I visited my phenology spot around noon today, the weather was 30F and Sunny. One of the biggest differences I noticed since my last visit here in November was the level of the stream. A month ago, the water level was low and most of the rocks on the stream floor were exposed. Today the stream level was much higher, it was babbling, and the entire stream floor was covered with water. My phenology spot doesn’t have much leaf litter, so I didn’t notice much of a difference in the leaf litter decomposition, however, this was also the first time I visited my phenology spot and the ground was frozen.
All the leaves had fallen off the deciduous trees, except for a few dead beach leaves still hanging on. There were also still some red berries on a bush, and the ferns were still green. As for signs of animals, there weren’t any except for some woodpecker holes in a dead tree that have been there since starting this project.