Wildlife Activity 🐿️
I have been able to visit my phenology spot twice since returning to campus. Once was during an active snowfall and the other was the day after it had rained so I got to see my site in two very different conditions.
As we were walking on the path into my site, I spotted a squirrel running through the snow and up onto a tree. I took a picture of it running up the tree and then the tracks it left behind. Instead of leaving footprints it left full body imprints because the snow was so deep which I thought was really cool. It took three big leaps between one tree and another which left three big holes in the snow.
The squirrel and its tracks were the only wildlife activity I noticed during my first visit on the 16th. When I went back on the 25th, the layer of snow was much thinner and much icier. I ventured more into the trees and found a couple of interesting things. First, I found evidence of a dog and its owner taking a stroll through my site. I really like how the snow leaves behind clues as to who was there before you. Growing up in California, I didn’t get to see snow very often. When I did see it, I wasn’t looking for the secret messages it was leaving behind so I love looking for them now!
Deeper in the trees I found a couple of strange looking holes that were close together. I’m not entirely sure if these are tracks because there is no consistent pattern I was able to observe. However, I don’t know what else could have made them so I thought I would include them here! There is also clear evidence of rain drops in the snow so it is possible that the rain had something to do with the bigger holes.
Last but certainly not least, I found a crazy looking creature emerging from its home in the subnivean zone! It looks eerily similar to my friend Allison 🙂
Phenological Changes ☃️
My favorite thing to do to track phenological changes in my phenology spot is to take the same photo every time I go. Here are the last tree times I visited, side by side!
There weren’t too many changes in the phenological aspects of my site since early December. Any of the remaining straggling leaves from early December are now long gone. The shrubbery has lost all of their leaves now as well. Vegetation wise, there are only bare sticks and the needles from the lovely Eastern white pines still attached to the plants and trees. As for the leaf litter, it is now mostly buried and frozen. It still consists of mainly red oak leaves but they are all very wet and/or frozen. There are some signs of slight decomposition, but not much.