Author: aehaas

Where I went

I had the rare privilege of getting to observe species in three different cities during this city nature challenge. On Friday I was home in Philly and observed some beautiful flowers at my home. Spring is in full force in Philly. On Saturday evening and Sunday morning I was in New York City, and then on Sunday afternoon I returned to Burlington and made some observations here. Since I was traveling so much during the weekend I did not have as much time to make a lot of observations as I would’ve hoped, but I think the diversity of places I got to observe in made up for the lesser quantity of observations.

Home

I live in New Jersey right outside of Philly.

I observed many beautiful flowers while home, some of which are seen in the images below. I also heard lots of birds, but didn’t manage to get any pictures sadly.

Burlington

Burlington is my home away from home, and although I didn’t have much time to observe when I returned Sunday, I did make some observations in the area by my dorm.

iNaturalist Experience and Worldwide City Nature Challenge

I found iNaturalist very intuitive and easy to use. I had been using the app for years, but I had no idea about the City Nature Challenge until this year. I will definitely be using iNaturalist to participate in future years. I like that other people can help you to identify species that you are unsure about, it is a great tool for learning to identify more species. I also loved using the app to see species observed in other areas of the world, as well as following the CNC leaderboard for cities around the world. I feel like so many cities could do so much more if the CNC was more widely publicized.

Revisiting my site today was a pleasant experience despite the rainy weather. It looks very different than when I visited in the winter. The snow has melted, the stream runs again, and the deciduous trees are starting to show signs of life. Branches are down from recent storms, and the site is a swamp of mud from all the snowmelt, but overall the main landmarks of the site remain the same.

I’ve become familiar with these pine trees, with the mossy roots, with the steep slope to get down from the path to my sight. With the river, both when frozen and when running. I don’t feel like part of my site because this is not my home place. I feel a connection to Vermont, and to my sight, but I do not feel part of it the way I feel part of my natural areas at home. This sight also feels like it belongs to everybody as it is so close to the trails which many use for recreation in Centennial Woods: hiking, dog walking, bird watching, etc. Overall I have grown to love my place, and am sad it was my final blogpost visit.

Paper birches are still not seeing clear signs of new buds, but some seem promised soon with nice weather on the way. Hopefully we will get to see some flowers before long. It’s nice to get spend time outdoors in this nicer weather, and I enjoyed revisiting my tree.

Despite the melting snow and warming temperatures, paper birches still display no signs of being ready to bud or blossom. It was lovely to be outside as I could walk without being tripped by ice, although it was certainly a bit muddy for my taste.

Here is a screenshot of my iNaturalist post. I tagged this tree as having “no evidence of flowering”.

I took a walk into Centennial Woods today and identified this Paper Birch. It has the characteristic white, peeling bark, which distinguishes it even in the winter when it lacks leaves. It showed no signs however of budding or flowering. It is still quite cold and snowy. Soon however it will warm up and Spring will come and I hope to see buds, then flowers on the trees here.

I made an iNaturalist post to record my findings. I record the tree as having “no evidence of flowering”.

On Tuesday 2/14, a sunny Valentine’s day afternoon I went to explore Centennial Woods. I spotted a variety of tracks in the melting snow. It was a very peaceful walk, and I also heard birds, a rare sound in the winter. I specifically identified a Tufted Titmouse which was calling back and forth with another bird, like a conversation.

We also observed both Red and Grey Squirrel tracks which was cool. I wasn’t super sure what tracks we were looking at, but we found 2 similar looking sets of tracks which were different sizes, so we assumed the smaller ones must be Red Squirrel, while the larger ones were Grey Squirrel. It was a bit difficult to identify tracks due to the slushy snow, but we did our best.

I also wanted to share this extremely crisp dog print, despite the fact that it was not made by a wild animal. It is just an exemplary track. I think it probably scared off some of the native wildlife though.

I chose to venture to a new phenology spot this semester, in Centennial Woods. I tramped through a lot of snow to get there, but was surprised how well travelled the trails in Centennial were, despite the snow and cold. I walked up the trail from the entrance to the clearing where I found some very cheerful snow people.

After you reach the clearing you have the choice to go uphill, or downhill towards the stream, which is what I chose to do. I chose a peaceful spot in a stand of coniferous trees by the semi-frozen stream. All of the trees were heavy with snow, and it was clear that they needed to be well adapted to live in the harsh Vermont conditions.

I did not observe any animal tracks on my trip. I’m not sure if this is because they were previously trampled by other people who were walking in the woods, or if they were already filled in as it was snowing during my trip to Centennial Woods. I also looked for bird nests or other signs of wildlife, but I did not see much. I hope to see more signs of wildlife soon, especially in a few months when spring finally arrives.

Winter is well on its way as the semester comes to a close. Although snow has been infrequent up until this point, soon the landscape will be frigid and snow-covered. Long Pond will freeze over soon, and park-goers will be able to skate out on the ice and sea the sea caves. During my visit today, it was very clear that winter is quickly approaching. The trees were almost all completely leafless, except for a few lone American Beech trees as well as the coniferous Eastern Hemlocks. Leaf litter was thick on the ground and was already beginning to decompose in the lower layers.

Despite the muted tones of the landscape, there was still some activity to be observed. I could hear a few faint chirps of birds, although most birds have already migrated south, to avoid the harsh Vermont winter. I also observed some Guelder berries, a bright red berry, which will help to sustain some of the wildlife through the winter. I could not observe any animal tracks as everything was muddy and slippery, however I hope that once snow cover is present I will be able to see some.

For this semester it is time to say goodbye to my phenology site, and it looks quite different from when I first visited it in October. It has been a great experience watching the changes in the landscape through the last few months.

I am home in South Jersey, specifically Haddonfield, a cute historic town in the Philly suburbs, for break. I decided to take a walk around one of my old favorite natural areas, one right behind my high school, Hopkins Pond in Cooper River Park.

The park has a manmade damned pond and is dominated by Red Maple, American Beech, Red Oak, and White Oak. It also has a lot of English Ivy and Norway Maples which are invasive species.

Some major differences I notices from my phenology spot in Vermont were that here the leaves are still falling. It has not snowed yet and the leaves still crunched underfoot. There was also a difference in species composition with no Sugar Maples or Striped Maples to be seen. Instead of leaving a gift for my site while on my walk, I decide to pick up trash as an act of service instead. I live in a highly developed area and therefore the parks require constant maintenance to address invasive species, water pollution, and litter. It was lovely to view the nature in my hometown with newfound knowledge of species as well as newfound respect for urban ecosystems specifically.

Going out to my phenology site was a bit on an odd experience. It is November, yet it is unseasonably warm. Sitting outside is extremely pleasant as the temperature is in the mid 60s. This is a bit concerning as warm temperatures are likely a sign of climate change, which threatens the health of species and ecosystems across the world. Nonetheless, the leaves have dropped from all the trees. The only deciduous trees which have still retained some leaves are the American Beech trees and a couple of Red Oaks. I can hear the wind rushing through the cattails and rushes, although sounds of wildlife are scarce. Nature is preparing for winter.