When I visited my phenology spot in Centennial Woods, I noticed that a lot had changed since December. The trees were covered in snow and the woods seemed like an entirely new place! It was so different; I got a little lost trying to find my spot that I had been to so many times before.
The phenological changes I observed mostly had to do with the trees. There were a lot of trees that had fallen down onto the trail and in most of the areas I walked by. I am guessing that this had a lot to do with the winter storms in Vermont. When I visited my spot in December, some trees were clinging to their leaves. Now, I didn’t see a single tree with any of its leaves. Also, I noticed that one of the trees in my spot still had berries on it! This surprised me because I thought that things like that would be gone by midwinter.
I noticed as I arrived at my spot that there was not a lot of signs of animals. I saw no tracks and the fact that the berries had not been eaten said to me that there was not a lot of animals interacting with my phenology spot. I assumed I would have seen a lot of signs of wildlife because the brook is a good source of water, but I saw nothing. The animals living in this area must be hibernating or at least dormant.
