A UVM blog NR001 Phenology Blog- Motes 2022

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November 7th- Place Reflections

By hmotes

This week, I embarked on my regular journey to my spot, and — under instruction of the almighty BlackBoard Assignment Page — sat quietly in the middle of my space and use my senses to really engage with the space. I found this experience particularly valuable in my understanding of the space. Some observations of mine concerning the objective of the assignment are as follows:

  • Given the forested nature of my spot, as well as the presence of Beech trees, there was a near-constant rustling of leaves that would occur with any gust of wind.
  • Additionally, the wind was very faint, despite coming from a short distance away, the cover of the foliage diluted the harsh sound of the wind to a relatively reasonable degree.
  • The ground was super crunchy with the presence of fallen leaves and other organic material, and it was almost impossible to make no noise when I moved.
  • In a similar vein, I was able to see leaves falling off of trees in droves, which was quite the amazing sight.
  • It was a rather warm day when I visited, so the light was doing an amazing job of highlighting the natural beauty of the fall foliage.
  • The presence of small mammals like squirrels and chipmunks was particularly notable, and it was a joy to see all of the little critters slowly grow more and more accustomed to the giant in the area as I sat there for a longer period of time.

Inserted below is a bird’s eye view map of my spot as taken by me. While it’s definitely no Mona Lisa, I’m personally very inclined to switch to a studio art major after looking at my amazing drawing. Be back with another update soon!

Bird’s Eye View!

Motes Phenology Blog- NR1 2022

By hmotes

October 17, 2022

As someone more drawn towards the interactions between urban and natural environments, I wanted to make sure my chosen spot was intentionally undisturbed, but in close enough proximity to humans that it would exhibit signs of unintentional disturbance over time. As such, I chose the forested area along the edge of the Burlington Country Club. Just slightly off campus past the Redstone Commons, the undisturbed forest area serves as a buffer between the golf course and much less aesthetic real world. The forest is totally fenced in on the side that faces the street, so I usually enter from the edge of the forest before heading about 300 steps into the forested area, getting me to the location pinned on the google map.

This area is (very) heavily wooded, with the two attached photos demonstrating the view 180 degrees around the pinned location. The area consists mostly of smaller sugar and striped maples, with a few young white oaks found among the lower layers of the forestry. While not a tree, there is a huge presence of buckthorn about 10 meters away from the pinned location that I assume is a recurring presence throughout the rest of the site.

Along the floor of the area, the soil is immensely soft, a quality supplemented by the presence of natural leaf and tree decay that seems to have been left untouched for a few years. Along the ground, an abundance of small woods shrubbery is around. There wen’t any noticeable fruit-bearing plants, but this isn’t really berry season, so this is to be expected. Nevertheless, there did seem to be a wide variety of plants throughout the area, from frailer bushes to more deeply rooted shrubs, there exists a variety in my site that, combined with daily water runoff from the golf course’s watering patterns, might only become more ample over time.

Regardless of assignments, I plan to update this little blog about once a week, so be sure to check in around October 24 for more fun little tidbits, I’m excited!

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