University of Vermont

I just visited centennial woods and was glad to find the warm weather outside with bright, vibrant greenery and now, some golden dandelions peaking out along the border with the planted grass.

The spot I chose is one of the least natural I could of. It sits on the edge of centennial and faces the struggles of edge effect and lots of human influence. Culturally, I feel that people either value or are indifferent to the natural area that lies withing the woods. Many of its visitors are NR2 students, making it a fun place to observe phenological changes.

Centennial woods is not my home. I don’t feel that I own it, or have any special right to its use. I believe that it is a public space that anyone should be able to wander through and appreciate. However, many components of my identity encourage me to go there. My past experience in the outdoors and my current education in Rubenstein encourage me to head out there more than other students. With that being said, I do feel a sense of shared responsibility for the place. I believe that I am in a position where I should defend the value of the space or bring friends there for a quick visit. It’s a cool resource and worth knowing about and valuing.

If you go out into one of the many beautiful greens on campus on a sunny day, you will find many students lounging, hammocking, chatting, or playing casual games. You might even hear them comment on how much the weather has improved. I would normally disagree on the grounds that winter weather can be nice too but in all honesty it is nice to be back to sunny skies and warmer temperatures.

This change is showing in the plants that call Burlington home as well. Many of the plants that just had tiny little buds the last time I visited are starting to sprout out in order to get started on their photosynthesizing season. Some, like the grass on the greens, can’t do anything in the winter because they are covered in snow. Others, like the deciduous boxelder, don’t dare grow leaves in the winter because the snow and ice would tear them off or worse break the branches that hold them.

In addition to the trees that are gearing up for a big harvest of sunshine, there are lots of plant in the understory getting ready. I didn’t identify any flowers yet, but my classmates have reported the appearance of Dandelions and Colt’s-Foot at their phenology sites. Perhaps I will see these soon!

I am writing to you today from an armchair underneath a taxidermy squirrel that was described as having been stuffed by someone who had never seen a squirrel. Above the fireplace is a taxidermy bobcat shown mid-stride as a diagonal walker. This room is nestled in the steep hills of the region. In my time here on spring break, I’ve spent a lot of time in the remote woods of the Pisgah national forest. This morning I took some time off from riding bikes to examine the natural communities of the area.

Woody Plants:

I found Hickory, Yellow Poplar, and tons of vines. The woods had not yet regained their leaves and had an unsettling emptiness to them. Leaves covered the floor. (Pictures to follow)

I found no animal tracks aside from some canine tracks in the cement steps. I believe them to be from a domestic dog living on the property at the time. There was a dead skunk on the shoulder of a local road, indicating that animals are out and about. Birds were active, with songbirds in the morning and woodpeckers chattering away in the distance.

I have pictures and audio of some birds that I will upload shortly.

According to the NR2 Midterm, a “Natural Community” is a conceptual tool used by humans as well as an interconnected group of organisms, landscape features, environmental factors, etc… Much of this definition is derived from Leopold’s land ethic and it’s expansion of conservation from species to communities.

In my analysis of my site in Centennial Woods I was initially confused, so I decided to go way, way back and do my research. I opened up my trusty Burlington Geographic website and zoomed into my site. I found that the bedrock I was dealing with was, “Quartzose metasandstone, quartzite, quartz granofels, and quartzose gneiss; calcarous”. Okay, great. We have calcium carbonate in there and the bedrock is made of rock. The surficial geology was reported as “Champlain Sea deposit(Pebbly, Marine Sand)” No surprise there, this land was once covered in water. Soil Types: “Belgrade and Eldridge soils, 3-8% Slope” Those are very deep, moderately well drained soil types. Interesting, but not yet conclusive.

Trees! Yay! I found a lot of White Ash and Boxelder, and Some White Pine( More White Pine further down the hill).

My guess: White Pine-Red Oak-Black Oak Forest. These forests are on glacial or modern out-wash, moderately to very well drained and support white pines and oaks. Even better: Wetlands, Woodlands, Wildlands specifically mentions centennial woods as one of these forests! I’m convinced now.

Let’s talk phenology. Not much has changed. It is a drier. colder day than when I visited last, and it hsn’t snowed recently. They are old and new tracks mixed. Including a cool animal path crossing the human trail. (It looks like domesticated dogs are the primary users, but some deer too!) The White Ash I identified has lots of purplish sprouts reaching up. Super excited to see how much has changed when I return from the Carolinas!

I’ve decided to dramatically move my phenology site from the incredible to see but hard to get to “Burlington Sea Caves” to the much more well-known Centennial woods. This patch of woods is well-traveled by many Rubenstein students across the years. This is for good reason. A short walk from campus means that a visit fits neatly between classes and will allow for more consistent observations.

Deer and Human Tracks intersect in the snow.

Deer Tracks on their own.

I found a tree! Let’s figure out what it is. Comment down below how you can tell! Keep reading if you’re not sure.

It has opposite branching so it could be maple, ash, Horse chestnut… who knows?

It’s a boxelder! “buds whitish downy; purple twigs with bloom that rubs off” according to my Winter Twig ID sheet. See you all next time!

In searching for the human history of my location, I stumbled on some interesting points. My site is very much managed by humans. (Whoops) The grassy field that I found so appealing is managed to provide access to what I correctly diagnosed as a stormwater retention pond for the neighborhood above. In fact, the entire pond appears to be a by-product of the construction of 127 or “The Beltway”. This highway was constructed as long ago as the early 1940s. According to a Burlington Geographic map from 1937, there was no open water in the area. There is some vegetation, and the area is undeveloped. It was in this landscape in which the sea caves were first discovered. They must have made even less sense in a dry field. Following the construction of the Beltway, a pond appeared. This is due to the excavation of the land to race the roadbed out of the swampy valley there. Nowadays, this park is hidden away from the public eye. It is difficult to reach the caves unless the pond is frozen over, and even then, the noisy, bright highway is always visible and audible across the water.

