Atlas Morgan’s Phenology Project

⋆｡˚꩜ 🍁 .𖥔 ݁ ˖ This past week was thanksgiving break, and I was able to go home and see my family in our new apartment which was fantastic! However, I was unfortunately sick for majority of break, largely limiting my ability to explore new phenological locations. My dad was graciously really willing to help me out, as he knew a location within the nearby Riverbank State Park. The sheer magnitude of the park is incredibly large, but I settled on a small clearing of trees in one of the designated “picnic areas”. This area was mostly just a bunch of picnic benches and some trees, it still worked and held a bit of natural charm. In comparison to my location in Burlington, they are both drastically different while also being shockingly similar. Locationally, one spot is nestled in a forest while the other is squeezed into a grand park in the middle of New York City. This main factor lead me to believe that the phenology would be incredibly different – but I was shocked with the amount of trees I was able to easily identify in the clearing. While there is no understory apart from small, dying patches of grass the overstory contained many species I was familiar with such as Red Maple, Eastern White Pine, and Green Ash trees. (The pine identification may not 100% be correct, as it was incredibly confusing to decipher.) Seeing these familiar species warmed me, even in such a great metropolitan area. Due to my illness, I was unable to bear any gifts in the sense of the Honorable Harvest, but I made sure I did my part of keeping the city clean by always waiting to toss a tissue in a garbage bin rather than onto the ground. Discovering this new urban natural area so close to my new apartment was exciting – especially with familiar ecology – and I am excited to return to it next break, hopefully in better health.

Posted in Phenology Posts

‧₊˚🌿✩ ₊˚🪵⊹♡ During my visit today to my phenology blog location, I took about 15 minutes to unplug from the world, and connect with my space. While unplugging, I was able to discover and notice a lot about my location while just sitting with her, and it was beautiful. Across the 15 minutes, there was a variety of bird calls and sounds from various ages/species of birds, as well as a swell of tweeting and chirping from a large group of chicks! I also noticed a larger abundance of leaves and pinecones on the ground, opposed to my prior visit where most of the foliage was on-top of the trees. However, what deciduous foliage remained swept the area with beautiful pigments of auburn and gold. The deciduous Sugar Maples closely entwine with their friend, the Eastern Hemlock in their own kind of flock, making up the wondrous over-story. While it seemed the area was slowing down for the upcoming winter & “stick season”, I actually spotted some new fern growth. It was fascinating to see small Intermediate Woodferns growing and popping up through the Earth, even as the weather gets colder. The weather during my visit was absolutely wonderful, but quite windy. The wind picked up and slowed down, stirring a symphony of sounds from slight breezes and sighs all the way to sounding like rain pattering down into the soil. While the higher wind-whirls took place, it caused some leaves – most often from the buckthorn – to fall on to the ground with the rest of their fallen foliage friends. Whilst being so secluded into the wooded area taking in the sweet sounds of Mother Nature, I was still able to pick-up on signs of the outside world. For instance, the far away stir of cars & the faint laughs and whistles of friends exploring the woods together, for whatever reason they so please. It was so enlightening to connect so intrinsically into nature, while still recognizing and being aware of the human presence constantly surrounding me. After my 15 minutes of observation, I then drew a birds-eye view “map” of my phenological location. Although I am not the best artist, I enjoyed bering able to sketch this beautiful piece of nature that I will include in this post. I cannot wait to go back as the temperature continues to decline, and I hope to catch this area in a snowfall sometime soon!

Posted in Phenology Posts

˚ ༘ .˚🌱୭ ˚. For my phenology project, I decided to choose a little corner of centennial woods, off the more beaten path. Once you get to the big Centennial clearing, you go to the left and slightly downward; that is where my place is. I like to think of it as a field of ferns (although it is not big enough to be a field) nestled by a brook. The reason I chose this corner of centennial is because ever since my first week of classes, I felt copnnected to it. I found it during the Centennial Woods Self Guided Tour lab from the first few weeks of classes, and ever since then I have just fallen in love with it. It is so peaceful, especially after going mulitple times in the year and seeing all of the different weather conditions and phenological changes in the woods. You can get there by following the directions in the first lab guidelines to get to the clearing in centennial, and then once you are at the clearing you go left & slightly down a hill and it is quite easy to stumble upon, especially with the sounds of the running stream so close. Some of the overstory vegetation I found during my most recent trip to my phenology place include multiple Eastern Hemlock trees, White Oaks, Red Maples, Yellow Birches, and a Common Buckthorn tree. For the more understory woody plants in the area, I was able to indentity some Intermediate Woodferns, Sensetive Ferns, Polished Maidenhair Ferns, Barberry, small Glossy Buckthorns, Black Tupelos, as well as some Carallawood. There were also plenty fallen leaves, pine cones, and pine needles on the ground while I was there – making the area look like Vermonts key fall beauty. I am constantly enthralled by my location with each visit, and I can not wait to continue visiting over the semester, as well as having some of my peers visit as well.

Posted in Phenology Posts