Month: March 2023

Date #2 with Evangeline

Mud

After a thrilling maple sugaring lab on the 23rd, Lauren Elise and I broke off to visit our Rock Point Phenology Spots. Walking over, mud and melting snow bogged down my every step, and the cold rain continued to mist up my glasses. Although we were all cold, wet, and slightly miserable, it felt for the first time as though the world had an “idea” of Spring. Just listen to those happy birds!

A very happy Northern Cardinal

When we arrived to the spot, Lake Champlain was a fog of calm water, and fresh moss green had covered every spare log, tree, or rock. 

Misty Lake Champlain

My lovely Evangeline was looking quite dapper as ever in her new mossy green coat.  

After some research, I discovered that this type of moss is known as “Twisted Moss” which is a species of Syntrichia. It also has the colloquial name of “Star Moss,” (which I find to be highly romantic.)

In addition to her new look, Evangeline’s buds were also beginning to look slightly more… robust? I spotted a hint of green on one of them, which seemingly confirmed my suspicion that Evangeline was getting revved up for Springtime. 

LOOK AT THE GREEN!

Other than those two differences, Evangeline remains as stately and beautiful as ever.

I get a little “stumped” by trees

Let’s get excited people, we’re going to go looking for a tree!

For this prompt, I chose a Northern Red Oak on the outskirts of my phenology spot. I had to search a little farther out than preferable because there was a lack of the desired tree species near the shoreline. However, I did find a hearty-looking hardwood along our path that I thought would do nicely.  

iNaturalist Post
Location of my tree

Since this tree and I are going to be spending some quality time together over the next couple of weeks, I thought we should get to know each other on a first-name basis. Therefore, I christened my tree by the name of “Evangeline.” 

Who are you Evangeline?

At first, Evangeline’s gray mossy made me think that she was some kind of maple, however, I soon noticed that she did not have opposite branching. Additionally, her bark seemed too deeply furrowed for her to be a maple variety. 

The ultimate telltale sign that we were dealing with a Northern Red Oak was Evangeline’s buds. On the end of most small twigs, there were clusters of scaly pointed buds, which ultimately disqualified the round-budded White Oak.

Evangeline is a real budding beauty!

Here is a sassy picture of Evangeline!