Despite the chaos of the week, I found myself visiting my phenology spot in the Intervale again this week. It was a beautiful day, and it really felt like spring was on its way. While at my spot, I took some time to check in on my tree and see how it was doing. Being a young tree, it does not have many branches or buds, and not much had seemed to change on it, but I am hopeful that I will get to see it when the buds begin to burst!
But checking in on my tree wasn’t all I did. I took some time to wander around my spot, looking for any new changes. I noticed that the water level was higher than normal, and so the bank that I normally stand on to look out at the water was submerged. This is seen in the below photos with the silver maple buds, because the branch that they are a part of was partially submerged. There were also plenty of birds, both that I could see and hear, as well as this cute little bug pictured below. I believe this to be a stonefly (Plecoptera), although I am unsure which specific type of stonefly it is. My friend and I were able to identify the bird calls we heard as a tufted Titmouse (Baeolophus bicolor), black-capped chickadee (Poecile atricapillus), and red-bellied woodpecker (Melanerpes carolinus), although we unfortunately were not able to identify the birds that we saw, as we only glimpsed them very fleetingly.
I am hopeful that, the next time I visit my phenology spot, many more plants will be in bloom. I can’t wait to see the beauty of the Intervale in the spring!