Phenology Project

A final visit to Derway this year! I was so excited to get out on a rainy day to document the changes that have been happening in this place. Even though it was chilly and rainy, the birds were singing and the trail was full of life. I took along some friend to show them what Derway was all about.

We started down the path an immediately I noticed so many changes in the area since the last time I had been there. Being a wet season, we really got to see the characteristics of a floodplain forest.

There were so many fiddle heads popping up, giving the area a little bit of green.

In addition to the fiddleheads there were so many trees beginning to bud! I loved the hints of green popping up all around us.

Further down the trail we were lucky enough to spot a palliated woodpecker.

We reached the Winooski and all took a moment to listen to the rain hitting the water. In that moment I felt very connected to this place. I consider myself a visitor in this place. I know I am not yet a part of it, but maybe if I continue to visit and stay connected to this place I can one day consider myself a part of it.

The best part of this visit had to be our beaver spotting. The beaver popped up in the middle of the river and made its way to the shore, very close to us.

There are many structures that appear beaver made along the shore and in the water. These were not there in the winter, or even the fall when I first visited.

Beavers are very prominent in Derway. We learned this in our lab visit. They are so active that conservationists have to put up chicken wire to prevent them from taking down restorative trees that are planted here.

After our crazy sighting we ended our visit visiting the geese swimming through the wetland!

This was the best visit to end this blog on. I was really happy to share this place with my friends, and appreciate everything Derway has taught me this semester.

I loved ending the trip at this spot in Derway where you see the river open into the lake with the bike path passing over. I think it is a great representation of how culture and nature intertwine in this place. Not only is it a great place for wildlife to reside in the Burlington area, it is also a way for people to connect with nature and the historic cultures of this place. Being in the heart of Burlington, and in such a crucial location of the environment it really holds a lot of the characteristics of both Burlington’s environment and culture.

Also a shoutout to all of the cool fungi we saw on our adventure!

Below I drew out a species interaction diagram of the species that we saw on our trip to Derway. It was really cool to think about not only what species were present in this place, but how they interact to create the ecosystem I have grown to love so much.

I appreciated the BioBlitz on iNaturalist, because it pushed me to pay extra attention to what was around me as I when through my day. I was able to spot many different species, and it made me feel connected to the community. The BioBlitz was a great way to bring the community together.

The first location I found a lot of species was at Centennial woods on Saturday morning. I was bird watching for my biology class and I decided to BioBlitz while I was collecting my data. The project is based in bird ecology so I was able to identify bird species for the BioBlitz. There were a lot of chickadees and song sparrows. There was also goldfinches and a hairy woodpecker.

Above is the location where I was bird watching. Unfortunately I was too far away to get any good pictures of the birds themselves.

Not only only was I looking at the different bird species. I also decided to identify plants and other species I saw as I walked the trail.

The next place I did a lot of identifications was at the Spectacular Nature Day. This event was so much fun, and made it really easy yo BioBlitz.

Above are three of my favorite identifications. I used the iNaturalist to get the specific names of each of the species, but I also had many comments on my post to confirm my identifications.

We also did a lot of pond skimming during nature day. I was able to skim a pond, and the river at Intervals. The pond was full of tad pools, there were so many that the stagnant water seemed to have a current.

Another sighting we had was a bat circling over the pond. I had never seen a daytime bat in one place for so long. It would swoop down and skim the top of the water, probably catching bugs. It was so cool to watch.

And of course all weekend I kept my head down looking out for ants to identify!

Over break I decided to take a closer look at a trail 5 minutes from my house. I live on a relatively busy street in the suburbs of Penfield NY, so as a kid I was always grateful to have the Honeycreek Trail so close. I was always able to access a little bit of nature.

The beginning of the trail follows along the Irondequoit Creek, which was flowing very fast when I went. This id probably due to the warm weather we had been having all week, lots of runoff from melting snow must be contributing to the speed of the water. Within the first few minutes of being on the trail.

My best guess it that this is a grey squirrel. Although the tracks were bigger then the grey squirrel tracks I usually see, being that this is a residential area with lots of food waste, the squirrels have the potential to be bigger. It could also be some sort of rabbit, but this is a stretch. The hopping pattern, the size of the back feet, and the size and length between tracks supprot this thought. However, the claws the toes lead me to lean towards squirrel.

I also saw this tree along the trail. iNaturalist could not identify it. I am curious whether this is the tree’s actual bark, or the product of its bark being stripped. I am not sure why the whole tree would have been stripped. Also there are other trees with similar bark along the trail, but none as vibrant as this one.

I ended my hike at a small peninsula along the creek. I decided to sit and listen to the sound of the running water. I was so glad I made it one a sunny day. Though the snow is beautiful, I am excited to come back tot this place in the summer when everything is green and the water is warm enough to walk through.

It has been a while since I visited Centennial Woods so I decided to make a visit and explore how the scenery had changed. My friend from my home town, Garrett, was visiting so the two of us decided to walk down together.

The entrance of the trail was very icy, we ended up having to slide down the hill. This was probably caused by the fluctuations in temperature we have been seeing the past few days.

The goal of our trip was to find as many new species as we could. We came across a tall bush with berries, iNaturalist identified it as a viburnum plant, which usually flowers in the spring.

Next, we came across shelf fungi which iNaturalist couldn’t identify. When location-based suggestions were turned off marshmallow polypore was listed. However, these fungi are found in western comfier forests, so it is not a likely guess. After doing further research using the iNaturalist Centennial Woods checklist, my guess would be that this is birch polypore, because they are visually similar and the fungi is located on a birch tree.

Once again using the iNaturalist Centennial Woods checklist, we guessed that the orange fungus in the image below was a lobster mushroom based on the color.

Our last iNaturalist find was callicladium, a species of moss which was identified using the iNaturalist app.

Next, we started looking for animal tracks. The image below shows what we believe to be grey squirrel tracks based on the length between strides and the side by side hopping pattern.

The next set of tracks was in a waddling pattern, it was hard to tell which animal it might be because of the melting snow, toes marks were very difficult to identify. Based on the length between strides and the size of the tracks that it was a skunk. But there was much debate.

We ended our hike at the small stream. The last time I was at Centennial Woods the stream was flowing in full force. But now, even on this 35 degree day, there was ice cover over the stream. However, it was not frozen solid, there was still water running beneath the ice. This was by far the most interesting sighting on our hike.

I decided to go back to Derway Nature Trail for this post. I was interested to see if the Winooski River had finally frozen over. This trip was especially exciting because my grandparents came with me! They were visiting me for the weekend so I thought I would bring them along.

It was snowing today which made the trail look extra magical. However, it did make it hard to find tracks. The trail has obviously been heavily populated recently because there were lots of dog and human tracks. My thought is that not a lot of animals reside in the area because it is a very trafficked trail, and there is a dense residential area surrounding the entrance of the park. The plant also must ward off lots of wildlife. So, unfortunately the amount of tracks were very limited. Even the tracks that were present, were covered by a fresh blanket of snow and hard to decipher.

There is a chance that the tracks above could be fox tracks. I wasn’t able to count the amount of toes due to the snow, but the size and placement of the tracks leads me to believe it could be from a fox. Unless it is just another set of dog tracks.

Further down the trail we came across a teepee that had not been there my last visit.

The walk to the river was so beautiful with the freshly fallen snow, and the trees gave us shelter from the wind, making it not too cold.

Once we rounded the corner to the river’s edge we were surprised by both the gust of wind that hit us, and the fact that the Winooski River was completely frozen over. I was doubtful that the river would be frozen at this location considering it’s size. We did not stay by the river for too long because of how windy it was. But it was really cool to see the river completely white.

Another change I noticed was the ferns that originally used to blanket the ground had been reduced to small brown stalks. At first I was sad to see them like this, but then I began to think it was cool that even through the harsh winter, they could still be seen.

