This Saturday morning was surprisingly warm, and the walk down to Centennial Woods was very pleasant. It has been a couple of weeks since my last visit, which meant that many things have changed! When I first arrive to my spot, the most obvious change was the lack of leaves on the trees. The hemlock trees that overlook the stream had a nice green color, and a couple of sugar maples still had some foliage, but the ground was covered in white oak leaves. The stream seemed to filled with leaves instead of water, and the current seemed to slow down, as if the weather changing has made it tired.
I typically like to listen to music when I hike, but for my time at my spot, I decided to take off my headphones and enjoy the natural sounds around me. I heard the small trickle of the stream water moving around the leaves, and the soft sound of leaves landing on the ground. I have recently watched a couple of horror movies, so I was slightly paranoid something was making crunching noises, but it was birds jumping from branch to branch.
On the right is a hand drawn map of my phenology spot (I apologize for the lack of artistic ability). The main part of the map is the bend of the stream, with its bottom composed of dead leaves and small smooth rooks. Surrounding the stream are ferns and a couple of understory trees. Outside of those trees are bigger hard woods and coniferous trees. Across from the fallen log is an open field of tall grass where the streams goes curves into.