Category: April 2023

Oops. Well, I guess I lied that it was my last post. I’m back from the dead to report on an enthralling update from the “ City Nature Challenge iNaturalist BioBlitz.” On the Sunday of this four-day extravaganza, my friends and I decided to venture out into Centennial Woods to hunt for some interesting species. In total, I think I racked up close to 50 observations. Unremarkable, but still enough to make a solid dent in the competition.

Since most of the trees in Centennial Woods were still lacking in leaves, I concentrated most of my observational energy on the ground. And oh my! You never truly notice how many varieties of small bushy plants there are until they are clogging up your camera roll. I didn’t know the vast majority of the species I encountered, so I’m hoping iNaturalist can help with that.

SHRUB SHRUB SHRUB SHRUB SHRUB

Although iNaturalist is a great resource for identification, it can often be unreliable. Someone on the app once called my tree “Evangeline” a Yellow Birch. Let’s just say she was more than insulted. In terms of other iNaturalist grievances, I couldn’t figure out how to upload sound recordings from my phone onto the app. It was a bit of a bummer since I caught some great bird songs that I wanted to share. At least now I know that you have to record sound directly through the app. Oh well.

On another note, here are some fun standouts from our adventure: 

We found some raccoon and “squirrel?” tracks, as well as a female Common Redpoll right outside of my dorm room.

It’s been a while since I visited my exact phenology spot, but we carved out some time to go on April 20th. Since my spot was now underwater, this visit presented me with some unforeseen obstacles. The last time I had gone, the shoreline was small, but most definitely not to this degree. The high tide was most likely caused by the large amount of snow that melted these past few weeks. Our snowy and dismal March had plunged into a couple of unexpectedly warm spring days. I’m sure that this phonological whiplash caused all sorts of natural imbalances… Wet feet were only an inconvenient byproduct.

In terms of other changes, the high tide had shuffled things around a bit. My sit spot log (as well as some other debris) was now pushed back to the surrounding treeline. Even submerged, the shoreline still had some evidence of blossoming spring. Although the trees had yet to bloom, the silver maple’s buds looked almost ready to pop. 

Some Final Reflections

I must admit that I have become a bit attached to my little strip of shoreline during this project. I was sad to say goodbye, so I spent some time there just sitting, drawing, and relishing a little relaxation before the chaos of finals.

The people around me seemed to be on a similar wavelength. Students were hammocking and talking, or just enjoying the sunshine. Like me, they were probably here to forget about the world for the while. Perhaps this speaks to the intersection between nature and the culture of Vermont. It is impossible to move fast in this state. Everything is far apart, slow, and drowsy. My mom and I call it “Vermont Time.” Growing up in Manhattan, the days whipped by at lightning speed. In Vermont, life seems to operate in slow motion. I decided to come to school here because I needed something to slow me down. My spot does just the trick.

While I sketched my picture, I had the time to memorize all the familiar landmarks which I had come to know. The silver maple, the jagged rocks, the green ash, my soggy sit log, and the ever-present Northern White Cedars.  

I’m not sure if I would consider myself to be a part of my spot, but the time I have spent there has certainly made it a part of me – And, perhaps, those two things are one and the same.

See you later tree people :)

My third visit to see Evangeline was somewhat out of the norm.

I went on April 7th with my mom, who  had swung by to pick me up for Easter weekend. This meant I had to explain to her that we had to swing by Rock Point to observe a tree. “No, we don’t have to do anything with the tree, we just have to look at it.” Luckily, I got to show her my phenology spot on arguably one of the nicest days we had since the start of NR2. It was beautiful, blissfully clear, cool, and very windy. Better yet, the clear skies meant we were finally able to observe the mountains across Lake Champlain without a haze of fog.

Evangeline was looking as beautiful as ever, however, she was feeling slightly resistant to the awakening of springtime. She appeared to be much the same, however slightly less green since our last visit. Most of the moss on her bark had dried out to a brown, and there didn’t appear to be any progress in terms of budding. However, the rapidly evolving landscape is a good indication that Evangeline will be feeling greener soon.