For my Phenology Sit Spot, I decided to go to Centennial Woods. I was already slightly familiar with the paths from our previous NR1 assignment in the woods so I knew the general location of where I wanted to go. To get there, it is a short 10 minute walk from my dorm room on Athletic Campus, through the Hospital Parking lot and onto the trails of Centennial. This is part of the reason why I chose my spot. It is close by and I will have easy consistent access to a wooded area that I can observe throughout the winter.
In my sit spot I felt curious to see what was around and enjoyed standing up from my sitting log and looking at and identifying the tree species in my location. The woody species I identified were…
- Eastern White Pine
- Eastern Hemlock
- Norway Maple
- American Red Maple
- Yellow Birch
- Buckthorn
- Green Ash
On the Red Maple I noticed something that resembled the tar spots that appear on Norway Maples and was wondering if there was a connection between the two?
Along with the woody species there were many ferns, tall grasses, and what I like to call “elephant plants,” the short plants with a few thick leaves. The forest floor was coated in pine needles and there was no living cover such as grass on the ground. Also, I was interested to see a Green Ash tree uprooted and fallen over. It will be interesting if I will be able to see any kind of decomposition or species take over the tree as a habitat.
The only animal life I saw were a few birds that hopped along the ground, squirrels, and chipmunks. I walked through many spiderwebs between trees as well.
Here are some pictures of my spot. One shows the tall grasses and what seems to be a wetland or river in front of me (I will have to further investigate), and the other shows a small grouping of Eastern Hemlocks that cover my sit spot.
My first experience at my spot was relaxing and a good change of pace from doing homework inside the library and my dorm room. I am looking forward to continuing this assignment.
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