May 6, 2023
by adwoinen
0 comments

Phenology in Vermont – Final Update

During the four-day urban BioBlitz my friends and I explored the area of Centennial Woods, my phenology spot, near campus. Throughout the semester I have gotten better at using and working with iNaturalist, at first it took me a second to get used to the cite. I think that iNaturalist is a helpful tool to identify and track species throughout the area and through their phenological stages. Throughout our exploration throughout Centennial we encountered 18 species. Looking through the other locations around the globe that participated in the City Nature Challenge was really cool to see. I think the most interesting part of it all is seeing what different species are native to each area because many are so different from what we are used to here in Vermont. My favorite species that I have seen uploaded so far in the global City Nature Challenge is the Cape Dwarf Chameleon in Cape Town. The Chameleon is super cool looking and so different from the native species in the Greater Burlington area.

April 25, 2023
by adwoinen
0 comments

A rainy day in Centennial Woods!

Over time centennial woods has gone through many phenological changes. I have watched my cite lose leaves preparing for the long Vermont winter. I have watched winter take its course and the organisms that inhabit Centennial make an appearance that we were able to track through tracks and scat. Now it is spring in Burlington and buds are starting to appear on trees and plants start to peak out from the ground.

There have definitely been changes in Centennial woods due to storms, many trees and branches have been blown around and end up on the path.

The major landmark that I have become familiar with in Centennial Woods is the stream that runs between the trees. It has also been interesting to watch the seasonal changes that the stream has gone through.

There is a strong interconnectedness of nature and culture. We have learned throughout NR 1 and 2 about the Abenaki people whose land this was before the university’s and the relationship that they had with nature. We have learned about the culture of the Abenaki and the personal connectedness with the land compared to the white settlers who viewed land as a commodity or something to conquer.

I do feel like I have started to form a connection with Centennial and find myself a part of this place. I will say that feeling like a part of something takes a while but I do feel a greater appreciation for Centennial woods then I did at the beginning of the year.

April 9, 2023
by adwoinen
0 comments

April 8, 2023

Today visiting Frank the tree I noticed many more signs of spring. The sun is out and the grass is starting to get greener and the temperature is slowly starting to warm up.

Frank’s buds look about the same since last time I visited. Frank is a Northern Red Oak so it is common for her to be in the same phenological stage as last time. Northern Red Oaks go through phenological developments later like budding later in the season.

March 27, 2023
by adwoinen
0 comments

March 27th, 2nd time visiting Frank!!!

Frank looks pretty much the same as the last time I visited her. Frank’s branches are budding but there is no sign of any leaves. Frank, who is a Northern Red Oak, is a species whose phenological changes develop later in the season.

I uploaded my new observations of Frank to iNaturalist making sure to include the phenological state that she is in, still the budding phase.

March 18, 2023
by adwoinen
0 comments

Spring Break phenology!

We explored the Norris Reservation in Norwell, Massachusetts on today’s phenology walk.

I noticed on our walk that the vegetation in Massachusetts looks different from what my phenology location in Burlington looks like. For example, there are a lot of rhododendrons here which we are less likely to see up north in Vermont because they prefer mild temperatures and a damp climate.

Another difference between this area and Centennial woods is the amount of marshlands and small pools of water in the wooded areas.

As you can see in this photo, many of the deciduous trees and woody plant have no leaves and there are very few that have branches that are budding. There are many tall coniferous trees in this area that are thriving.

Natural History of the area

Like many areas in New England, these stone walls can be spotted. These walls are remnants of old farms that used to be here. Throughout our walk we spotted many rock walls like these.

Additional findings!!

Foam in the stream a sign of decomposing organic material like sticks.

Berries growing from prickly vines – could be catbriar vines

Happy St. Patrick’s Day!!!!!

March 9, 2023
by adwoinen
0 comments

Trees at UVM!!!

This is a bud from my Northern Red Oak tree!

I used iNaturalist to make an observation about my Northern Red Oak tree. When identifying my tree I saw that there was a few old oak trees still holding onto the branches so then I went and checked what the buds looked like for the tree and made my identification off of that and how the bark looked. The location of this Oak is on the UVM green in front of Lafayette/Billings.

Using the annotations on inaturalist I showed that my Northern Red Oak is budding for the phenological phase of the tree!

