the food, living among each other?  Take a look at this orange. It looks like someone took a bite out of it, right? I'd hate to think someone was eating oranges off of our tree, just hanging out in our backyard. Maybe we have raccoons?

I realized that I haven't spent a whole lot of time in my backyard this winter. Because as I was sitting there I noticed my bike. covered in vines and moss. I had stood my bike up against the chain link fence and forgot about it. The vines grew up and around the bike making it almost impossible to see. When a species uses another species to grow and thrive like this without having a negative effect on the original species it is known as commensalism. In this case my bike is an abiotic (non-living) species. Here is a picture of my poor bike. I really don't think I'll be able to save it, it looks pretty rusted under all that bush.

More examples of some abiotic things that I saw are tumbleweeds blowing in the wind, and clumps of fresh cut grass upon the sidewalk.

Like I said, I originally never anticipated being able to complete this assignment from the top step of my back porch. I guess this shows that "nature" doesn't have to be on a mountain top or a hiking trail or out on the beach. I encourage you to conduct your own nature observation in a simple place and see if you're surprised by the things you see.

I knew my feet were big but...

The fact that it would take about 4.4 Earths to provide enough resources if everyone lived like I do does not surprise me much; I know I don't do enough to have a lesser impact on our environment. What does surprise me is some of the reasons why my footprint is so large. I never stopped to think about how the animals I eat effect the environment in a negative way, like using up acres of land. Or that acres of land are also being used because I purchase products that require a lot of packaging and/or are not from recycled materials.

19.6 acres of the Earth's productive area would be needed to support my lifestyle, the majority of that being used for energy land, and about 45% of my total footprint is due to services that require that energy. Getting energy efficient appliances would definitely help out. My electricity bill is definitely more than it should be. I recently became aware of the amount of things I leave plugged in to electrical outlets at all times and the energy it uses to run that. My house does not have central heating and air, so we use space heaters and window air conditioning units to heat and cool. I know that these require tons of energy to run, and investing in central heating/air will reduce energy costs a ton. My house is old and needs to be weatherized to reduce costs as well.

Want to find out your ecological footprint and explore ways to reduce it? visit www.footprintnetwork.org/calculator. Compare your footprint to mine! You can also see how your footprint compares to that of your countries by following the links under the "Frequently Asked Questions" section that you can access after you are done taking the quiz.

I don't know how to save the world...

Forget "Clean Eating," this is all about Clean Blogging. Environmentally friendly blogging for today's not so environmentally friendly generation. Honestly? If you're looking for expert help on How to Save the World one plastic bottle at a time... this is not the place to turn. This blog was created as an assignment for my environmental science class. Every post on here is part of the assignment, and every post on here is a learning experience for me (on both the environment and how to blog).

My name is Kristina, and I am Sociology major with an emphasis in Social and Behavioral Studies. I plan on working for DPSS, specifically with children who have no one else to help them. I spent a good majority of my adult life trying to take my education and career in another direction, but events seemed to always lead me back to Social and Behavioral Studies. It is truly my passion and I cannot wait to start my career.

So whats a Sociology major doing an environmental science class? To learn! I took a similar class in high school with a preconceived notion that Republicans do not care to preserve the environment in the same way that Democrats do. Being a Republican, my dedication to the class was lacking and I did not retain any of the information. Now the older (and the much wiser) me is here to learn about the impact I have already made, and will make, on our earths environment. I am as open-minded as they come and I hope to learn how to make a difference in a way that I can share and pass on.