April 9th, 2017

Evidently spring in Vermont is an anomaly. I was told to expect a lot of mud instead, and in this regard, I was not deceived.  Lone Rock Point was apparently closed for mud season yet I took the risk and ventured to my spot regardless.

The first thing I noticed as I neared my spot was the unusually high lake levels. The last time I had been, the sign announcing the end of North Beach was just slightly off the shoreline while this time there was at least ten feet between the sign and the water’s edge.

March

April

The high lake water had washed a lot of wood and litter debris to the shore and the gathered pollution detracted from the beach’s aesthetic while also likely harming wildlife. I cannot imagine the duck that I observed in these waters in March desiring to hunt in them now.

Continuing down the beach, I came across two pools of water that seemed to have vernal pool potential. The first was much larger and had a stream of water connected to it that was funneling right into the lake. The second pool was much shallower and had a clear leaf litter bottom, appearing a bit more like a vernal pool than the first. That said, I spent several minutes poking around each pool and neither of them appeared to show any forms of amphibian life.

Entering the point, hydrology continued to stand out as one of the most noticeable changes since my last visit. The distinctive crunch that reverberated underfoot with each step I took on my last trip was now replaced by a squish as the muddy land gripped my boots. I finally understood why the foot bridges along the trial were necessary.

March

April

Some of the stepping logs were so flooded that they were completely submerged. In some areas, the mud was so deep that it was necessary to walk off the trail to avoid it. It makes sense that they would ask people to stay off the trails until the end of mud season as I am sure the forested areas in Vermont are greatly degraded each year by hikers walking around mud and widening trails.

Aside from lots of water, the presence of green was the other main indicator that the seasons had changed. While the trees were not quite in bloom, fern and moss species were very much alive. 

The most dominant fern species was covered in spores on the underside of each leaflet. This species I later identified as marginal wood fern and the spores as sporangia. This species is coniferous so it did not bloom with the warmer springtime temperatures but rather was finally uncovered from the snow. It makes sense that this species would be found on Lone Rock Point as it prefers thinner, rockier soils.

There were also some interesting fungi growth like this one that I found at the base of a northern red oak:

Wildlife on Lone Rock is likely impacted by some very interesting edges. The only manmade edge on the point is a fence that runs briefly along the trail at the very entrance to the point.

Given this fence is short and very close to the lake, it likely does not pose too much of a threat to the movement patterns of animals and probably only really serves to keep people out. Natural edges are what really defines the edge effect on the lake. Surrounded by water on three sides, the point likely does not provide great interior forest habitat. That said, the lack of manmade edges means that the species living in the forest are relatively protected from human elements and have a wide range of movement. My spot exists on the very tip of the point and is essentially the epitome of an ecosystem surviving at a natural edge. With shallow soils and more sunlight than an interior forest, the point may not offer the best interior habitat yet still manage to be a very effective rare natural community. For woodpeckers in particular, the snags surrounding my site provide perfect habitat. Natural edges are perhaps just as important for species diversity as interior forests.

To conclude this week’s post, I attempted to sketch the highlights of my place in the spring:

(Original Photographs Copyright Colby Bosley-Smith, 2017)

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