I left for Tyler House Woods on September 24^th at 4:15 P.M. It was again another sunny, warm day with little to no rain throughout the previous week. The woods are approximately five minutes from Mission and off Tyler Road. I began my map at Tyler Road, which curves up a slight incline to Tyler House. While walking, I could hear the Ultimate Frisbee team practicing in the distance, and a few people road bikes or cars up to Tyler House.

                I stopped for a moment to begin drawing Tyler Road, the first part of my map. As I looked around, I saw that there were four deer grazing in the field on my left. They were gathered on the opposite side of the road near a small house. I set my things down on the sidewalk and went to take a closer look.

                Of the four deer, there was one adult and three fawns. The fawns stayed clustered together as the doe trekked ahead. They heard me as I noisily plodded through the grass and dead leaves, but they didn’t seem alarmed. The deer remained calm and at peace until two black Labradors came bounding out of the house. They chased the deer across the field, and the deer fled across the road. It was then that I noticed from their white tails that they were white tailed deer. The deer made it safely to the field next to Tyler House, and the dogs stopped their chase.

                I continued on my way to the Tyler parking lot. There were a few cars there and some people going to and from Tyler House. While standing in the parking lot, I noticed a path that I had not seen before. I decided to take it to see where it led to. I have decided to name this path Huckleberry Path, as it is surrounded by huckleberry bushes. I also found more trash on this path which included bottles, cans, and a Butterfinger wrapper. The path led to another parking lot next to a red bricked house, which had a small black and white cat staring out of the window.

                I then returned to the Huckleberry Path and walked on a side path which connects the Huckleberry Path with the main path, which I’ll call Tyler Path. This side path passes by the Barred Owl Tree where I saw the barred owl. The owl was not there that day, but I did notice something new about the tree. There were lots of holes in the tree which suggests that a woodpecker lives nearby. I wonder what type of woodpecker made these holes? The Barred Owl Tree stands on top of an embankment which is covered by fallen trees, decaying logs, and one paper birch.

                Further down the path is the Periwinkle Valley, where there is a large amount of periwinkle. There is no longer any sign of the purple flower of the periwinkle since the blooming season is over. The Periwinkle Valley then runs into Tyler Path, which is next to a small street lamp. The rest of Tyler Woods is dominated by a tree which looks to be sugar maple and some sort of oak. The trees here still haven’t changed much in color, so it’s still somewhat difficult to tell the species of the trees. Besides trees, there are very few plants to the right of Tyler Path. The ground is mostly covered by dead leaves and small twigs, although there were a few ferns which may have been the New York fern.

                At the very back of Tyler Woods is a fence, which separates the woods from the houses beyond. There are also two more paths near this fence. One path leads to the houses, and the other path, which is less distinct, leads to a clearing behind Tyler House. It was here that I saw one of the white tailed deer again. I also noticed other mammals within the woods including two grey squirrels and one eastern chipmunk.

                Some species of plants and animals are still unknown to me, so I hope to continue to add to my map as I identify them. I have also come to a greater understanding of how drawing can increase one’s understanding of a subject. Whether it is a living organism or an inanimate object, drawing forces the observer to look at a subject in a new way.