Perhaps the most unique and distinct observation from my October visit was the presence of these red berries with bright yellow shells. These berries were all over my phenology spot, in vines along the ground and up into trees. I later identified this to be Oriental Bittersweet; a highly invasive, non-native woody vine. I did not notice these during my last visit in September, but I doubt all of these Oriental Bittersweet vines suddenly colonized my spot within less than a month. Upon further research, I discovered that Oriental Bittersweet berries ripen in the fall and persist into the winter. It’s likely that the berries had not yet ripened at the time of my last visit, and I missed their flowers in the brush.
The silver maple I identified in September still had most of its leaves intact. However, the leaves changed from bright green to light yellow with brown spots.
While I don’t think the tree in the right picture is the same one as the one pictured on the left, I do believe both trees are the same species (chestnut oak). In September, the leaves were still green and fully intact on the tree. However, come late October, all the leaves had fallen.
I believe this is the same Glossy Buckthorn I observed in September, although I am not certain as it appears less glossy. Regardless, buckthorn is still present at my phenology site, and doesn’t appear to have been altered much by the changing temperature.