On my visit back home for Thanksgiving, I stopped by a drainage pond near my house. I chose this pond because I felt as if they were similar enough to compare to each other. The first major difference I can draw between the two drainage ponds is that the one in Maryland has a significantly higher percentage of its watershed is made up of impenetrable surfaces. This means that Maryland’s little pond works very hard to remove pollutants and slow water from the nearby parking lots. Another difference is that the UVM pond drains through mostly cultivated grassland (golf course) with a much smaller riparian buffer on the stream than the Maryland one.
One obvious difference in the Phenology between the two ponds is that the pond in MD is obviously in a warmer climate.
In Maryland, the leaves were still on some of the trees, and in Vermont the pond actually froze over the day that I came back.
Here’s a quick sketch I made after visiting the pond. I took many photos but my phone was unfortunately stolen while watching the Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade in New York City.