Despite the Vernal Equinox last week, spring hasn’t quite sprung here in Burlington. When I arrived back at my phenology spot this morning it was blanketed in about six inches of snow from the weekend. This was the most snow I have seen here all winter long, and it came during spring! I was not able to find any swelling tree buds. Most of the trees in my spot are coniferous trees who have had needles all winter long. Most of the other trees are mature, tall hardwoods with branches far too high for me to see any buds. That being said on my way in and out of my phenology spot I noticed some buds, most notably the yellow buds of Forsythia popping up around campus. Unfortunately I did forget to document these 🙁
On this sunny, Bluebird day the birds were out everywhere! The whole time I was walking through the woods the birds were singing. I didn’t recognize anything new, nor do I know what most of them were because I am no ornithologist. That being said I did see some chickadees and other common centennial bound birds. There was almost no change at my site since the last time I was there. There was just a few inches of snow covering everything. There had also been some human boot prints tracking around my spot going deeper into the woods. I also found what I would think to be a hare or squirrel print, because it looked to be in the pattern of a galloper. However the fresh light snow was not very conducive to keeping tracks, and instead just filled in the shape of the tracks. Overall a great time to visit my phenology spot after a fresh snowfall!
Galloper print seen below, but very hard to determine species.
Here are some more Phenology Spot Photos!
