Hey everyone! I returned to my phenology spot today to see what it looked like after some snowfall. Burlington got a few inches overnight, so Centennial woods was somewhat of a winter wonderland. My spot had about 3 inches of fresh snow, a little less than some areas. My guess is that the moist bog melted some of the snow, and it didn’t pile up on itself as it did in dryer areas.
In terms of phenological changes, it was clear we are now fully in the thralls of winter. The Norway Maple that had held its leaves so far into December is finally bare, and the small green shrubbery mentioned in the last post is leafless as well. Yet, the area refuses to let go of all greenery. Scraping off the snow from on top of fallen logs revealed green moss still clinging on, and occasionally a fern poked through the snow on the floor.
I looked for tracks or other signs of wildlife, yet found nothing. However, there were some other mammals there… people, in fact! They were just boolin’ near the bog like Shrek.
That’s all for today folks, I’ll update again in some amount of time.