I thought I’d switch it up this week and talk about something not research related for a minute. Being the avid plant and wildflower enthusiast that I am, I decided to share a few pictures of the flowering plants that we’ve seen out on the wetland so far. Some of them grow in grasses, and some of them grow in the middle of the cattails, like the purple one shown. Each new species of wildflower that I find is exciting because the wetland keeps showing me how incredible and diverse it really is!

In other news this week, Liz and I found what we thought was a cracked pelican or swan egg floating in the cattails. Thankfully, we didn’t find anything inside to really write home about. I managed to make it through this week without falling in the wetland trying to get into and out of the kayak, and even managed to take some cool pictures of some of the submerged aquatic vegetation that I might be looking to sample on our next trip out there. I collected my first run of plate samples, so I’ll have a great time processing smelly sediment samples next week in the lab!