There are no spring wildflowers blooming on my site. There are ferns that seemed to have bloomed, but then all wilted or were push to the ground by rain. There are also some other small plants that are beginning to leaf out, but other than that not many things are flowering.
None of the deciduous trees have began to flower yet, but they do have buds and should leaf out soon, as long as the sun keeps coming out.
Observations and Sketch:
For my Spring Break I went to Tamarindo, Costa Rica. This is on the Pacific coast of Costa Rica and at this time of year the climate is particularly dry, arid, and windy. The spot that I chose was a small patch of trees in a river bed right before the beach called Playa Tamarindo.
This is a picture of the phenology place
This Phenology place, compared to the one I have in Burlington, is almost completely different. It is much more arid than in Burlington, the dominating flora and fauna are made up of entirely different species, and the area is much less densely populated with plants and animals.
Although there were no visible tracks of any animals, there are crocodiles that are normally in the wetter season, when this river bed is flowing. I did, however, see some small salamanders and iguanas, as well as different birds such as brown pelicans, acorn woodpeckers, and grey headed chachalacas.
The dominating woody plant species in my place was the Tamarind, and small Guanacaste trees. There was seldom and smaller species, as the soil was so dry it was essentially packed sand.
The geographic history of this region is defined by the Orosi, Rincón de la Vieja, Miravalles and Tenorio volcanoes which formed the Guanacaste province where Tamarindo is. That being said the geology of the region is primarily volcanic, igneous rock.
I would classify the natural community in centennial wood as a woodland community. The site is well maintained, has trails and small foot bridges so it could not be designated as a wildland. Despite the brook and other small bodies of water, the dominating community is the forest, and that community seems to have the most diversity and biotic potential. Furthermore the brook cannot support much aquatic wildlife that are significant enough to designate it a wetland. Finally the geography of the land is indicative of a woodland. It is at a higher altitude, the land is more variable in slope and cover, and the trees and shrubs are all of deciduous, or coniferous variety. These are all suitable condition for woodland populations.
The site has changed a lot since the first semester. When I first visited in the fall it was transitioning form green and lush to more autumnal orange, reds, and yellows. Over the time from fall to winter the ground became more covered in leaves and deadwood as well as solidified by the increasing cold. Now, as spring comes, I seen a variety of conditions. The ground can go from solid to muddy and saturated. Snow melt has played a large role in the increased moisture in the soil as well as water levels in the brook. Now there is much more decomposition in the area than in all the previous seasons.
Leopold: This week was thanksgiving and our class was tasked to find a special place to call our phenology spot for the week. I chose the cliff that overlooks the towering Cross River Dam in Bedford, Ny. The dam spans across the aptly named Cross River Reservoir, one of the many used as potable water for New York City. The cliff is constituted by igneous rock as far as I can tell, and is mostly sheer from its peak to the ground. If one is bold enough to peer over the edge, they’ll see the rushing stream of water, the splashing water like white rabbits rushing down stream. Small beech, and cedar trees dominate the top of the cliff, with a few eastern white pines towering behind them away from the cliff. The icy wind whips across the open peak making it ever more colder and my hand become hard to move. I spot a few beige and brown birds, as all the others have began their migration south. They are most likely sparrows or possibly female cardinals. When they go with the wind they become a blur in the air. The lichens, pale and blue-green cling to the rock for dear life in a paper thin layer. Sadly there is also the cigarette butt here and there along with a beer can or two. I pick them up to leave a better cliff than I arrived to.
Holland: The small landscape found on top of the cliff is quite similar to my place in Burlington. Both are of deciduous make up with the species of trees and shrubs being those you would also find in Vermont. The beech, cedar, pine, etc could be picked up and placed in Vermont and feel right at home. Another similarity is that the area is wet like in Burlington because of the large amount of recent rain along the eastern seaboard. The difference is found in the seasonal cycle of the place in comparison to my place in Burlington. The trees have lost most of their leaves, like in Vermont, but it seems that it has happened more recently than it has in Vermont. The leaves and needles on the ground are visibly less decayed than in Centennial Woods and the trees do look less gray. In my phenology place in Burlington there is also no large rocks when a lot of the space on top of the cliff is rock which allows itself to have different types of fungus than what I usually find on the trees or deadwood in Centennial.
Link to phenology spot location: https://www.google.com/maps/place/Cross+River+Reservoir/@41.2545141,-73.6415395,16z/data=!4m5!3m4!1s0x89c2afcc56346ed3:0x54e7e026409687c2!8m2!3d41.2547603!4d-73.637432
Dam Photo:
You can see the cliff where my phenology place is on the left.
https://www.google.com/maps/d/u/0/edit?mid=1UmUtB2PQbGY1vKNvol-KSYBU1WTV6Fqb&ll=44.48093606603143%2C-73.18581831221331&z=19
This week I went on the first day we’ve seen sun in about two weeks. Because of the seemingly endless rain my spot was very wet, but thankfully not super muddy because of the leaf and organic matter covering the forest floor. I’ve noticed that there are more mushrooms since I was here last, probably because the moisture has increased the rate of the decomposition of the dead wood in the area. I forgot my camera, but next time I will take picture of the various species and attempt to identify them. A lot of the snags and fallen wood look much darker than they did earlier and water-logged. There is also less leaves on the alive trees. I think by next time depending on how cold it gets, most of the leaves will be gone off the trees. If the weather gets too cold I suspect that the saplings will be dead next time I visit, as well as other young or small plants.
Poem: Phenology place
Wet and cold
Cold and wet
The wind makes the cold
Like ice whipping through my windbreaker
The woods block the wind
I feel warmer
I feel at a place of refuge
I learn and observe
Only to go back to the cold, wet, and windy
Event Map
Week 2 10/22/2018
I went back for my second visit today. It was very overcast and much colder than the last time I visited. I was much more prepared this time I brought my camera to take some photographs of the spot.
My spot has changed a lot since I last visited. To start the ground is much more wet than it was previously, most likely because of all the rain we’ve been having. The ferns and saplings are still very green, although I’m sure the saplings will most likely die as we further transition into fall and winter. Much of the maples still have their leaves, and are just transitioning to a nice yellow hue. There is still an abundance of pine needles covering the floor and the dead wood and fallen tress look much darker and decayed since the rain.
There seems to be seldom any wildlife using my plot as a habitat except for carpenter ants, and other insects boring in the deadwood. However, I did see a woodpecker on my way out of centennial woods.
I have attached the “Birds Eye View” drawing of my phenology plot to get a better idea of what it looks like from above.
Hello! Welcome to my phenology place blog. My place is inside centennial woods adjacent to Centennial Brook. The way to get there is from the trail head you take the trails down to the right and it is just before the brook. I chose this place because I wanted to be in a place without any human structure, and to be surrounded by nature. Centennial Woods is a perfect environment for this.
The vegetation is pretty dense in this area, and it is dominated by Eastern White Pines, and Norwegian Spruce trees. There are also some red maple, buckthorn, and American Beech trees.
