Haley's Phenology Blog – Salmon Hole Park, Winooski

After my first full winter in Vermont, it is finally beginning to become summer. While this is exciting as the Salmon Hole is showing many more signs of life now (rushing water, trees beginning to grow leaves again, signs of birds and plants beginning to grow), it is also bittersweet as my first year at UVM is coming to an end. Over the course of this year, I have returned to the Salmon Hole a variety of times, often for different reasons. While I was there, I have seen many different land uses of the Salmon Hole by Vermont residents. I have seen people fishing in the river, walking their dogs along the trail, camping in the summer and observing, as I have done. Seeing these people from different backgrounds with different stories and motives for coming to this place, I see the Salmon Hole as a mixing pot. It is a place in which we each have our own connection and feelings towards it, and this diversity of relationships is what makes the place so unique.

When I generally think of a relationship and the way that a relationship is formed and stays connected is communication and reciprocity. As humans, we are always looking for validation of our connections to others and knowing what our value is to them. However, I cannot experience a relationship with a place in the same way that I experience it with a human. Because the Salmon Hole doesn’t speak, or express pain if I do something wrong, I cannot communicate with it in the same way I would communicate with a person. But I don’t want to assume for it, so I never want to push my boundaries in terms of my land use. This nation was founded on the idea of dominance over nature and controlling the natural world, and I do not want to share those values with the Salmon Hole. Thus, I am not going to make the decision of being a part of it. I do not contribute to the ecosystem, or stand with it during harsh weather. I fear that my relationship with the Salmon Hole is one of me taking and being unable to give anything in return. So I am not going to speak for it in saying that I am a part of this place without its consent. But my experience there throughout this year has given me that knowledge, which I am infinitely grateful for.

I recently took the first trip to the Salmon Hole in the new ‘Spring Season’. Needless to say, there are not many signs of Spring at the Salmon Hole. On the trail down, I noticed that there is no longer any snow or ice but the grass poking out is very much yellowed and matted down from the winter. Moss has began to grow on some of the trees and rocks, but those are the only bright colors I saw in the area aside from plastic and waste. Because it is Spring and the snow has melted, the area is very wet and everything that was under the snow during winter is now coming up. So all the trash that was thrown in the snow travelled to the waterways with snowmelt and there is a large amount of it in and around the river. The water was a murky brown and there was white foam near the shore. It seems as though all the pollution and waste that accumulated during the winter has now surfaced. This is most likely a result of the edge effect in that the Salmon Hole is on the edge of the town of Winooski which includes industry, farming (The Intervale) as well as residents. Because there are so many intersecting communities, there are signs of these communities that are present in the Intervale and these are commonly seen through waste.

I am spending spring break this year in my childhood home of Beijing, China. The city of Beijing is organized in 6 rings, the sixth being the most far from the heart of the city and the first being the center of the city. I am staying within the third ring, which is a part of the city and thus I do not have much access to many natural communities.

Beijing is a very dry climate, which experiences very little precipitation throughout the years. The summer is usually very humid and hot, whereas the winter is dry and cold. Beijing is surrounded by mountains, which traps the air inside like a bowl. With no precipitation and little wind, air quality is a large challenge for Beijing because the air cannot escape. Furthermore, China’s main energy source is coal, which contributes significantly to air pollution.

I did not see many birds while I was in Beijing, probably around 10-15. I was not able to identify them but all of the ones I saw were black and white.

Since the area where I am staying in Beijing is a city climate, there are little naturally occurring trees because the area is covered in concrete. However, there are many street trees planted along the sides of the road and within the several canals that sit under bridges in my area. There are several fruit trees such as the pomegranate and common jujube that are planted along the highway. Trees along the street include Chinese Juniper and Chinese Pine, which are two traditional trees.

https://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?hl=en&mid=1ZwMK0q7nJ9-3iDhgbVcwlCovZQDkXk0U&ll=39.941029986457124%2C116.45061299999998&z=18

After using Biofinder in lab this week, I have used Biofinder to assess the Salmon Hole and used different layers to learn more about the natural communities and species there. The Winooski river is an overall priority in Vermont’s conservation design. The Salmon Hole in particular is fully occupied by rare species. While a majority of these are animal species, there are several plant species as well. There is a small wetland area within the Salmon Hole, though there are Wetlands surrounding it. Furthermore, there is one upland rare natural community but this is along the Winooski River and not within the Salmon Hole. Although there are many rare species, the Salmon Hole is not a priority for wildlife crossings. With this information in mind, I would classify the Salmon Hole as a wetland.

Last month when I went to the Salmon Hole, everything was covered in ice. But today, only a month later, there was little snow and barely an ice in the Salmon Hole. Because of the warmer weather in the past few weeks, all this ice has melted. This caused the water level to be exceptionally high. The area of rocks that are only occasionally covered in water were covered, and there was a relatively fast flow of water to downstream.

