Noah Kaufman's Phenology Blog An ecological and observational journey through the Seasons

Hey everybody!

Spring break is upon us! I’m not going to Daytona or Miami to party my face off, but I can’t complain going to California from icy Vermont. As my plane descended into Los Angeles National airport, I couldn’t help but feel a sense of despair as my skyline switched from the beautiful Green Mountains to the US Bank building and Wilshire Grand Center. After spending a few days poolside and soaking up the sun, I decided to take advantage of the weather and drive just minutes away to the sweeping foothills of the Santa Monica Mountains. As I stepped out of the car at the Victory Trailhead I was greeted with an unfamiliar emerald green, as the drought ridden valley I call my home had finally been graced with some rain. As I walked down the trail I remembered these loping valleys were once a part of Ahmanson Ranch, a ~3000 acre ranch that was almost purchased by banking giant Washington Mutual to be covered with housing developments, tarnishing one of the few truly open spaces in Los Angeles County. Thanks to the fierceness of activists and environmentalists, the space was preserved and is now owned by the state. The agricultural activity didn’t seem to have a huge impact on the land, as the hills look identical to the foothills on the opposite side of the mountains. Coast live oaks dot the landscape, breaking the monotonous waving of tall green grasses and the invasive bright yellow mustard plant. The coast live oaks are still bare, but the buds seem to be maturing and will probably open soon. I searched the landscape for identifiable birds throughout my hike, but turned around empty-handed and defeated. Finally, as I fumbled in my pockets for my keys, the screech of a red-tailed hawk pierced my ears as it cast its shadow over me. Counting it as a win, I turned the ignition and high tailed it back home. Thanks again for reading!

Hello all,

As I stood at the banks of the creek in my shady spot in Centennial Woods, the snow crunching under my feet were the only distinguishable sounds I heard. The naked branches of red oaks and sugar maples loomed over me, while the trigonal cones of Eastern white pines stood tall and green. There is some diversity between gymnosperms and angiosperms, but the forest is maturing and the nude hardwoods around me signified that I was standing in a Northern hardwood forest. The more hilly sections of the forest behind me seem to be composed of more acidic soil, as there is an abundance of Eastern white pines. The creek is still frozen as it was when I last visited, and there seems to be about an equal amount of snow underneath me. Being from California, I always assume spring will start in March, but Vermont has other plans. I see no buds and no green on the landscape, just strokes of white and brown. Using the Biofinder GIS program to further investigate ecological characteristics of my spot, I discovered that Centennial Woods is both a priority of conservation activities because of its physical landscape and because it is an block that contains interior forest. The physical landscape of this location has been shaped by thousands of years of glacier activities and sediment buildup from Lake Champlain, and to develop it would disturb the geological and ecological processes that have previously been perpetually driven. Centennial Woods is an interior forest block, which means it is a block of continuous forest, rather than a something like a roadside strip. This buffers the edge effect and allows a greater diversity of species to thrive within the forest. I hope this has been as educational for you as it has been for me! I’m starting to fall in love with the landscape and I hope I’m able to get that across.