“It’s Called Swinter”

With the weather being as wacky as it has been recently, I was very excited to go out and see my phenology site today, and to add to my excitement, I woke up to a lovely blanket of snow this morning! While it was a little chilly, the temperature was pretty mild with light flurries coming down as I made my way to Centennial Woods. My area looked very similar to how I left it off on my last visit, with a few exceptions. Scattered among the mud and snowy areas were green clover patches, ferns, and other green-y under growth plants that were not visible just weeks ago! I gather that they were making their appearance due to our abnormally warm weather this season, but none the less, they did not seem to be holding up so well out in the brisk cold and snow this afternoon.

Trees were looking about the same, with no signs of budding, and green showing only from our conifer friends. I did, however, happen upon another pleasant surprise. A set of tracks running across the trail caught my eye, pretty clearly marked because of the new snowfall. I followed as far as I could before I lost them, and included a few pictures in this post (below). From what I could tell, they were cottontail prints, which might explain the dog prints that accompanied them for some ways.

Through some observation and reference to Wetland, Woodland, Wildland, I determined my site to be an Upland Natural Community, specifically and Oak-Pine-Northern Hardwood Forest Formation. I made this identification based on the climate of the Champlain Valley, the variety of trees and other plant growth in the area, and the soil type, which all matched up with the description given in the book.

Following this, I looked up my area on the Vermont Biofinder. I found that almost the entire area was a highest priority surface water and riparian zone, which makes sense due to its close location to the city. I also found areas of representative physical landscapes, interior forest blocks, rare species and natural communities. This place has a lot going on for being so close to such an urban area!

Enjoy the pictures posted below and have a great spring break!