{"id":37,"date":"2020-01-29T17:25:44","date_gmt":"2020-01-29T22:25:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/eschoque\/?p=37"},"modified":"2020-01-29T17:25:44","modified_gmt":"2020-01-29T22:25:44","slug":"january-phenology-blog-endurance","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/eschoque\/2020\/01\/29\/january-phenology-blog-endurance\/","title":{"rendered":"January Phenology Blog – Endurance"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

During my\u00a0latest\u00a0visit to the\u00a0Projection, I was unable to identify any tracks in the immediate area; it was the second day of warmer weather (around 32\u00b0F)\u00a0and it had been four days since it last snowed. There were a lot of divots and dimples in the snow that may have been warm and melted tracks but to me they look more like snow that had fallen from the trees above. When I arrived at the\u00a0Projection\u00a0I heard the \u201cchicka-dee-dee” call of what were most likely black-capped chickadees as well as the cawing of crows. However, soon after my arrival these sounds stopped. I wonder if they fled because of my presence or if the time of day I visited (16:08-16:42) was when the birds began to settle in for the night. Even though it seemed like I was alone, I was accompanied by the many snow\u00a0fleas\u00a0(fig. 1, Hypogastrura\u00a0nivicolor<\/em>)\u00a0in the snow around me (Holland, 2010)!\u00a0 <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Figure 1. Photo of snow fleas (Hypogastrura nivicolor<\/em>) in the snow, <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

At my site,\u00a0almost no leaves were left on any of the deciduous trees; the\u00a0reddish-brown crinkled\u00a0ones I did see may have been caught between branches if they weren\u2019t truly attached.\u00a0Moss still clings to many of the coniferous trees in the area and I saw lichens on both deciduous and coniferous trees.\u00a0I photographed two deciduous twigs from the\u00a0beings\u00a0around me. The first (fig. 2) I was able to identify as a barberry; I recalled\u00a0it was\u00a0barberry from\u00a0when\u00a0it still bore its characteristically tear drop-shaped leaves. Further research allowed me to verify that this plant\u00a0is a Japanese barberry (Berberis\u00a0thunbergii<\/em>) because it bore smooth-margined leaves\u00a0a few months ago\u00a0and\u00a0the twig has\u00a0three\u00a0tines\u00a0(you can see one long one and two shorter ones in figure 2) (\u201cBarberry,\u201d\u00a0n.d.;\u00a0\u201cJapanese barberry,\u201d\u00a0n.d.).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Figure 2. Japanese barberry (Berberis\u00a0thunbergii<\/em>) – notice the three tines projecting from around each of the buds. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

I also photographed the\u00a0reddish-grey\u00a0twig of a deciduous tree with reddish buds\u00a0and opposite branching (fig. 3).\u00a0With the help of a few online sources I was able to narrow it down to a species of maple; further research led me to the conclusion that the twig belongs to a Norway maple (Acer platanoides<\/em>) (Fitzgerald, 2010; \u201cboxelder,\u201d n.d.). This made sense\u00a0because I recall seeing black-spotted maple leaves during earlier visits to the projection.\u00a0\u00a0 <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Figure 3. The twig of the Norway maple (Acer platanoides). <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Figure 4. A labeled sketch of a Norway maple twig. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

In the canopy I could see little cones hanging from a conifer nearby; an analysis of the short, flat needles the\u00a0branches held led me to believe that this tree is an Eastern hemlock (fig. 5,\u00a0Tsuga canadensis<\/em>)\u00a0(\u201ceastern hemlock,\u201d\u00a0n.d.). However,\u00a0I wasn\u2019t completely confident in my identification, so I consulted an online dichotomous key and some other sources which helped me\u00a0confirm my suspicion (\u201cWhat Tree Is That?,\u201d n.d.).\u00a0\u00a0 <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Figure 5. A twig and the trunk of an eastern hemlock (Tsuga canadensis). <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Also noteworthy were the green ferns still poking out of the snow (fig. 6)! I also saw\u00a0many of the same bead fronds\u00a0I had encountered in this area before\u00a0(fig. 7). In addition, there was a plant close to the fertile frond which I could not identify\u00a0(fig. 8). I initially supposed it\u00a0was a bead frond without its beads or a winter wildflower.\u00a0In the field, if seemed like most of the remaining herbaceous plants were short ones as compared to the tall Joe-Pye weeds I\u00a0remembered seeing during previous visits. However, this observation relies completely on my memory, for I didn\u2019t take any measurements of the grasses in that area.\u00a0\u00a0 <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Figure 6. A fern still green in mid-winter. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Figure 7. The unknown plant (left) and a bead frond (right) poking up through the snow. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Figure 8. A close-up of the unknown plant. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Figure 9. A photo of my field notes. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

References <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Barberry. (n.d.). Retrieved from https:\/\/vtfishandwildlife.com\/learn-more\/landowner-resources\/liep-invasive-species-program\/terrestrial-invasive-plants\/barberry<\/a> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

boxelder. (n.d.). Retrieved from https:\/\/dendro.cnre.vt.edu\/dendrology\/lab1.cfm?t1=2<\/a> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

eastern hemlock. (n.d.). Retrieved from http:\/\/dendro.cnre.vt.edu\/dendrology\/syllabus\/factsheet.cfm?ID=116<\/a> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fitzgerald, H. (2019, October 19). A Guide for Identifying Trees During Stick Season. Kids VT.<\/em> Retrieved from https:\/\/www.kidsvt.com\/<\/a> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Holland, M. (2010). Naturally curious: <\/em>A ph<\/em>o<\/em>tographic field guide and month-by-month journey through the fields, woods, and marshes of New England. <\/em>North Pomfret, VT: Trafalgar Square Books.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Japanese barberry. (n.d.). Retrieved from http:\/\/dendro.cnre.vt.edu\/dendrology\/syllabus\/factsheet.cfm?ID=374<\/a> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The many faces of a twig. (n.d.). Retrieved from https:\/\/phyllotaxy.com\/natural-history\/trees\/twigs-buds\/ <\/p>\n\n\n\n

What Tree Is That? (n.d.). Retrieved from https:\/\/www.arborday.org\/trees\/whattree\/<\/a> <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

During my\u00a0latest\u00a0visit to the\u00a0Projection, I was unable to identify any tracks in the immediate area; it was the second day of warmer weather (around 32\u00b0F)\u00a0and it had been four days since it last snowed. There were a lot of divots and dimples in the snow that may have been warm and melted tracks but to … <\/p>\n

Continue reading “January Phenology Blog – Endurance”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5835,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-37","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/eschoque\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/eschoque\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/eschoque\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/eschoque\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5835"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/eschoque\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=37"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/eschoque\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":47,"href":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/eschoque\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37\/revisions\/47"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/eschoque\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=37"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/eschoque\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=37"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/eschoque\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=37"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}