I have a small grove in my garden is covered with Lesser Prewinkle.  Only two yards from it,  Balkan Anemones have been conquering the gravel path. The flowers of both plants  have a very similar purple violet color and the plants are also similar in height. ( a few inches) .  But all the rest is quite different: I noticed different shapes of the leaves (shiny and single /opposite  and smooth edged  versus  mat and composite/ dented). Flower stem were bold versus hairy.  The five  petals of the Prewinkle merge into a tube shape at the base of the flower with five sepals. The Anemone has about fourteen petals, but I couldn’t find any sepals! This triggered my curiosity and after  consulting some botanical websites, the mystery was solved:  The ‘petals’  seem to be false and are actually colored sepals! This was a true eye opener. Without this drawing excercise, it would never come to my mind that I was looking at a flower chalice..

Finally getting back to the class after a longer hiatus during the holidays that expected. For this exercise I studied two nests, it was a good way to make more focused observations than just looking at one object.

This exercise helped me really observe the different attributes of the two types of tree flowers.  I think it will help me identify species.

It is still too cold to do anything outside here, where I live. I collected a group of tiny coniferous cones that were all attached together on a branch (group of branches) on the ground where they had fallen, and used these in a comparison with a larger pine cone. The pine cone was a little smaller than fist sized and the group of 9 small cones were similar or just a little smaller than the pine cone.  I wish I knew what kind of tree the tiny cones were from (they are not hemlock, as I do know what those are like). I honestly can't say what I learned from this, aside from careful observation of details which I think I would have done just from the fact of drawing them anyway.

This exercise was not too dificult to do. Focus in the subjects allow me to think more about real structure. I think I made 2 attempts before I was happy with what I saw. Using what is taught, helped me to catch the volume of the birds (at least I think so). I made a list of the birds that will be add in the reply. I don't think I missed any bird.

1. A deeper level of detail was observed on each plant during the comparison study. Working back and forth between each plant/sketch provided specific items to look at on each. 2. I like an equal balance of writing/data and drawing in my journal. I feel all provide valuable observation cues and information for reference later.

I went walking on the nearby riverwalk without know what to compare. There were 2-3 dozen mallards in one area so I thought I'd just observe them but as I did, I began to notice differences. My pare was not laid out as a comparison study because I thought I'd just be observing them!

This is my comparison study, holly and hemlock.  I did see many differences that I might not have otherwise noted.

I went for a walk on the riverwalk nearby without knowing what I was going to see or compare. I found an area with 2-3 dozen ducks and as I watched them and took notes I started seeing differences in them. My comparison is not separated like the one in the lesson, because it started out as observations, only. I really enjoyed my time watching the ducks and would never have noticed many of the details if I had just taken photos. 

I compared male and female flowers of the oak tree and found that the male flowers with their long pollen-filled clusters of flowers can lead to early spring allergies.  I also compared the acorns and leaves of the northern red oak and pin oak trees.

      I sent two comparison studies--one of the two acorns and leaf types in the northern red oak and the pin oak. The second is a comparison of the male and female flowers on a single oak tree.  Oaks are monoecious and so have both male and female reproductive flowers on the same tree.  It was interesting to read about this and realize that some spring allergies come from the pollen from the male flowers that will open up very soon. -- Trudy I am not sure you got the drawings.  I will add them again to this submission.  

I did my comparison study on the feet of American Coots and Mallard ducks.  Coots have lobed toes and very sharp toenails; Mallards have webbed feet and somewhat flat toenails.  Coots legs and feet are a mix of blue gray, green, and yellow; Mallard feet and legs are various shades of orange and umber.  The toe formation, webbing variance and different colors made me wonder why the birds were put together like that. The Coots are more or less confined to marsh lands.  Their lobed toes give them traction in the water when they’re swimming, but the separation between the toes also allows for more flexibility on land and walking through and over matts of marsh plants.  The Coots also use their feet in dominance battles. I would assume that the light color of their legs and feet make it less likely that predators under the water could see them, and might mistake them for wafting plant frond.  On land, they WALK rather than WADDLE. I know that Mallards are the ancestors of all of the domestic duck (except the Muscovy) and they can thrive in a variety of habitats.  Although they nest on ground, they spend a lot of time in the water feeding and displaying to one another. Obviously, their webbed feet make it easier to maneuver in the water while still allowing them to travel on land.  The orange color, though, is suddenly interesting to me.  Why such a bright and obvious color on their feet?  I did a little more research on them and discovered that the color of their feet can vary depending on their age and hormone levels. The feet turn bright orange in the breeding season, signaling to others that they’re old enough and healthy enough to breed. On land, the ducks WADDLE rather than WALK.

I learn to see the little things in nature and some details. It's a matter of the things you like, for example I like more drawing than writting and numerical data, 70% drawing, 20% writting and 10% numerrical data.

Two orchids , one tiny , one very large.  Leaves the same on both. Though the flowers differ in size their structure is very similar with larger "elephant ear" petals and tiny beards at the end of the front of the flower. I need to pay more attention to note-taking.

I 1. I choose to draw two regular visitors to my patio for my comparison study. The dark-eyed juncos are year round visitors while the chestnut backed chickadees have only appeared this fall/winter. It's made me wonder why they aren't here year round (at my feeder, anyway) and if there is competition for nesting sites and food with their cousins, the black-capped chickadees which are more numerous.  The chickadees prefer the peanuts I leave out for them and the nuthatches while the juncos are content to hop around on the patio and in the planters feasting on the suet crumbs that other birds with messy eating habits (such as the flickers) fling around when they  hang and feast from the suet block.

I'm including my comparison drawing and remarks about the Downy Woodpecker and the Hairy Woodpeckers that I see at my feeders this winter.  

I have two cats -  a large gray striped cat and a fat black cat.  Odin, the striped cat, realized I was drawing him and left.  Data, stayed put longer.

I did a comparison of two tree next to each other, one was a giant cottonwood tree all twisted and rough bark, the other was a smaller tree with several small trunks, finer bark and narrow leaves.  It was enjoyable to spend a long time just observing two different trees.  I noticed when I was walking back to my car, that I was observing all the different trees and how the bark and tree trunks looked.

I compared two species of gum trees in an area of forest that had a prescribed fuel-reduction burn about 12 months ago.  These gums almost always survive fire and it was interesting to look at the differences in the post-burn growth of two trees side-by-side. I felt that the exercise was incomplete until I went home to look up which species these were.  (There are 29 species of Eucalypt in Tasmania where I live.)  Knowing which species I was comparing somehow made the observation seem more satisfying for me. I thought about comparing a third species, but it wasn't a gum, it was Banksia, which I decided was too different for this comparison.  But I started to look at the tree more closely anyways as they were all dead, none survived the fire. They need fire to open the large hard seed cones, which had me ready to start drawing again and making different observations.  So this very focused, close-up exercise was interesting for me.