Posts
February
To try and observe wildlife, I decided to go to Centennial Woods to explore, and I was not disappointed! While I was there I found white-footed mouse tracks with a den, which was so interesting to try and put the story together. I also saw what I believe to be eastern grey squirrel tracks running up a partially fallen tree. The experience with the iNaturalist app was great, and it’s something that has been helping me identify things in nature since this past fall. I was extremely excited to see both of these tracks this past weekend, and hope to find many more in the future as well.
January
December
When I visited my phenology spot this week for the last time before winter break, I noticed many changes. For one, there was snow on the ground. The snow was a few inches deep, so I could no longer see or identify the plants closer to the ground, if they were still alive. Although it was cold, the small stream was still flowing well with some spots of it being frozen over. I also found a few barberry bushes that still had berries due to their bright red color popping against the white snow. The snow had also allowed me to see that a few bunnies were around the area, as their tracks are pictured above. Although my phenology spot is looking very different in December, the changes that winter is bringing to it are beautiful, and I am excited to see what else changes when I come back in late January.
Home Phenology Spot
For my phenology spot over Thanksgiving break, I chose a spot that I visit almost every week throughout the year while I am at home. The spot is in Callahan State Park, which is very close to my house in Massachusetts. This spot is meaningful to me because it is where I go to relax and connect with nature when I am at home. There are so many different activities and fun things to do such as kayaking, snowshoeing, and hiking. Shown above is a picture that I took when I went kayaking there over the summer. When I recently visited over Thanksgiving break, I found a small toad which I was surprised to see as it was cold out. Similarly to my phenology spot in Burlington, my spot at home has lots of wildlife and it is close to water. I also noticed some paper birch trees and many different types of maple trees which are also present at my phenology spot in Burlington. I believe that having phenology spots wherever I am in that moment is extremely important to my mental health and well being as they connect me to the nature that is around me and help me become peaceful.
Home Phenology Spot
This is an event map of my phenology walk with Gabe. We started on athletic campus, near the outside of our dorms. We decided to walk to Centennial Woods. On our way there, we saw a squirrel along with some red and white oak trees. Today it was very windy and rainy, so on the walk there were also many worms. However, when we got to Centennial Woods, since we were under the cover of the trees, it made the rain mostly go away.
The Center of My Phenology Spot
Today I sat in the center of my phenology spot, and experienced the nature surrounding me in silence. It was very peaceful. I noticed the sound of the sugar maple leaves rustling in the wind, and watched as they fell to the ground covering the dirt in a colorful blanket. I could also hear the calming sound of the brook along with the crows and chickadees above me. Since I was last here, more of the leaves have changed colors, and some trees are even almost close to being bare. A lot of the small shrubs are losing their leaves as well.
This is a birds-eye view map of the center of my phenology spot, where I sat today.
What? Why?
My phenology spot has a small wooden bridge over the brook and lots of smaller plants in the under story. Some of these plants include buckthorn, sugar maple saplings, and a couple of white oaks in the over-story. There are some plants that I had a hard time identifying by myself, one of them including what could possibly be what iNaturalist called steeplebush. I chose this spot because every time that I have been in Centennial woods, it always sticks out to me because of how pretty and calming it is. I also think that in the winter, it will be very interesting to try and see what animals go in and out of the brook based on the tracks in the snow.
- sugar maple
- Norway maple
- buckthorn
- white oak
- steeplebush?
- ferns
- white pine
Where?
