Sit Spot experience – While sitting in my spot I noticed many things. There is always a bird in the water where the beachy area turns rocky, the first time I visited Salmon Hole, it was a stork. This time there were ducks floating in the same spot. Next, the water by the shoreline is pretty foamy, which I think comes from the dead and decaying aquatic plants in the area. I also noticed that the area is pretty loud because it is near the road from Winooski to Burlington, which is fairly busy. This made me wonder what impacts the urbanization of the area has had on the natural ecosystems of Salmon Hole, as well as if there are effects on the ecosystem simply from the noise. Finally, I noticed a lot of drink cans and cigarettes and litter in general, which was sad. I made plans to start bringing a trash bag with me on future visits.
Changes in the appearance of the vegetation – The most obvious change is that now most of the trees have lost their leaves, and the ground is covered in a thick layer of organic matter (mostly leaves). The grasses are much browner, and the majority of the flowers that were in relatively full bloom on my last visit had died. The goldenrod has changed from have small yellow flowers to dry and fluffy as it prepares to seed.
