Ethan Hobbs Phenology Blog

A unique culture surrounds Centennial Woods. The history is somewhat apparent in the scattered barbed wire and stone markers, but more significantly it really feels like a city park. The constant sound of development, roads, helicopters and planes nearby remind you that you were never far from the city, which gives it a very close feel to UVM. I’ve done a lot of birding in this location, especially this spring, which tying it closely to UVM culture, at least in my mind. At this point Centennial Woods will always be associated with UVM to me and that is the culture that I feel here.

Maybe its just that I go here all the time, but I very much do feel a part of Centennial Woods. Its trails , wildlife and sounds are familiar to me, and I frequently interact with it by observing nature and walking though its woods. Although I may not be a direct part of the ecosystem, it has developed a sense of place to me and I have interacted directly with it.

Being as I live in Burlington, I will probably be coming back to Centennial Woods a lot more. I look foreword to doing so and gaining an even better understanding of its phenology and natural interactions.

I had a lot of fun participating in the City Nature Challenge over the weekend. I wasn’t planning on doing as much birding as I did, but when they said it was competitive, I knew I had to give it everything. On Friday I spent my morning at Centennial Woods and on Saturday I recorded some species while volunteering at the Spectacular Nature Celebration in the Intervale. On Sunday I spent the morning at Ethan Allen Homestead, then biked down to the mouth of the Winooski, and on Monday I tried to get just a few more species at Centennial Woods.

There was a bit of a learning curve to using iNaturalist, not to mention it burned through my phone battery, but overall it was a really intuitive app and the identification suggestion really helped with learning a lot of plant species.

The Challenge was filled with great wildlife encounters. I spent a lot of time watching swamp sparrows at Ethan Allen Homestead and was really happy with some of the pictures I got.

Also at Ethan Allen Homestead, there was a pit that they had built for garter snakes to hibernate and I was able to get some great up-close looks as they were emerging from their dormancy.

Here are some other pictures taken during the City Nature Challenge.

I was impressed with how many species some cities were able to identify, but not surprised. Obviously with Cape Town having such great biodiversity, it makes sense they would come in first, but for the cities that have been doing this event for a while, its not hard to get lots of people excited about being involved. I’m sure, after a couple years, Burlington will be right up there with the big guns.

Budding Plants

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One thing that is jarringly apparent is how early spring has come on in Vermont this year. The uncharacteristically warm weather has resulted in the budding of almost every woody plant in my phenology spot mid April. Comparing this to last year, where almost everything was still dormant up to early May, there is certainly a large difference which makes me wonder how much climate change has played into this and how much this could harm creatures which rely on consistent seasonal patterns.

Emerging Fauna

Black-capped chickadees are a year round constant in Centennial Woods, but with spring , they have become more active, even starting to build their nests.

Tufted titmice and American robins were also there.

Species Interaction Diagram

Bird Activity:

• Robins are active, feeding just about everywhere
• Large flock of ducks far out onto the lake, about a mile away, seem to be mostly common goldeneyes and buffleheads
• Some individuals close to the shore
• Pair of peregrine falcons spotted on the steeple on the church at the top of church street

Conditions:

• Cold, not much snow left, but very icy.
• Squirrel tracks could be found where there were trees and snow

Plants:

• Most plants still dormant
• Some street trees have developed buds

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While almost all plants had died or gone into dormancy when I was last at my spot in November, a solid foot or so of snow now covers most of the ground. Centennial Brook is almost completely frozen over and the woods are much more quiet then before. Most of the squirrels are dormant with just a few red and grey squirrels squeaking in the distance and the vast majority of birds I had heard that day were chickadees. However, there were signs that the forest was still very much alive.

Whitewash is a term for streaks of owl droppings on the sides of trees. They usually mean that an owl has recently been in that tree and if a lot of whitewash is found on or around a tree, that means it is likely a favorite roosting spot which makes it a useful tool for finding owls.

I also found some tracks and scat in the woods. I knew the tracks were canine, but I couldn’t tell if they were from a coyote or a domestic dog. I looked it up when I got back from my dorm and confirmed that both the tracks and scat are from a coyote passing through.

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I have been lucky in that we went over a detailed description of the land use history of Centennial Woods in NR001, here’s what I have learned.

The land that is now Centennial Woods was used for many different purposes which included farming, housing ROTC (probably) and shows signs that parts of the woods were previously developed. Before all of this though, the Abnaki people lived on this land up until it was settled by farmers in the 19th century.

Old strips of barbed wire provide evidence that the land was used for farming, specifically grazing, most likely by cows at one point, because of the popularity of cattle grazing in Vermont in the mid 1800s. Near the southern end of the woods, there is a large concrete wall built into the side of a hill which provides evidence that the land was also possibly used by UVM’s ROTC because this is thought to be the remains of a bunker that would have housed the members. Cutting through the middle of the woods, there is a large powerline that that leads to Centennial Field which means that this land had to have been clear-cut recently for construction. This property was also used as a dumping site for the UVM Medical Center where they would throw away any waste, including cadavers, which means it is possible to find body parts within the ground.

The land was exploited in this way because, before 1997, Centennial Woods had not been protected by the University. Though portions of the land have been sold and used for the interstate, there is still a large natural area that is protected today.

The phenology spot I chose near home is Derway Island which is on the Winooski River near the delta. This is a sliver maple ostrich fern riparian forest and swamp with the dominant trees being silver maples, green ash, elm, birch and cottonwood.

This location is very different to my previous location in Centennial Woods despite them both being in Burlington. Both provide contrasting habitats, with Centennial Woods being a mature growth forest dominated by white pines and red and sugar maples suited for drier soils. The trees in Derway Island are suited to damp ground with consistent annual flooding due to its proximity to the river. While there are many story levels in Centennial woods, there is very little understory in Derway Island save mostly ferns which could be a result of the regular flooding.

Because of the difference in habitat, there is a contrast in wildlife, with Derway Island hosting birds that prefer dense, swampy areas like wood ducks and northern waterthrush, while Centennial woods is home to birds that prefer mature pine forests like red-breasted nuthatch and black-throated green warbler.

Some interesting observations I made while at Derway island were rusted cars and other metal appliances which makes me think that people used to use this area as a dumping site.

Citations:

Map: Google Maps. (2020). [Derway Island. Burlington, VT] [Satellite]. Retrieved November 9, 2020, from www.google.com/maps

All Photos: Ethan Hobbs. (Photographer). (2020). Retrieved Nov 30, 2020 from my camera

I went out in search of an owl

But all I found were some waterfowl

They were too far away

It was late in the day

So I walked out the woods with a scowl

_{I’m not proud of this.}

I live close to Centennial Woods which gives me opportunities to go birding here often. These birds were photographed in Centennial Woods over the course of 2020.

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Citation:

All Photos: Ethan Hobbs. (Photographer). (2020). Retrieved Nov 1, 2020 from my camera