Centennial Brook Phenology Project

Part One: Survival of the Fittest

I participated in the City Nature Challenge in the Greater Burlington Area. I spent upwards of five hours walking around campus and Centennial woods taking pictures of whatever organisms I could get my hands on. I ended my adventures with 199 observations covering 107 distinct species. I had used iNaturalist in the past, but not as much as I had throughout the Bioblitz. I think I am almost at the pro iNaturalist level and will advertise it to my friends and family around my hometown. It was really interesting to see just how diverse the species are, even just on campus. I encountered so many plants to the point where I started being able to identify them towards the end of my journey without the use of iNaturalist. I find it interesting just how many species other cities around the globe have. It was interesting to see Dallas/Fort Worth in the top ten for species and observations.

I ended up coming in first in my lab section, and second in all of NR002 and Greater Burlington in general. I was so grateful to be able to participate and learned so much through it all. I will treasure my Rubenstein Mug trophy forever.

Part Two: One Last Goodbye

Although I had taken a small period time off from going to my phenology spot to take better care of myself and sort things out with transferring colleges, I still have seen so many changes. Everywhere I look are a variety of fiddlehead ferns sprouting and getting ready to unfurl. The brook that the big rock is on the edge of is at one of the lowest water levels I have seen. There aren’t nearly as many decomposing leaves on the ground as there was when I first visited. I have watched the moss on the opposite side of the rock dry out and gain moisture again. I have seen the pile of bones there every time like clockwork. Update on the bones, someone from iNaturalist thinks they are deer bones! Now I was able to not just see a pile of bones but start thinking about where they came from. I have spent many hours exploring my phenology spot and listening to the sounds of the brook and the birds. I’ve noticed the unwavering reminders of human life from the medical helicopter flying overhead, sirens from the hospital, the busses going by, traffic, and the military jets. Centennial is a cross section between humans and the environment. I’ve passed people running with their dogs or walking with their children through the trails. I spoke to a man who is restoring an area for the ducks which seems to be flooded. I’ve brought people I love into the forest to show them the place where I have spent a lot of my time.

So, yes, I think ironically now, as I am leaving both for the summer and for a different college, I am a part of my little spot. I have a connection to this area that has been building all school year. I leave in a bittersweet tone and will hold this area near and dear to me. I hope to come back one day and revisit it once again. It will be like visiting an old friend. I am appreciative of my spot for taking care of me during some hard times. I hope my spot is grateful that someone came by to simply sit and admire it’s beauty.

Goodbye big rock next to Centennial Brook. I’ll be back soon.

🙂

I had quite an adventure as I walked to my phenology spot today. I was met with frozen, muddy, and slippery ground that slowed down my pace. As I walked in further, I noticed a lot of down trees which were probably caused by the massive amount of wind we had this morning and throughout the rest of today. But what I was amazed to see was an owl swoop down in front of me. I had just taken a picture of down tree when as I was putting my phone in my pocket, a barred/screech owl appeared. I’m not too up to date with my owl identification but based on my memory of the markings, naturally curious, and the internet it is most likely barred or screech.

In regard to the woody plants, the pines were holding up well growing in their needles. Some red oaks were barley holding on to their last few leaves. The trees all swayed, cracked, and bent in the wind. There were lots of branches scattered around the forest floor as well as downed trees. One tree in particular had some squiggles in the bark which I thought looked interesting. Another looked like it may have had some bark rubbed off, but I am unsure if this was cause by an animal or just on how the bark has fallen. The understory vegetation was made up of low forest floor plants like wood ferns that all seemed to congregate in big clumps together.

The snow had unfortunately almost all the way melted by now, so I was unable to see any animal tracks. I did check in on the piles of bones which were still there in the muddy tree area. There were birds flying around, some crows and smaller birds that I heard through the wind and rustling of the trees. On the way out I did spot a considerably large squirrel who had a fat winter body.

Although I am excited to go back home, I will be thinking about my phenology spot and the changes that will happen when I am gone. I am excited to come back and see how centennial has transformed. But for now, I say goodbye to this place.

Lily, J, and I went on a little adventure to show each other our beloved phenology spots. We started off at Lily’s spot behind the back five of trinity because of how close it was to our dorm. When we got there I had spotted some fruit growing that looked and felt exactly like little baby grapes. I wanted to try one so very bad, but I didn’t because I did not want to get sick. After examining the grapes we heard some rustling and saw a little chipmunk by the dumpster to our right. He was very cute. Once our excitement died down we went in Lily’s area and explored a bit. There were a bunch of paper birch and red maples behind the fenced area of the back five. As we were making our way out to get breakfast we caught a really cool view of South Burlington over the chain link fence in the parking lot.

We went to breakfast at Central where I got my classic all potatoes plate for breakfast. One of the staple UVM Dining food groups has gotten to be potatoes, along with waffles of course. After our meal we made our trek to Centennial Forest to see my phenology spot. When we got there it was super muddy and slippery. This is probably from all the rain we had gotten this weekend. There were also a lot more leaves on the ground since the last time I had been there. At the teepee area that I have been watching on my left as I go into my spot there were two pumpkins that have been there since around Halloween. They were surprisingly still in one piece and were holding up well. We carefully walked down the mini hill to my spot where my favorite big rock was. And as always I checked to see if the bones I had found during my first visit were still there and they were! After the bone check I walked in the stream a bit to turn over the rocks and look for worms. No worms this time, I think it’s starting to get a bit cold for them or that they have traveled further down stream. We made our way out of the forest and onto a bus to J’s spot.

When we arrived we went over a wood-pallet-like rickety bridge to get deeper into the natural area of J’s spot. We went past this really jank looking tree that’s trunk was really bent as we made our way down the hill. After that we saw a bunch of those fluffy flowers that I love so much. I often see the seeds of them flying around campus in puffballs. I think they are called asters. Then I got really excited because we saw slugs!! So many of them too. There was a dark one on a big log and some olive greenish ones in the grass. As we made our way through I noticed that there were a bunch of large rotten and decaying trees in this area. One big tree was dead right by where the river had a little stream coming off of it. It was cool to see another body of water that wasn’t Centennial Brook or Lake Champlain. Not they they are bad, but it’s good to get more varied experience. After seeing J’s spot we made our way home to study for our upcoming midterms this week.

My experiences with the five senses.

Sound: Loud centennial brook is chugging along behind me. It drowns out most other sounds in the forest. Although, you can hear the occasional bird tweeting or cawing somewhere a bit distant from my spot. As you get used to the brook sound you begin to hear the quieter, more nuanced, sounds come forward. There’s some rumbling from distant cars on the road and quieter chickadee birds communicating with each other.

Sight: There’s a lot to see here. There’s the brook flowing around and over the rocks accompanied by some falling leaves drifting through the air. It’s fairly lit, with some bolder areas of sunlight peaking through the trees. The leaves have changed from being mostly green to yellow and oranges. There are brown leaves all over the ground in a thick layer that I know is just beginning to form. Many trees have fallen since I was last there. Everything is in a transitional stage between life and death.

Smell: As you breathe in you get a small hint of earth and soil. It’s not strong, and it’s fairly cold, but it feels grounding.

Taste: Well, there isn’t much for me to taste here. I’m not about to go try a mushroom that I can barely identify haha. But I did have a little peanut butter cup snack with me. So that is my taste for this experience.

Touch: On the walk in I noticed how much mud I was stepping in, but apparently I wasn’t paying attention enough because I had almost slipped and fell multiple times. The big rock I am sitting on is pretty cold. It’s getting to be a bit chilly here. The pine needles on the rock are dry unlike the decaying leaves and mud on the forest floor. The brook is wet and cold and the rocks in it are partially smooth. The moss is soft as always.

Changes, Changes!

So much has changed since I have gone to this spot. There are dead leaves beginning to cover the floor. The understory tree species like Norway maple have grown a bit. The vegetation has gotten better cover on the forest floor. The small speculated dewdrop plant I spotted the first time went from having leaves that were the size of my thumbnail to leaves the size of my palm. The leaves are changing to a yellow and orange color as they go through their well-known chlorophyll process. More trees are down since the last time I was there. They have begun to form a dome like shape covering trees that have fallen directly onto the forest floor in a highly muddy area. This area is the same one where I saw the bones actually, some were still there too.