Holy Snow!
This Saturday, I awoke to the world outside of my window covered in a blanket of snow. The snow continued to fall throughout my entire hike to the Winooski River and although it was cold, the breathtaking sight of snow-covered trees was truly worth it.
This is my last phenology post for this semester, which is almost surreal. It’s been so fascinating to watch this little riverbank change with the seasons. Most of all, my favorite part of this project process was the hike along the Burlington Wild Way trail. A few friends with nearby phenology locations and I would always journey from the athletic campus all the way to Salmon Hole and back. I really value the time spent with such lovely people in such a cool place.
Few Foliage: What’s Left?
Since my last post, not much has changed in terms of the foliage (or lack thereof). Although the box elders here have shed their leaves, they are still holding on to their seeds, which will provide a great food source to the little creatures of the area. The persistent goldenrod seems to be hanging on to its leaves amid other barren vegetation and browned grasses along the sandy riverbank. It was hard to fully gauge the state of the leaf litter because of the fresh layers of snow, but after brushing some of the snow away, I could see dropped Sugar maple, basswood, and Silver maple leaves along the forest floor.
Animal Activity: Beaver Presence!
I was convinced that the frigid temperatures and fresh snow meant I wouldn’t see much animal activity because I know if I was a woodland creature, I’d want to be hiding in my warm den and napping under the insulation of the subnivean zone. Compared to the summer and fall, I saw less birds along the river (no ducks this time). As I was walking up from the riverbank, I noticed beaver chews on the bottom of the giant sugar maples in the center of my phenology spot!
Look at those fresh incisor marks! You can see the exact imprint of their little teeth! The chewed spots were pretty small, so I guess this little guy didn’t make much progress.
After excitedly taking pictures of the fresh chews, I searched the nearby area for more evidence of beaver, but if there were any tracks, scat, or dens, they would have been hidden under the snow. The only trees with fresh chews were the ancient sugar maples, so maybe these Vermont beavers were craving some sweet maple bark on a cold day, and I wouldn’t blame them!
