Phenology Blog

For my third phenology post, I took a hike in the woods behind Trinity Campus in search of a good tree bud specimen. I found a few good looking beech trees that had reachable buds. They are just off of the path that leads from Trinity Campus into the woods on the northern edge of the campus.

I’ve identified this specimen as an American beech and not a young maple due to its longer, sharply pointed buds, which are cylindrical and reddish brown in color. Maples tend to have rounder, squatter buds. Maples also have buds in pairs along a twig while American beech has alternating buds like the specimen I found behind Trinity. The buds are a reddish-brown color, which matches the description of an American beech bud.

It was a gorgeous day today and I’m glad I had another chance to get outside and enjoy the natural beauty found right outside of campus all around us.

In participation with the challenge set to the NR 2 students, I went out into the woods with a few friends in an attempt to observe any and all signs of wildlife. Some of my friends were lucky enough to snap a few pictures of a grey squirrel, or some tracks in the mud (there was no snow at the time of our little adventure). I managed to find some scat from what I originally thought was a black bear.

I originally posted the scat to iNaturalist as black bear feces but after some more careful observation and some cross examination by other naturalists on the platform I’ve determined that it is indeed dog poop. Ah well. Bear scat doesn’t have the same shape or texture as this scat that I found.