Leaving this place without knowing when I’ll return made me slightly nostalgic. I will miss the memories of standing in the field, observing the passage of time as well as the midnight trek I made into the cave one night. I’m sure I will return to share this natural wonder with others, but I’m not sure when.

I’ve arrived in my childhood home of Acton, Massachusetts. I am here for four days on a mission to discover what plants and creatures live here all the time.

Leopold:
The land here was once wilderness. It still has hills and valleys from that time, but it has other ancestors too. Did the floodplain before me form from roaring high water, or a field for sheep? Did the flat bed of gravel hiding under the duff here come from a stream or a road? There are answers here. White Pines tower over dead bundles of ferns, disrupting the plane of cultivation. Up through gravel, dirt, leaves, and into the open sky burst young paper birches. I wandered through this place. A home I had where I had written many stories. A broken tree house, a crude path and a winding trail bear witness to my story here. I stopped to read the other stories. Stonewalls from a bygone era hint at hours of labor in what is now a forgotten backwater of suburbia. The whole land lay across my vision like a mystical kingdom. The breathtaking beauty of snow in the night was not portrayed well by a photo with flash or without. The beauty is visual but must be welcomed with the other senses. This is not a land of milk and honey for those who live here. It is but a brief barrier between two slices of crude civilization. A highway and a house stand guard to watch any creature that dares venture into the haunting beauty of this median of wild.

Holland:
There are many differences that can be noted between any two trips into the woods. Looking closely under leaves and taking paths less traveled will yield different results every time. With that said, here are my findings in Acton, MA as they differ from Burlington, VT. A flurry of wet snow assaults the trees as their branches lean deeper to the ground. Nothing living shows itself. It is time for sleep. The mice and deer are hidden away while it is cold, wet, and dark tonight. Even the leaves of the trees hardly dare show themselves. A naked Beech stands against the snow. Narrow and still, trying not to be seen. Birds of all kinds are gone. No robins sing from the lofty branches. Even the bothersome geese wouldn’t stick out there neck and hiss at a cyclist in weather like this. A snapping turtle slumbers in a muddy brook not far from here. Dreaming of sunny days and gravel driveways perfect for laying nests in. Her human neighbors sleep as well, but they dream of bunnies and bees in that same hot sun. Now is a time to rest through the night and resist the cold. Many of the animals that call this land home are far from here now, such as the wiley college student that flees for months at a time.

 

Here’s a map of my place, a point chosen arbitrarily in my wooded backyard: https://goo.gl/maps/dd4XiSSBVNu.

I feel it more evidently now than ever before, there is a frosty wind on the air. Despite knowing that there is a warm bed and an unlimited dining plan awaiting me throughout the winter I cannot help but feel the urgency in the changing of the seasons. The same urgency that an observer might feel in a late fall afternoon when the sun starts to dip and they grow inexplicably uneasy.  There was little activity at my site on my afternoon venture. No visitors came to see me, though a kit-kat wrapper told me that hadn’t always been the case. In fact, some ducks could be seen fleeing my obnoxious and noisy approach. Perhaps a loud, pink, bicycle is not the most tactful tool for observing a site.

Now, a poem:

My roots grow deep

In the ground,

The frost begins to creep

All around

 

I paddle back

The pond is cold

I hope to quack

Until I’m old

 

Winter is deadly

Branches and mammals both tremble

So we wrote this medley

In the hope that our mood it would resemble

 

Winter is Near.

Winter we Fear.

 

Welcome back! My most recent visit was uneventful, but exciting all the same. I found the site much the same as I left it. However, there was a hint of snow in the air this time. The first snow was yesterday! I made a sketch of a map in my notebook. The cliffs are exciting to me as a flatlander from Massachusetts because I have nothing like that where I come from. I love the hills here! Such as the one you must go down to get to my site. More leaves have changed to an incredible array of oranges, yellows, and reds. Leaves are starting to fall in great quantities. I wonder if the grass here is maintained? Does someone rake it? There are leaves down right now but it wouldn’t stay grass without some maintenance. Perhaps my site isn’t as natural as I thought. I saw many squirrels on my bike ride here and 1 squirrel on the trail in but the intensity and visibility of animal interactions are greatly reduced. For example, I didn’t see any families going to the sea caves today. I’m excited to trek down here in the snow!

Hello! Welcome to my Phenology place! I haven’t decided on a shorthand name for it yet. “Burlington Sea Caves” is a good one, but I am still a decent hike away from the actual cave. Here’s a panorama I took today to give you a sense of the place. The easiest way to find this place is to go to Burlington High School. Across the street, there is a bus stop and a small sign that reads “Burlington Sea Caves”. Follow the wide trail down from there until you arrive at the clearing. If you want to see the actual caves, you have to continue into the bushes and scramble over a couple of moderate cliffs. Otherwise, waiting until the pond freezes allows for easy walking straight into the caves. 

The vegetation at my site is a grassy clearing surrounded by ferns and other low growth. Further out towards the water and up into the hillside are stands of trees. They are mostly deciduous with a few evergreens on the hillside. There are American Beech, Maples, and many climbing vines. A few trees are showing signs of the coming winter with yellow and brown leaves beginning to appear.