Good Afternoon from Salmon Hole!
Almost all the leaves have disappeared from the trees surrounding my phenology spot. The windstorms this past week have done a fantastic job of knocking them all off. The leaves now coat the ground in a very thick layer of organic matter that makes the most perfect rustling sound when you walk through them.
<—- Spooky Skeletal Trees!!
I created an Event Map this week to record the senses and distinguishable landscape features that stand out on the journey to my phenology spot.
Here is a picture of my map!
With all the leaves gone from the trees, I was very clearly able to see signs of beaver activity and how they interacted with the landscape.
Below is a gallery of photos for some the signs of beaver activity I spotted.
Also with the lack of leaves, there was a severe lack of color in this area. That made it particularly easy to spot the colorful fungi that grew on the trees.
Here are a couple of examples of some fun-guys I met while in the woods:
I also ended up picking up at least three different drink containers and two different kinds of chip bags while in the woods, because the lack of foilage made the litter particularly prominant. I ran out of hand space, but there was a lot of trash that I was not able to get to. They really should put a trash reciptical in the parking lot of Salmon Hole.
Here are some of the bigger items I could not quite carry on my way out:
To recap: beavers=cool, fungi=cool, trash=NOT COOL!!
Have a lovely day! 🙂