my phenology blog

In what ways do nature and culture intertwine at your place?

Nature and culture intertwine in my place in a some ways. Because my place is a patch of woods behind my backyard leading out towards the highway, it is a place that my family and I spend a lot of time. My dad is an avid hunter, so being so close to a place where we can see deer is really important to him. I spent a lot of time exploring this place throughout my childhood, and I continue to find comfort here.

Do you consider yourself a part of your place?

Yes. I fully consider myself a part of my place. I have spent much of my life near this place after moving to my house in 2009. I have made countless memories in this small patch of woods, and my childhood cats are buried here.

signs of wildlife:

New York got a decent amount of snow in the past week, and I got to explore some of the animal tracks at my phenology site. I think most of these are from squirrels, with a few from maybe raccoons or opossums.

From the beginning of October to now, I have updated this blog with pictures and observations from three different places- Greenmount Cemetery in Burlington, Trinity Campus in Burlington, and my backyard in Long Island, NY. While looking into the land use history of my first two sites, I couldn’t find much, but looking into my own town provided some insight.

Greenmount Cemetery

Greenmount Cemetery is the oldest in Vermont, and is home to Ethan Allan’s grave. There are graves dating back to the 1700s, and the cemetery is no longer in use for new burials. I wasn’t able to find much about the actual land use history, but the Burlington Parks/Recreation/Waterfront website had this map which highlights a tour route, as well as notable trees and monuments at the cemetery.

Trinity Campus

I couldn’t find specific information about the land use history of Trinity Campus, only a brief history of its time as Trinity College, a small Roman Catholic women’s liberal arts college founded and run by the Sisters of Mercy (the Roman Catholic Women Religious Congregation, not the rock band.) It was founded in 1925 and due to financial issues, its academic programs ended in 2001, and was purchased by the University of Vermont in 2002. It is now UVM’s Trinity Campus.

Port Jefferson, NY

Prior to settlement, Port Jefferson was first home to the Setauket/Setalcott tribe, and it was known as Sowasset, meaning “where water opens.” The settlers of the Town of Brookhaven bought a tract of land from the Setalcott tribe in 1655, along with land on the North Shore of the Nissequogue river eastward to Mount Misery point (now known as one of the most haunted roads in the world!) Prior to 1836, settlers called the town “Drowned Meadow” due to the tides “drowning” the land twice a day. From the 17th century to the mid-19th century, Port Jefferson was a rural community with only five homes. In 1836, a causeway was built across a 22 acre saltwater marsh, which was gradually filled in. Shipbuilding became the town’s primary source of income, with four out of every 10 ships built in Suffolk County being built in Port Jefferson.

When I was driving back to Long Island from Vermont, one of the first things I noticed was how many more leaves were left on the trees in New York, compared to the bare trees I saw further north. I am still seeing this, as the colors in my backyard looks more like the view from my dorm window back in late October. Although there aren’t nearly as many wildlife species on Long Island as there are in Vermont, since I have been home, I have already seen deer, opossums, and raccoons. While at my at-home phenology site, I tried to take note of different plants I saw and compare them to the ones I saw at my phenology site in Burlington. One thing I looked into that stood out were the different invasive species. There are some similarities including honeysuckle, barberry, and Amur maple, but on Long Island, common invasive plant species include bamboo, Oriental bittersweet, Japanese wisteria, and California privet. There is no invasive bamboo on my at-home phenology site, but there are large patches all over many parts of my town and others that surround it. I never really noticed the small differences in each state’s ecology or phenology prior to this project.

Invasive Plants of Long Island. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://ccenassau.org/resources/-invasive-plants Cornell University Cooperative Extension Nassau County, Horticulture Center Demonstration & Community Gardens at East Meadow Farm

click HERE for the google maps link to my at home phenology site

There is a thick layer of dead leaves covering the ground now, with more continuing to fall. I’ve noticed that trees are starting to look bare, with less vibrant yellows and reds each week. In terms of wildlife and animal activity, my site is pretty quiet considering it is so close to a main road. Every now and then a fox or raccoon will appear, but trying to photograph them at night is difficult. There is a lot of garbage at my site, scattered around almost like its all part of the landscape. (Photos taken by Emily Schubert)

The trees are continuing to change in color and fall as the weather changes, and there are many Norway spruce with disease evident on their leaves.

It has been difficult to document wildlife on Trinity campus, but I often see squirrels and birds. One morning I was awake early, and saw a couple of raccoons walking along the curb. (Photos and video taken by Emily Schubert, map drawn by Emily Schubert)