4:36pm , November 3rd, 2024
Yesterday I spent some time at my site just sitting and observing. The most noticeable seasonal change was that the sun began setting while I was there since daylight savings just happened this weekend. It was already a gloomy day and got even more so as the sun set. The entire ground was covered in leaves, mostly Norway maples and northern red oaks. Many of the trees had dropped most of their leaves and the branches crossing over the stream were largely bare. There was a lot of mud the ground seemed to have a lot of clay. I also noticed even more dead wood blocking the river than before. The stream seemed to be moving slower than when I visited in October and possibly the amount leaves and branches was contributed to this.
All the wildflowers were dead or dying such as the asters and golden rod growing downstream where there is no canopy of trees to block the sun. I noticed that the Norway maples and northern red oaks still held on to many leaves. All the bare branches really changed the area, making the section previously shaded by branches feel much more open and exposed. The young black cherry trees had dropped most of their leaves. The understory was damp from recent rain and almost entirely covered in maple and oak leaves. The main non woody plants I noticed in the understory were wood ferns and remains of golden rods. Woody invasives like the barberry and buckthorn still had leaves and some berries.
While sitting in silence, I felt like the woods were quieter than in my previous visits. I’m not sure if this was just because of the time of day. The main thing I heard were noisy crows passing above me in groups. I also didn’t see any frogs or fish, at least in this section of the brook. By the time I left the spot, it was dark outside already. I plan to come back soon at an earlier time in the day to try and distinguish between phenological changes and just differences depending on the time of day/weather.
I am also realizing that identifying deciduous trees will become much more difficult as their leaves fall off. Thankfully I am pretty sure I have identified almost all of the trees nearby.