12:30 PM, 60℉, Cloudy, Little to no wind
The first thing I noticed as soon as I got onto the trail down to my phenology spot was the strong smell of decaying leaves. This would be the first of many changes that I was to observe at Salmon Hole with the changing of the seasons. Most of the trees were barren, with the leaf litter already losing its crunchiness, likely due to the light rain earlier this day.
Not only was leaf litter covering the trail leading to my spot, but piles of decaying leaves were scattered throughout the water around me. In front of my spot is calm, still water, but loud rushing water from the other side of a rock barrier can be heard from about 500ft away. The water level is lower than it was the last time I visited my spot. This was made obvious by the exposed clay in front of me that was submerged less than three weeks earlier. In the clay, animal tracks would be made out. Seeing these animal tracks from where I was sitting made me very excited! Even though it very likely could’ve just been a dog, I haven’t observed many animals from my spot other than birds, so these tracks were a pleasant surprise that I’m looking forward to growing more familiar with.
Behind me, I could hear bird calls. I could only hear one faint call when first arriving at my spot, but I was able to distinguish at least four different calls in my last few minutes there. This relates to how I couldn’t see any birds when first arriving at my spot, but could make out at least 3 birds traveling from tree to tree in the forest behind me by the end of my visit. Not many birds flew in the open space above the water, which makes sense since there are no safe spots to stop at over the long stretch of water.
Most of the long grasses that grow out of the cracks in the rock around my spot began to die. They appeared much yellower in color and crunchy/fragile in texture. Most small ferns and mosses were still vibrant in green color. Some small saplings that I hadn’t previously noticed were still alive and growing well! A small eastern cottonwood seedling seemed to be growing very well in a crack of rock close to the water’s edge. I named it Cathy 🙂
To the left is a map of my phenology spot at Salmon Hole. A legend on the left of the map describes the three most common symbols: rock, non-woody plants, and woody plants. Most of the area around the river is surrounded by rock, which used to be the ancient sea floor. The rock is of varying elevations, which was hard to showcase on a map.