© Miranda Garrow

Students and faculty (living & parking) on Trinity campus use my place as a pathway to get to the parking lot and to and from classes. This pathway also connects to an apartment complex on Riverside Ave. It is a quick shortcut for those walking to campus as well as downtown. The constant use of the footpaths creates erosion and changes the landscape of the area as well as increased runoff. UVM students use this location as a “hangout”. This results in there being a significant amount of trash in the area. The development surrounding the location (Trinity Campus) has created a lot of edges on most sides, which makes it harder for wildlife to seek refuge. The squirrels seem to enjoy it because it is a connector between patches as well as an escape from the people living on Trinity. As soon as I started this phenology project I became a part of the system. I inhabited the surrounding developed area. I, however, did not use the footpaths or hang out in there. I became a regular user of the footpaths and most of the time went off the paths. Going off the path disrupt a lot of the tiny ecosystems that cannot handle being trampled. Also crunching the leaves and my presence disrupted the squirrels business as well as possibly the birds living in this area. I have a positive impact on my site because I am able to pick up the trash because I have more of a connection to the site.

            Using the maps on the Burlington Geographic website, I have found that up until 1925, my site and the land surrounding it has been owned by various people that chose not to develop it. 1925 was the beginning of Trinity College and this is when the area surrounding my site became developed.₁

            Since my last visit, there has been a lot less squirrel activity since the temperatures have been getting colder. There was a lot more sunlight coming through because the last of the leaves have dropped. I am sure the few animals that do live there are confused by how warm it is this late in the year. It definitely is strange for it to be this warm in Vermont this late in the season. There should be snow and the temperatures should be a lot colder but that is not something I was expecting to see at my site this visit because of how the temperatures have been the past few weeks.

1. “Trinity College (Vermont).” Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 19 Apr. 2015. Web. 09 Dec. 2015.

The location I chose for my site at home was just inside the woods behind my house. There is a tiny “pathway” between the outside wall and the exposed ledges.

© Miranda Garrow

© Miranda Garrow

I especially enjoy this spot because those ledges continue inside my house. It is such a unique feature that not a lot of people I know have around or inside their homes. Not too far into the woods, there is a stonewall that continues on for a long time. The wall is also covered in barbed wire which was most likely used to keep livestock out of an agricultural area.

© Miranda Garrow

© Miranda Garrow

© Miranda Garrow

I have never explored much past the wall because I would be trespassing because it is not my family’s land. The rock ledges make for a bit of a rough terrain and rougher conditions for trees to grow on. This is one of the main differences between this site and the one I have back at UVM. The soil conditions of my Burlington site are richer and moister. Because the soil is dry and low in nutrients because of the rock being closer to the surface, Eastern white pine and yellow birch grow well behind my house because of these more extreme conditions. There was more of a story mixture at this site than in Burlington where there is not much of a midstory. When I was exploring my site, I heard no animals or squirrels like I always do in my site in Burlington. The days have been a few degrees colder here than they have been in Burlington. When I was younger I always remember hearing woodpeckers in these woods and being able to watch them outside our kitchen window and I was going into my site expecting to see evidence of them but there was nothing and I left feeling disappointed. This site and the area around it is also habitat great for black bears. There are berry bushes that grow alongside the bank of the stream that runs off the mountain. There are also American beech trees that grow just behind the berry bushes not too far into the woods that black bear love.

© Miranda Garrow

© Miranda Garrow

https://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?mid=zaqeeXReOQCI.klQ_M3gVbzq0

© Miranda Garrow

Since all the leaves have fallen at my site, I have really taken notice of how much dead material there is. This dead material is perfect habitat and feeding ground for the Pileated Woodpecker. A lot of the damage had been done by the wood peckers took me by surprise because that is not something that I have the chance to see a lot. The squirrels are still playing but spend a lot more time digging under the leaves to look for nuts. They are starting to get noticeably fatter than they were in my first few visits. The snake hole that I found on my last visit had been disturbed by people hanging out at my site I am assuming. There were also carvings in some of the trees from students as well, a few that I could not include in my post. I also had some birds circling over my head while I was at my site as well although I am not sure what they were because they were too high up for my eyes to see. There is a bank that I did not include in my site and I wonder if there was something dead over the bank that I could not see that the birds were after. I included the picture of the toilet just outside of my actual site because it always amuses me to see it when I enter my site. I wonder about how it got there or what the persons thought was when they put it there. I hope no one uses it. I wonder if the squirrels explore it or call it home perhaps.

© Miranda Garrow

© Miranda Garrow

© Miranda Garrow

© Miranda Garrow

© Miranda Garrow

© Miranda Garrow

Since my last visit, my site has become a lot quieter and brighter. The leaves have mostly fallen to the ground, leaving the ground littered more than it was during my last visit. The squirrels presence has decreased. The amount that they are playing and screeching has slowed down so that they can start storing up for the cold long winter ahead of them. I have still seen them chasing each other around though. They are not spending as much time searching for food at my site because there is not an abundance of nuts like there is directly on Trinity campus. There was a snake hole that was easier to see than it was before although I did not see any snakes. During Walt’s lecture on Tuesday, he mentioned what the perfect habitat for a wood pecker would look like and I knew that my site would be the perfect location. There are tons of dead snags and there is not a lot of open canopy so I decided to go back and try to find evidence that wood peckers were in fact present in my site. One of the pictures below I took of a tall snag that has been used by the wood peckers. Every time I enter my site I am just amazing that there is such a beautiful place just outside my dorm that most people would take for granted. The trees feel so large and I have found it a relaxing place to go and forget about all my worries of school and I can watch and laugh at the squirrels so there’s a little entertainment factor as well.

© Miranda Garrow

© Miranda Garrow

© Miranda Garrow

© Miranda Garrow

© Miranda Garrow

The species of woody plants that I have identified at my site have been;

Young Sugar Maple

Paper Birch

Silver Maple

Eastern White Pine

Norway Maple

The vegetation here consists of a lot of new growth in the understory. There are also a significant amount of older trees that are much much larger than the new growth. Growing along side the new woody plants are a lot of ferns. A lot of my site feels dead because there are so many downed limbs and trees that moss have started to consume. With the amount of new growth along the edge of the wooded area where it meets the catamount path, I think the area may have been clear not too long ago because the trees are not very old at all.

To get to my Phenology site, you have to take the path leading the the back 5. As you walk along the back side of Mercy, to the left side of the catamount paw printed walkway, there is a path that leads over the side of the embankment. I chose this as my site for my Phenology project because this is the first place that me and my roommates ventured to during our first week at UVM. We live in the back 5 and on our way back to the dorm noticed this little path. We got curious and wanted to see what it was about. I had not been crazy about living on Trinity campus, but knowing that this special place was right in my back yard made me feel right at home.

https://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?mid=zaqeeXReOQCI.kGuh5VuinRz8