I have decided to stick with the Salmon Hole as my phenology spot for this semester, and returned for the first time today to see what changes there were over the New Year and if I could spot any animal tracks. It snowed last night, so there were tons of fresh tracks in the snow from a myriad of animals, including dogs. It was hard to identify some of the tracks because the snow is a few inches deep so it’s hard to see their toe prints. These were a few of the tracks I found:

Here we have an exotic dog print:

I think this is a gray squirrel print but I am not 100 percent sure

More gray squirrel tracks

Unfortunately I couldn’t identify these

Potential deer prints:

Aside from animals, it was hard to identify many trees because a lot of them were frozen over or dead and had no branches and very little buds, however I was able to identify: a willow tree, american beech, red maple and lastly yellow birch trees. Here is are some of the tree twigs I saw:

I have also sketched out the willow tree twig:

The last time I returned to the Salmon Hole was in December, so although there was some snow on the ground then it was almost completely unrecognizable when I went there today. Firstly, I have never actually seen animal tracks at the Salmon Hole. This may have been because I was never really looking for them and assumed that all tracks were dog tracks, but since doing the animal tracking lab I have been more conscious of tracks. Thus, I ended up seeing many different tracks today. Furthermore, the area where there are a lot of rocks which is sometimes dry and sometimes has water flowing was completely iced and snowed over, so it was hard to tell whether there was water flowing in certain places or not. Aside from that area being iced over, the rocks and the trails were as well, and the ice on the trail formed circles so that it almost looked like stepping stones of ice:

Here is the area with the rocks that was iced over:

Aside from the area where there was water flowing which was at the top of the Salmon Hole, much of it had frozen over, and there were little areas in which you could see only a thin layer of ice or could actually see water. It appears as though the water likely did not freeze at the same time, because there were many sheets of ice pushed up against the rocks, meaning that small sections of the water would freeze and then would move with the wind up against the rocks. Of all the trips to the Salmon Hole I have made, this one was probably my favorite because it was so exciting to see it completely transformed with ice and so many signs of life from the animal tracks.

In the past, the Salmon Hole was used as a very popular place for fishing and recreating. Today, it is still used for recreating and fishing but there are fishing regulations to protect the fish species. Furthermore, Salmon fishing at the Salmon Hole has significantly decreased. Nearby residents use it as a recreation spot to hike, camp and connect with nature. As I’ve been to the Salmon Hole over the last few months, I have also used it to recreate and connect with nature but have not actually fished yet. I went to the Salmon Hole yesterday for the last time before Christmas Break and was glad to have experienced the last few months of change at the Salmon Hole from the transition to Winter. Next semester, I will continue to go to the Salmon Hole, whether it be for my Phenology Spot or just to recreate.

The Madikwe Game Reserve, which sits in the North of South Africa just below Botswana, is a national park that is home to around 370 different animal species. The reserve was originally used as farming land, but due to its infertile soil being unable to produce crops, it was converted to a national park to supply economic benefits.

The fauna species in Madikwe are managed by the government, so if there is a decline in one species or a spike in another, certain species are introduced to provide balance. Currently, there is a decline in cheetah species so there are three cheetahs which are about to be introduced to the reserve. Madikwe features the ‘Big 5’ which include: buffalo, lions, rhinos, elephants and leopards. It is also a Wild Dog Reserve, so there is a large population of wild dogs in the area. Other fauna species include warthogs, impala, kudu, and wildebeest.

The reserves habitats allow for such high species diversity. Some of the habitats in Madikwe are savannas, plateaus, mountainous areas and seasonal wetlands.  The infertile soils are a limiting factor for the types of plants that can be grown and the plant species generally have very low nutrients. Despite this, there is a wide variety of grass and tree species, many of which have thorns to protect themselves from being eaten by herbivores.

Madikwe is a large tourist destination and supplies many economic benefits for the surrounding area.

Both the Salmon Hole in Winooski and the Madikwe Game Reserve are overwhelmingly beautiful places. However, both of these places display vastly different types of beauty. For me, the Salmon Hole is a very welcoming place in which you can find solace and be at one with the place. Many times at the Salmon Hole, I feel as though there is no difference between myself and the natural community around me. Madikwe, on the other hand, is beautiful because it is an extremely savage environment that is impossible for any human to be a part of. The interactions between the species are not something that a human can feel at one with and is simply something can can be observed rather than truly felt.

I have never seen an animal at the Salmon Hole but have seen many different animals at Madikwe. However, this is because it is intended for people to see the animals. The beauty of the two places does go beyond the animal species and both the plants and habitats are admirable as well. Madikwe is very dry though, whereas the Salmon Hole is based in a river environment so it is very lush and wet. Despite the differences of the two places, they do both provide solace and relaxation to me and I am in awe of both of them.

https://www.google.com/maps/place/Madikwe+Game+Reserve/@-24.7604347,26.2755186,17z/data=!4m5!3m4!1s0x1ebc81795e27ecdd:0xd92190c84cd6ba0b!8m2!3d-24.7604347!4d26.2777073

Below is an event map of the Salmon Hole, which shows different things I have seen while walking through from the start of the Salmon Hole to the edge of the water.

Because the weather hasn’t been changing very much, the Salmon Hole has remained more or less the same with the exception of the leaves changing color and most falling off trees. However, yesterday when I returned to the Salmon Hole, the area which is normally covered by rocks that are covered by a thin layer of dry mud that I assumed had been under water at some point were under water again. Because of the rain, the area where the Salmon Hole starts flowed over and now the area where I used to be able to walk to has become an island and is unreachable: