May has come and with it comes warmer weather, intense stress, and too many things to do. However, joy is found in May as many migratory bird species return and the trees begin to flower and leaf bringing color and song back to the woods. I frequently return to my phenology spot now. It is one of the only places to escape the monotony of the school week, relax, and feel a sense of peace. I return often to my spot for these reasons, but I also return to build relationships with some amazing creatures who often reside right next to me. I have seen the return of Barry the barred owl, and a pair of coopers hawks have picked a nest sight directly behind my spot.
I repeatedly go back to this nest sight to try and build a relationship with these birds. Although the relationship might not mean much to them it means excitement, discovery, and wonder for me that I am unable to find anywhere else. I have probably spent to many hours with these birds. I have had dinner with them and watched as they ate their poor unsuspecting songbird while I ate my granola bar. I got to watch some sort of mating ritual. I have even been able to witness them building their home. I feel as though they have let me into their lives as an observer. Ideally though, I would become their nanny and look after the eggs and chicks while they are off hunting, but I do not think we are that close yet.
My biggest regret is that I will not be able to stay here longer and watch as fledglings develop and leave their nests. Oh how I wish I had a game camera to be able to capture the moments when they hatched and be able to observe the caring behavior of the adult coopers hawks. Alas, these experiences and revelations bus wait until I have more time here and more resources at my disposal.
Nature and culture intertwine at the edge of my spot. There are trails behind me and a baseball field over the ridge and these activities influence my spot in different ways. The field is fertilized and can have nutrient rich runoff into centennial brook that could mess up the makeup of the stream. The trail behind me mean that the spot is not truly wild, nor will it be very good interior undisturbed forest habitat. My spot still provides habitat for plenty of species and retains most of its ecosystem services all the same though. Behind my spot is where nature and culture intertwine. Centennial woods is where people go to connect with nature in the urban environment of Burlington.
I come to my spot to connect with nature as well. I do feel as though I have become a part of my spot or at least I hope I have. I hope the trees, flowers, birds, and land remembers me. I know the land will always remember me. There is an imprint in the dirt where I sit to birdwatch and watch the sun go down, there are paths I have trodden countless numbers of times to check on trees or track animals. The land will remember me. I hope that it will remember me well.
we would like to say thank you for this beautiful blog post. As someone dealing with cre loans data I find it very important.