𝓦𝓲𝓷𝓼𝓵𝓸𝔀’𝓼 𝓟𝓱𝓮𝓷𝓸𝓵𝓸𝓰𝔂 𝓕𝓲𝓷𝓭𝓲𝓷𝓰𝓼
Here it is!
Click here to check it out in maps
Oct.9.2024
First look at the Salmon hole phenology site
My buddy Tim and I decided to bike down to the site so we could get a good look at it before fall recess. For the next 7 months I’ll be studying this area and blogging my findings as it changes through the seasons. The site is about .8 miles from the UVM campus which makes riding there quick and easy. The site sits on the bank of the Winooski river and overlooks a popular fishing area. I am excited to study this area because all around it lie busy roads, and homes. I am curious to see how the plants and animals will change in this spot over winter, and how human use will change over the seasons.
The vegetation is dense where the rock meets soil. There is a well established underbrush of Sumac, and Buckthorn. American elms, Oaks, and beeches tower up above them. The branches of the trees are noticeably more bare than they were only a week ago so I suspect that vegetation will thin as the months move closer to winter.
Most common Vegetation + links to inaturalist
- Tufted vetch
- Red osier dogwood
- Fragrant sumac
- Oriental bittersweet
- Common buckthorn
- American elm
NOV.3.2024
This afternoon I took a walk down to the fabled spot that is salmon hole. Luckily I had with me a couple of good buddies to share the space with, which made the experience a much needed break from campus life.
A short 15 minutes of silent thinking in a place like this does so much for the brain. I listened to the water rush by, the consistent white noise left no room for Sunday blues. I spotted a chickadee out collecting food before hunkering down for the winter. It seemed to me that both the people and animals that recreate/live at salmon hole were savoring the last bits of warm sunshine.
The leaves have all fallen from there branches, and already are building new homes for little critters on the ground. In October I noted the dense vegetation but that is no more. The horizon line remains visible through the trees and the whole space has opened tremendously.
Map of Salmon Hole ——>
NOV.25.2024
I am back home for thanksgiving break, and exploring one of the ecological spaces that I spent most of my time at in high school. My home is Asheville NC, a ways away from the cold, windy Burlington landscape. Here the weather is balmy, and the sun warms the clothes on my back. The leaves have yet to completely fall from the trees, and fresh dry leaf litter covers the ground. The trees here however, are largely similar to ones found at Salmon hole, lots of Oak, White pine, and American beech. One difference is that the underbrush is filled with lots of Rhododendron which are not found at Salmon Hole. Similar to my Burlington spot, this area is located near developed land, there is a major throughway very close, and lots of homes surround the area. There is a trail that runs through, and despite the large human presence, the terrain seems healthy and thriving.
DEC.4.2024
Today was the last day of going down to Salmon Hole for this semester. It was right about 32°F, and it showed. Every deciduous tree is barren, and the only green that dots the tree line, are the dark needles of the Eastern White Pine. The leaves that littered the ground in the fall seem to have blown away, caught in the shrubs, the rest have turned from bright orange to a dull grey, nearly blending into the rocks. Being close to the water, ice had formed on the edges of the river where the water flowed with little vigor. Without leaves, I would expect to see more birds, but it seems as though they have fled the colder temperatures in favor of warmer branches to perch on. Pictured below are the effects of much colder temperatures: leafless trees, and steadily growing ice.
I have really enjoyed this spot, it has become a staple piece of my routine at UVM, especially as I have become integrated as a freshman. I have loved, the journey from campus down to the water. The short bike ride separates me physically from school, and through that I feel that emotionally I take a break, despite the fact that I am leaving campus for a school project. It is said that being near water consistently helps with feelings of anxiety or stress, and overall improve wellbeing, as I have interacted with this place I have certainly felt that effect. It has been really interesting to pay attention to the difference in the area over seasons. I have always experienced seasonal change, but never been aware, or tuned into it the way that I have been with this spot. I used to visit in a t-shirt, watching people fish, now I wear 4 layers, and there are no leaves on the trees, no fishermen across the river. In the fall I really enjoyed watching the birds and the squirrels dart around in the sparsely populated vegetation.
JAN.25.2025
Its a new year, and its been nearly two months since I have visited my phenology spot. The area that had only just begun to freeze last I saw, is now covered completely in a thick layer of ice. Other than the skin piercing cold, the snow has begun to reveal the secrets of the wildlife that play in it. We observed many tracks in the snow, namely squirels making a daring mission down trees in search of a cache.We saw a particularly odd pair of tracks too. They are featured below.
Here are a couple more images from our explorations in the cold of Salmon Hole.
24.February.2025
Today I went out and explored a different area for phenology assignment #2. I went to an area near the Burlington golf course. A woody area that served as a barrier between UVM and the golf course property, which made it a likely hideaway for some of the urban dwelling species of the UVM campus. I saw a lot of signs of squirrels jumping around to different trees (fig.1), and I saw a rabbit or hare, Im not completely sure which(fig.2). I logged my observations on inaturalist, and it was pretty easy to do so.
As a lot of the snow we have gotten recently settles, it seemed like the midsize animals came out to look for food. Both the rabbit and the squirrel were very direct in their movements, going from tree to tree, or den to a food source. The identification was pretty simple, both of these tracks are common, especially in more urban settings.
13.April.2025
Today I went on my Nature walk for the third phenology assignment of the year. I walked around the UVM campus and visited 5 trees that are, for about 3 months, being observed by our NR class. On the sugar maple that was on top of the green and the red oak, I observed very few phenological signs related to the recorded data. There were many dormant leaf buds on the Red Oak as well as the White Oak but none on the sugar maple. However in front of old mill, both the Red and Norway Maple were both flowering and budding.
I really enjoyed looking at the Spring First Leaf Index that was on the National Phenology Network website. I was just looking at the maps and noticing that this year it seems that spring has come significantly later than the average, meaning we have had a long winter. Not what I would associate with global warming. But thinking back on the crazy temperature cycles that we have had this winter coupled with wild winter storms, I have to remember especially that climate change and global warming are very different. Two huge problems, linked invariably to one another, affecting the planet in different ways.
28.April.2025
Today I ventured out to a new spot for the iNaturalist Bio Blitz. I aimed to explore and take time in the new area, while also attempting to id and record species that I saw.
Using I naturalist was pretty smooth and I was able to log
East Woods Natural Area
iNaturalist Observations
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/275760662
2.May.2025. Final Visit
It is remarkable the change that can be observed in the same area at different times. This site has shifted each time I have visited and it seems that, with ease, this landscape is able to constantly withstand brutal change and habitation by both humans and wildlife. Snow melt has transformed the frozen river into an river whose energy echoes of the surrounding rock wall. Where there was once a land bridge that reached another area of the phenology spot has now become part of the river, effectively isolating the area until the fall. I do think that I am a part of this place. I think that just by virtue of being there, spending time, I am leaving an imprint on the land just as it has on me.