February 20, 2023
by adwoinen
0 comments

Wildlife in Centennial

Monday, February 20th, 2023

Today, I ventured into Centennial Woods to observe winter wildlife signs. It was hard to identify tracks because the snow was melty and there was a lot of mud. I noticed that there was a lot of human footprints in the mud, which made wildlife print identification using the iNaturalist app very difficult. Many of my observations were educated guesses on what the prints might be based on size and location. It was definitely easier to identify prints in the snow but because it has been melting the prints were significantly less clear. We narrowed down our identification by using our Mammal Tracks and Scat guide and measuring the straddle and the stride of the tracks.

From the size of these prints we think that these are some type of weasel tracks in the snow. We chose to identify these because they were the clearest form of tracks we could find because the snow was melted and other tracks were unidentifiable in the mud.

Other signs of wildlife that I observed were types of centipedes, a spider, and a termites/rolly pollies. These were found in the soil and amongst damp bark and decomposing organic material.

This spider found on the bark of a fallen tree is what we think is either a baby wolf spider or a baby barn/weaver spider.

This creature was found underneath some damp bark on the ground and we think that it is either a rolly polly or some type of termite.

This centipede was found under a log in the soil.

Even though I personally had a hard time using the iNaturalist app to identify tracks in this location, it was interesting to see what types of wildlife other people have found in the greater Burlington area this time of year. I went on this adventure to Centennial woods with my friends from NR2 and we spent time making observations of this area in many different spots. We went down by the running water, in the muddier areas, and in the remaining snow as well.

January 27, 2023
by adwoinen
0 comments

Friday January 27th

Winter in Centennial Woods!

This semester I’m making centennial woods my phenology location! To get here I walked from the Davis center, passing CCRH and crossing the street at East Ave. After that I walked down Catamount Dr. and went into the entrance of Centennial Woods. Once I was in Centennial woods I walked down the path about 10 minutes until reaching Centennial Brook.

Even in the cold temperatures, the brook is unfrozen and still running.

Wildlife activity in Centennial

Animal tracks in the snow!!! Bunny tracks possibly

Some yellow snow. UVM student or animal?

Some other interesting pics from the adventure!!

Red berries – only sign of vegetation other then the trees and shrubs

Huge tree with branches collecting the snow

December 10, 2022
by adwoinen
0 comments

A winter day at Oakledge Park!

December 10th, 2022

Changes in foliage

Most all of the deciduous trees at my phenology location have lost their leaves for the winter but there were a few oak trees that still have leaves on them. There is no sign of decomposers on the ground but there is lots of organic matter from the trees on the hillside away from the shore like leaves and needles. There is no fruit on the trees or bushes but the coniferous trees have many cones still on them. Animal activity has remained the same, I haven’t observed any in this location throughout the months.

Vegetation changes

360 View with the sunset

What do I like the most about Oakledge park?

I like my phenology spot the most for the location. I really like that when standing on my spot you can have a view of Lake Champlain, you can see Burlington in the distance, and you also get to see different types of vegetation on shore. I think that the bedrock formations that connect the water to the land is really cool especially because there is a small peninsula that goes out into Lake Champlain which creates the cove. Oakledge Park has many different aspects on and off land that everyone can enjoy with a beautiful view no matter the time of year or time of day that you visit.

**Moss growing from the bedrock with needles collecting on the ground**

**Variation of Lambs ear growing from the bedrock**

November 24, 2022
by adwoinen
0 comments

Thanksgiving on the Blue Ridge Parkway!

November 24th

This weeks phenology post is located on a hiking trail off of the blue ridge parkway in Asheville, North Carolina.

Violet, Kelly, Junie, and Alex enjoying a hike on thanksgiving

This spot is definitely very different from my phenology spot in Burlington. Differing from my regular location on the Champlain waterfront in Vermont, this spot is a wooded hiking path in the mountains in the Blue Ridge Parkway. I noticed many different types of vegetation that is used to the climate of Asheville that would not thrive in the climate of Burlington. Also on this hike that there were many rhododendron, mountain laurel, chestnut oak, beetleweed and a lot more moss covering the ground. These are native to the area and love this climate because of the humidity. The temperature is much warmer down here then up in Vermont this time of year. Here there were many twisty vines scattered in the forest that grew around trees, branches, and anything in their path. Other observations from this fun hike is an Eastern Box turtle that was hidden in the leaves and some mushrooms growing off the trees.