Quintin's+Journal

__**Kawainui Marsh**__ I think this place will be a great environment to study for the rest of the semester because it has a wide variety of plants and animals to observe over time. The only bad thing is that it is a very large marsh and I can only get to a small section of it. If I could get into maybe the middle I’m sure I would find more organisms. After my first visit I didn't really see many animals around the part of the marsh that I could see. I saw many ducks, birds, fish and some mongooses. I managed to see one Hawaiian gallinule or ‘Alae u’la. It has a black body, red head with a yellow tip and a yellowish color legs. I saw it floating in the water and maybe diving down and grabbing some algae to eat. The mongoose I saw was very fast. Before I could get a picture it ran away into the bushes. But what I did see what appeared to be it stalking the birds kind of like a cat. The fishes I saw I couldn't really identify but there were lots of fish in the marsh. Next time I will observe them more. This first visit was mainly just seeing what is there and find a good spot with animals and plants that would be good to observe. I did see a lot of ducks. All the ducks I saw seemed to be just floating in the water, cleaning themselves and maybe diving down to get some algae or something from the bottom of the water. I didn't really look at the plants that were there at the marsh but I did see some. I have a lot of picture of these plants but I have not identified them yet. For my next visit I will be sure to look at the plants more and the fishes. Now that I kind of know where the birds and ducks like to hang around, I will have an easier time observing them.
 * Journal #1**

Kawainui Marsh Predator-Prey Relationship Predator-prey relationship is where 2 species affect one another’s population growth. A predator-prey relationship I saw was between the mongooses and the birds. When I was observing the marsh I did see a mongoose in the grass. From my point of view it look to me like it was hunting a bird. Unfortunately I didn't get a picture or any video because as soon as I got the camera out and took a step the birds flew away and the mongoose ran back into the bushes. The mongooses were originally brought here to help with the rat problem. But since rats are nocturnal and mongooses are not they found a new and more delicious prey. That would be the birds and their eggs. I think this is the best example of predator-prey relationship in Kawainui marsh. The mongooses that live there eat the birds and their eggs. With them eating the birds and their eggs that causes their population to go down and the mongooses to go up. I am sure that it is hard for the mongooses to get the birds and their eggs because I have never in my life seen a mongoose climb a tree or catch a bird. So I can imagine that the twos populations don't have dramatic increase or decreases from each other, but they probably do have minor changes. If you were to see a graph or their populations and there was a dramatic decrease in one of the species population it is probably due to a disease or climate change.

This time when i went to observe my echo-place i narrowed down the place to a small little island in the water of the marsh. I chose this place because it is away from human contact. I tried to go at a different time than last time to see if i could see more of the organisms that live in the marsh. But i did not have much luck in my opinion. Last time i went to observe the marsh at around 2 in the afternoon, this time i decided to go at 7 in the morning to try observe more organisms. When i got there i saw many more birds than i did last time. But this time i only saw two ducks, no mongooses and still no egrets or any fishes i could identify. I noticed that the water was a dark reddish black color and that the fishes i could see were gray. I also saw that the water was flowing from north to south. There was one type of bird that was small and a brownish color with a red line across its eyes like a blindfold that were on the ground in the grass, hard to see. And they were sitting on branches of a small tree that had no leaves. There was another type of bird that had a blackish colored back and a more whitish colored face with an orange colored beak. There were some cardinals, grayish color body with a red head. There was two ducks, one was brown with some black streaks and the other had a black head and black body but a white stomach. The fishes in the water that i could see were a grayish color. As i was walking to get a good spot to sit and observe i saw some fishes jump a little out of the water but i couldn't get it on film.
 * Journal #2**

The fishes in the water of the marsh were hard to see because they blended in so well. I think they came to be this grayish color to blend in with the bottom of the marsh to hide from its predators. Since the water was a darkish red color the only way to see the fish is if you were right next to the water looking down. So this is probably heritable variation. The two ducks i saw were both different colors. There was a black and white duck and then there was a brownish black duck. The black and white duck is probably better at blending in with the marsh at night, so it is probably more fit than the other brownish colored duck. But i noticed that this black and white duck was the first i have ever seen at the marsh. The other times i went i only saw the brown duck and there was another duck but this one had more of a grayish body with a darker color head and a green neck. I think this is because of sexual selection, the female doesn't want a black duck with a white spot on its stomach. And then there were these birds. The bird that was small and was a brownish color with a red strip across its face i think is fit for the marsh, but i don't think the red strip is needed for its survival unless that it part of sexual selection. The brown colored body fits it well because it blends in so well with some of the grass and the trees. But with the red strip across its face it was easier to see in the trees.

Hypothesis's: Trying to preserve the marsh, but yet it is so close to civilization that we run by it and fish in that water. 1. Pick two places and observe. One place would be closer to civilization and the other place is more away from civilization. 2. Are the ducks I have been observing resident or migratory? If the ducks I have been observing are resident, than I should be able to observe and so note their presence every month of the year. 4. If I were to note ducklings, than the area I am observing must represent a safe nesting habitat for them. 5. Fish (type). If the fish life I have been observing remains stable, than the quality of the water must be tolerable to their existence (The salinity and oxygen content and current is adequate to support their life and reproduction
 * Journal #3**
 * 3. Knowing that the ducks (mallards, muscovies and Hawaiian ducks) I have been observing feed on fish, Insects and larvae, aquatic invertebrates, aquatic vegetation, and grain, than those things they eat must be plentiful in this area to support them.**

Its’ around 4:30pm and there are three ducks swimming around the island, one mallard and 2 of the Hawaiian ducks. No birds in sight but I hear a lot of chirping and quaking and an ice cream truck. The water is still the same color, dark reddish and not transparent. The water level seems like it has gone down quite a bit. One bird just flew down and landed on the island. It’s peeking at the ground, looking for insects to eat. Both the Hawaiian ducks are cleaning themselves and the mallard is swimming around the island happily. Two more ducks swooped down and landed in the water, one mallard and the other a Hawaiian duck. Some fish are jumping out of the water disturbing the water. The water is flowing northeast towards Kaneohe Bay. On the island the grass is long, but not compared to the other type of grass at the water line and beyond into the marsh. There are also three trees and a lot of shrubs. Behind the island water is spilling into this stream and its obvious today that the water level has gone down.
 * Journal #4**

Hypothesis: Knowing that the mallards i have been observing feed on fish, insects, larvae, aquatic invertebrates, aquatic vegetation, and grain, than those things they eat must be plentiful in this area to support them. My experiment is to test if those things the mallards eat are plentiful in the area. What I did for my experiment was I went down to my area and measured how long my area was with my footsteps (150 steps). Then I set up 5 fishing spots along that each 30 footsteps apart to get a variety of organisms. And to make sure I cover as much of the area that I could. At each spot I used this net to scoop in the water to catch the things that swim through the water and then I scooped the muck at the same spot to catch the things that were on the ground that the ducks eat.