A UVM blog Abby’s Phenology Project – NR001

For the City Nature Challenge, I ended up just exploring campus a bit because of time and transportation constraints. Using iNaturalist was easy, I have been using iNat for quite some time and have even led my own community wide BioBlitz before and made my own project back home.

Things I found interesting looking at the results was how huge cities outside the US, such as Hong Kong and Rome, did not have many participants despite having such large populations but did overall record many observations. Comparing the small city of Burlington to the entire north half of my home state, Ohio, Burlington had much more observations. I think it’s cute and neat that such small cities outcompeted huge cities and counties.

I only recorded six species which are pictured below:

I revisited the American beech on my site that I have been monitoring over the past few weeks. There have been no changes to the tree. The buds remain the same with evidence of bud burst or flowers or leaves.

My phenology site hasn’t changed much over the past few months, besides the obvious lack of greenery from winter. There are definitely more fallen trees, logs, and sticks from winter’s strong winds.

I chose quite a beautiful day to visit my site. The sun shining bright with temperatures in the 60s. The day became even better when I was able to catch a Mourning Cloak land nearby in the dead leaves. An early spring butterfly! I also spotted a Dark Fishing Spider upon a fallen tree enjoying the sunlight.

The landmark I have come familiar with at my site is of course the stream that runs through. But, I really like the deep pool that forms in the back on the southwest side of the site. There is a human-made landmark as well, an old firepit that Trinity campus students use from time to time. A small elm tree stands at the back south edge of my site’s boundaries.

I do consider myself a part of my place. I have spent a lot of time here. Of course, stopping by for phenology assignments but also when I wanted a nice place to read or write poetry, or to just get away for a bit. I like to think the trees recognize me now and look forward to the next time I come back to sit beneath them and listen.

Culture and nature intertwine in many ways. Many cultures, such as indigenous cultures have been built entirely on living together with nature. Humans so badly need and crave a connection with nature. We have made parks, big and small, urban and wild, for people to escape to. Many of us have grown up playing outdoors, whether that was in a front yard or a stream. We consume plants in our diets and medicine every single day. We drink water from springs and lakes. We live by the changing seasons.

I re-visited the American Beech at my site to check on the phenological stage the tree is at. Unfortunately, my tree is still at the same step as last time. That being no bud bursts or flowers quite yet.

We were tasked with finding a tree at our phenology that was either a Northern red oak, American beech, red maple, or paper birch, and identifying them by their buds. Most of the trees in my phenology site are very tall and have inaccessible twigs, except for many young American beeches. Additionally, there were no paper birches on my site! Using iNaturalist, I recorded the phenological stage of a young American beech. This one was showing no signs of flowering yet. I know this tree was an American beech and not a look-alike young maple because of its distinguishable and conspicuous cigar-like buds, and the remaining old leaves.

To participate in the iNaturalist project, I further explored the woods that my phenology site is located in, near trinity campus. These woods are really close to the Winooski River. At the time that I went, there was barely any snow on the ground and all the mud was frozen solid, so finding tracks was difficult and proved to be unsuccessful. I did find some small grazing marks at the bottom of a small maple tree. I think they came from a squirrel or another type of small rodent. I also heard the calls of several crows and a chickadee, which I was not able to spot.

Upon returning to my phenology site after being away for a month, I noticed significant changes. The most influential one would be that the large stream that ran through the middle of my site drastically decreased in size and had almost completely frozen over. Additionally, most of the remaining vegetation has fully died back.

I also found signs of wildlife activity. I found what I believe to be rabbit tracks, which I followed down the hill towards my site, and then over the stream! I also found a strange pattern under a white pine. Perhaps it is evidence of an animal burrowing or scavenging beneath the tree?

Below is a picture of the current condition of my phenology site. All of the hardwoods have dropped their leaves for the winter and all that remains in the canopy is the Eastern white pines and Eastern hemlocks. Additionally, more trees have fallen from the high winds over the weeks.

What I have enjoyed the most about my phenology site is the cute little stream that runs through it. The water is super clear and there as several pretty deep pools that have developed. I look forward to seeing the herp activity in the spring and early summer.

The remaining green vegetation at my phenology site are ferns, bryophytes, and sedges. Additionally, I observed that the leaf litter seemed to be a little less thick than last time despite all the trees having shed their leaves.

Signs of wildlife I noticed were some dog tracks and a small tunnel near the bank of the stream. My guess the tunnel could be the work of a salamander or other herpetofauna finding some place warm. There was also the occasional sound of a squirrel or chipmunk rustling in the leaves. I was unable to find any scat or any tree markings.

The wildlife activity on this site has seem to quiet down. I think this is a combination of the colder temperatures and that area is regularly visited by people.

The site I chose to observe over break and back at home is the White Pine Woods. White Pine Woods is a part of The Dawes Arboretum in Newark, Ohio, a place I am very close with. White Pine Woods is large stand of several hundred Pinus Strobus or Eastern white pine trees that were planted back in the 1920s as a reforestation project by the Arboretum’s first owner, Beman Dawes. In the later winter months, the White Pine Woods is a popular roosting spot for owls, and owl pellets are in abundance on the forest floor. Additionally, Ilex or holly, is a common understory plant here as well as Phytolacca americana or pokeweed, Circaea canadensis or enchanter’s nightshade, and Toxicodendron radicans, or poison ivy. Flowing north of the White Pines woods is a small creek called Dutch Fork that connects to Dutch Fork Wetlands, a large man-made wetland system. In the springtime, the northeastern part of the White Pine Woods becomes flooded. Additionally, the White Pine Woods is surrounded by many large restoration prairies that provide habitat to a plethora of wildlife and plants.

Compared to Burlington phenology, it reminds me a bit of some pine stands found in Centennial Woods, which are also located near wetlands. Both have similar vegetation though the big difference is that there is no holly found in Centennial, that I know of. On Arboretum grounds is an internationally recognized holly collection, so when the birds eat the fruits from this area they tend to roost in the White Pine Woods and dispose of the seeds there.

As per Honorable Harvest, the gift I left at this site was some leftover apples from thanksgiving for the wildlife that frequent the area.

Location

15 Minute Sit-in Silence

For my 15-minute silent sit-in at my phenology site, I designated a spot in the center of the stream on one of the rotting felled trees. During this time, I listened to the very talkative blue-jays, and the scurrying steps of squirrels gathering food for the winter. Most of the leaves are gone on the deciduous trees while the Eastern Hemlocks and White Pines stand strong. The asters and goldenrods have gone to seed, and some of the forest’s ferns begin to die back.

Birds-eye view sketch of my phenology site: