The nest (my spot) looks a lot different from the last visit. I figure this has to do with the temperature drop since, when I am writing this, it is November. Leaves are a faded yellow-brown. They are covering the ground. There are so many leaves that I almost slipped! Bare tree branches make it easy to note deciduous and coniferous trees. A lot of eastern hemlock needles eare still intact. I did not know there were this many eastern hemlocks.
I explored Rock Point during this wonderous four-day urban BioBlitz. I observed at least eleven species. I have included some of my favorite species that I observed.
Fungi and lichen are similar in that they help reduce amounts of pollution and require complex organic compounds of nitrogen and carbon. However, they are different. Fungi rely on the decomposition of organic matter for food. Lichen, on the other hand, photosynthesize.
below are my favorite animals
Spiders are one of the most underrated animals, especially dark fishing spiders. They have eight eyes – two big ones in the front for spotting clear images and judging distance, and extra side eyes to detect things that are moving. This makes spiders extra observant and judgemental.
Northern white cedars and I have the same personality. We are most happy when we are by bodies of water – our souls come to life. We are big fans of calcium (…I like cheese and yogurt…northern white cedars grow in limestone rich soil…limestone contains a lot of calcium carbonate). We have an interest in the construction of cabins (the wood of northern white cedars is used for building cabins). We’re also both very fragile.
iNaturalist is probably one of the coolest sites I have used. I think it is awesome that I can explore different types of biodiversity at the heart of my fingers on my phone or on my laptop. The app is super easy to use – the observe button at the bottom of users’ screen, which appears when the app opens, allows people to organize their nature pictures. Having an organized way of nature pictures allows people to identify with the ecosystem that they live in, which, in the end, makes them more connected to nature and cultivates their appreciation for Earth.
I was really overwhelmed when I opened the “Explore” tab on the iNaturalist app…
….tell me this isn’t overwhelming.
Despite the overwhelmingness, it means that millions, maybe even billions, of people are sharing one thing in common, which is using iNaturalist to appreciate nature. Someone in Madagascar and Thailand and I are using the same app. This gives me some faith in humanity because I have a concept that more people than I think are appreciating nature and want to save the Earth.
I am really interested in vegetation on the Greek islands, so I zoomed into Lesbos, specifically on the southern side that is close to Turkey. Below is my favorite combo of plants I discovered!
I took my bike to Centennial Woods – my favorite mode of transportation when it comes to short distances. I love riding on wheels because I feel super cool and I like feeling my legs and heart move. I like feeling the wind push my hair back and cool the sweat off my face. I know my desire to move is not contributing to greenhouse gas emissions when it comes to commuting at somewhat fast times. My bike frame is black and has sparkles so I feel even more super cool.
I have a Bianchi bike – it’s an Italian bike brand. My grandpa got it for me because 1. we both like bikes and 2. he is into his Italian culture and wanted to preserve it through me by giving me an Italian bike. It’s a road bike, meaning it has thin tires and goes fast, especially going down hills. It was about a 7-minute bike from Redstone as opposed to a 20-minute walk. To be honest, it is harder to use around Burlington than around Kent Island (my hometown) because Burlington is insanely hillier. I can easily bike 12 miles at home but 12 miles around Burlington is a different story. My bike does not have as many gears as I need to bike up hills….soo this makes going up the hill between Coolidge Hall and Redstone Apartments more difficult.
Anyways
My knowledge about bikes is expanding, despite the difficulty of going up hills. Now I know that I need multiple gears as opposed to one…which is what I have. The next project for me is to investigate adding multiple gears onto my bike and physically add them on so I can be more equipt to ride around.
Road biking and Centennial Woods are culturally intertwined because the intention to preserve organic things (nature – trees, moss, birds, heart, brain, beavers, streams the atmosphere, muscles, etc) are shared. Centennial Woods was established to preserve Vermont’s natural biodiversity in the midst of a growing suburban setting. Road biking is a clean mode of transportation.
It was raining when I went to Centennial Woods! Foggy light showers are my favorite type of weather – I would have been in an even better mood if I brought my raincoat!
The major landmarks to the tree I’m observing are 1. the first wooden bridge when you enter the woods and 2. a pile of tree trunks laying across the trail. The tree is relatively close to the entrance, so there are not that many landmarks. There is also a pile of dead birches behind my tree…which makes the setting look like a crime scene, as though it maimed them for stealing its space…however, a storm or forestry class most likely took the birches down.
Buds of baby pannariaceae have started growing on the yellow birch’s bark! This was the first time I noticed this since the last time I visited the tree. According to PictureThis, pannariaceae is a type of lichen. The bark is providing a stable place for it to grow and absorb sunlight, rainwater, and materials from the atmosphere. Lichen is an indicator of clean air – lots of lichen means the air in the setting is clean. This makes sense because clean air is one of the major factors that stimulate growth, given that something like soil is not present for them to grow in.
Pannariaceae is not the only organism growing on the yellow birch….
Brook forkmoss is growing as well!
I noticed the moss that was growing at the beginning of April seems to have morphed into the bark when the end of the month came around (compare picture 1 to picture 2)….I do not have an explanation for this and am curious how this happened.
The bark was noticeably peely than before.
Birches start shedding their bark around May. It is almost shedding season, given that the increased amount of shedded bark is occurring at the end of April. Birches shed their bark similar to prevent insect infestation, prevent water loss, and simply because new skin/layers of bark are growing in.
I feel connected to my spot. I have empathy and respect for it. I know that I am sharing the land with organisms other than the human species and that humans are not the only ones on Earth. Humans would not be able to exist by themselves. I think the evolution between trees and humans is also really interesting and that these two entities are connected, given that, for example, yellow birches shed their bark similar to how humans shed their skin. We all are also reliant on carbon dioxide and oxygen, so it is important for humans to be conscious and protective of the air quality, given that they have the most influence on it. We are also reliant on water and need it for growth!
It was a lot warmer than my last tree visit! The baby branches looked firmer, longer by about two inches, and had more fuzz. I looked up how long it takes for a yellow birch branch to grow – according to arborday.org, which is Arbor Day Foundation’s website, yellow birches grow at a medium to fast rate (13″ – more than 24″ inches per year), so the fact that the branch’s growth was visible makes sense. The number of stems increased. The fact that I am noticing more now may demonstrate the growth of the branch.
The amount of moss growing on the tree also increased as well. There was noticeably more moss growing. This growth took place at the bottom of the tree. According to PictureThis, the moss is called Schreber’s big red-stem moss and it is a species of Pleurozium.
The bark was flatter and less peely.
I came back to visit the yellow birch! The weather was warmer and there was less snow on the ground. The bark looked more peely than it did at the beginning of the month. The buds were longer and the green hues were more noticable.
I went to Centennial Woods and found a yellow birch!! My siting of the yellow birch took place after the poison ivy sign and before the first wooden bridge. The sun was out and the lighting was nice, so I took a picture of the surrounding eastern white pines that the yellow birch is by. The small trees surrounding the larger ones were buckthorns and black cherries.
I found a few paper birches on my exploration for trees. They sometimes are mistaken for paper birches. Featured below is a comparison list of paper birches vs. yellow birches
Paper birch:
Yellow birch:
I went to Richard B. Russell State Park in Elberton, Georgia over spring break. The park is located on the Savannah River and the Georgia/South Carolina border. The river bank was made of orange clay and had a gummy consistency. I researched why the clay was orange and it is because of iron oxidation. There is iron in the clay – it has been exposed to high levels of oxygen because the depth of the river is steadily decreasing. Clay is being exposed to the atmosphere, which contains oxygen. A local in the area told me the depth of the river is decreasing because of the Richard B. Russell Dam.
The river bank at the park in Georgia is different than the one that I usually attend on the Lamoile River in Milton. The river bank in Milton is brown and rocky. Water is covering up the land more so than what I saw in Georgia.
I went to the stream near the entrance of Centennial Woods. I observed American crows flying toward the University. This is a new area of Centennial Woods than the one I visited in my last post.
https://drive.google.com/drive/u/0/folders/1say-24h9X_jTvK4AI4JmFUgRzn9b43oy (this is a link to audio recordings of the American crows)
I did not use the iNaturalist app. Other than a husky (the dog breed), American crows were the only wildlife present in the area that I could identify. I did not initially know what species of bird I saw. To identify them, I went back to my dorm, researched birds in the Burlington area, and listened to various sounds. American crows sounded the most similar to my audio recordings. The birds were also black and American crows in my research were black, so I figured, based on these observations, that this was the bird. I did not identify or elaborate on the husky because it is a domestic animal and its owner was close to it.
Something I think is interesting is that they were flying toward the school while airplanes were taking off. They could have been doing this because the sound of the airplane was too loud and the fact that airplanes look like giant futuristic birds, so they could have been scared.
Crows are symbols of wisdom, adaptability, transformation, and death in Western cultures. I have started a new hobby, which is being part of the crew team/club on campus. I have never done this before and am having mixed feelings about it. I think seeing crows means that the universe is aware of my new interest and may be looking out for me for things to go well with it.
I chose a new spot to explore Centennial Woods….
…access to spot:
There is a giant hill in close proximity to the stream and beaver sign that is by a wooden bridge. Do not go up the hill and do not follow the main trail. Instead, walk left. You should be heading in a downward direction. Keep walking left and you will reach the top of a hill where you will find skunk tracks in the snow.
I am really happy we did not run into a skunk because it probably would have sprayed us with it’s stink…it’s stink is called sulfuric spray. Here are some fun facts about skunks:
All deciduous trees have lost their leaves. Eastern hemlocks are the persistent vegetation species since they are dominating the area. Their needles are easily visible and intact on the trees. Cars driving by the main road that is close to Centennial Woods is the only sound I could hear.
The leaf litter on the ground is brown and crinkled. Some needles have fallen, which are also brown. Leaves and needles are brown because they lost chlorophyll, which gives them their color and keeps them in place on the trees. The leaf and needle litter are adding acidity to the top layer of soil since they are organic matter. Organic matter lowers soil pH because hydrogen ions that are involved in topsoil and leaf litter are released. Frost is on the ground, which occurs when water vapor cools past the dew point. Frost may also be increasing the acidity of the soil since hydrogen ions are being extracted. There are no traces of animals being present, such as scat or nests, however, there are signs of decomposition: fungi.
Agaricus fungi are growing on a fallen, decomposing eastern hemlock. Agaricus fungi are a type of mushroom. They are in their early stage of development in the mushroom life cycle. The caps of the fungi are sagging and closing up, which implies that they do not have sufficient nutrients to be fully developed. The lack of nutrients could be a result of temperatures dropping in the ecosystem as the winter season progresses.
The Schizophyllaceae fungi growing on the eastern hemlock has lost its vibrancy and yellow hue that was present in October; it is now pale and white. What is interesting is that this tree is not dead, because it is still standing, however, there is still fungus growing on it. The presence of the fungi implies that the wood in the cleft of the tree is rotting. Schizophyllaceae grow by absorbing the moisture that could not easily dry out since this type of fungi thrives in these conditions.
I enjoy observing the different types of fungi and how they adapt to the ecosystem of Centennial Woods. I think it is exciting to observe the components that go into forest regeneration. Observing the change in the foliage from deciduous trees, such as sugar maples and black cherries, and being aware of how many eastern hemlocks make up the spot was also enjoyable because now I have an understanding of the ecosystem.
Matapeake Beach is a five-minute bike ride from my house. The body of water is the Chesapeake Bay. The picture shows a tide that is lower than usual, given that the bay is not covering the darker-colored wet sand, the small smooth rocks, or the wet dark pieces of driftwood. The moon was in its waxing crescent phase when I took this picture – the new moon passed two days after I took this picture. Spring tides, water waves that are lower or higher than usual, happen after new moons. The moon is close enough to Earth to control the waves of bodies of water with its gravitational pull.
The sun was setting when I took this picture, which was around 4:30 pm. This explains the pastel pink and purple hues in the sky as well as the auburn color of the trees. The sky has pink and purple colors because water droplets, atmospheric gases, dust particles, aerosols, and smog that are suspended in the air are causing sunlight to be scattered in a certain pattern. This explanation about particles in the air causing objects to change color can also be used to understand why the trees have an auburn hue.
Pink and purple sunsets are caused specifically by smog and aerosols. Smog is produced when sunlight reacts with volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and nitrogen oxides. VOCs and nitrogen oxides are emitted from fuel combustion. Fuel combustion is necessary for a majority of automobiles to function. Automobiles powered by diesel fuel, such as large trucks, produce more VOCs and nitrogen oxides. The fact that this color pattern is happening above the bridge makes sense because automobiles are driven over bridges for transportation purposes. Automobile transportation contributes to the strong presence of smog that is being depicted.
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I find Matapeake Beach to be a sentimental space because it is a unique natural area in my hometown where I can relax. In the midst of an area that has heavy traffic, Matapeake Beach is a peaceful setting, specifically in the fall, winter, and spring when tourists are not in the area. I go here to gather with my friends and have picnics. I also go here when I need to be grounded and take a break from pressure from my family, friends, and academics. I observe the water, sky, trees, and cars moving on the bridge to feel this way. I also take a walk and touch the rocks and wood on the beach, which I find comforting.
There is not a body of water at my spot in Centennial Woods. Instead, the area is surrounded by eastern hemlocks, red maples, white ashes, and American beeches. Change in foliage is obvious. The ground in this spot consists of organic matter, such as leaves, moss, and decomposed trunks, as opposed to sand, which is inorganic since it is made up of quartz. Smog visibility is not as obvious since trees are covering the sky.
My spot in Centennial Woods is similar to my spot at Matapeake Beach because they both are in close proximity to an urban area. Burlington is located in the most populous city in Vermont. Matapeake Beach is part of the Baltimore-Washington metropolitan area. Both these regions consist of carbon emissions from transportation, which contributes to the presence of smog. Populations in both areas have to deal with an increased amount of respiratory and cardiovascular diseases.