My Nana was very proud that she found this woodpecker hole! Unfortunately, that was as close as we got to a wildlife spotting.

Hopefully, as the snow begins to melt I will be able to go back to Derway for some more exciting tracking!

I went back to the nature trail in the Derby natural area today. It was 24 degrees out and the sky was complete cloud cover, but it was thin and allowed for the sun to shine through. There was also a light snow as I got to the head of the trail. I decided to drive to the trail today since it was so cold out. I got to the entrance to discover a light snow cover from the previous night.

I missed the green of the trail from the first time I visited it. However, the bare trees allowed me to see much more than the previous time I visited.

I was able to see houses on the edge of the trees, and I discovered that the sewage plant stretches all the way to the river. I also spotted this small pond along the trail to the river.

I then made my way to the location of my sit spot from my previous post.The lack of vegetation made it much easier for me to see down the length of the shoreline. I was able to hear lots of crows and dogs barking ing the distance. The water of the Winooski River was still steadily flowing, however it seemed slower than the past times I visited. There was also ice along the shoreline.

I spotted an old barrel along the trail that I had not noticed last time I was there. I assume that it was discarded from the nearby plant.

I walked further down the trail then I had the past few visits. I found a mass of trees fallen and hanging over the water, I was surprised that I had not noticed it before.

Even this far down the trail I still kept seeing signs about hunting and trapping. I have always been surprised by the amount that they post on the trail. On my way to the trail I was excited in the anticipation that I would find a lot of tracks because it had snowed the night before. However, the snow cover was so light and there were so many leaves bordering the trail, that I was unable to find any. I noticed that there weren’t even shoe prints in the snow, so I was the first one on the trail all day. I loved the thought that I had the trail all to myself, and I was the first one seeing it today. Still looking for tracks I made my way back to the entrance. When I got there I noticed the the gate to the sewage plant was open. I was so interested so I decided to take a look around. I only walked the main road but I was interesting to see it. It smelled horrible thought.

If you look closely at this last picture you can see seagulls swimming in the water!!

I decided to take a walk down a street I don’t usually take down to Battery park. Whenever I go to the waterfront I pass battery park without checking it out, so today I decided to do that.

It was a rainy Friday morning, I took college street down to the waterfront. On my way there, I turned down Hungerford Terrace. It looked like a quaint street, and I loved looking at the houses, especially the landscaping of people’s front yards. There weren’t too many plants, given that it is getting colder. However, I did see some sunflowers on their last leg towards the back of someone’s yard.

I took Hungerford Terrace all the way to Pearl Street and continued down hill until I got to Battery Park. I walked around the park for a while and took in the sound of the rain, also the emptiness there, probably due to the rain.

Being at the waterfront I couldn’t resist going down to the board walk and checking out the skate park, which is one on my favorite places in Burlington. It was empty so I walked on the smooth concrete for a while. Then I started my walk back, stopping by the soar and climbing down on the rocks to hear the sound of rain hitting the water.

In my event map I identified a lot of my observations and the activities I did on my walk. I decided to do the walk on my own, first because it was early and everyone else was asleep. But also because I wanted to take the time for myself to connect with the outdoors, especially in the rain which is my favorite kind of weather!

I visited Derby again on Sunday October 31st at 2:00 PM. It was chilly and rainy when I visited. I took my normal route down the bike path to the trail head. There were very few people out and about on the bike path due to the rain. I experienced the same thing on the nature trail, there was no one else there.

I made my way to the edge of the Winooski River a ways down the nature trail. I decided to sit on the grass strip between the nature trail and the slope to the shoreline. This was my sit spot for 15 min. The map of my spot is below.

During my 15 minute sit the sound of rain was the main thing on my mind, both in the trees and on the surface of the river. Besides the sound of rain, the area around me was incredibly quiet. The stream bank also smelled like rain. All of the wet mud on the shoreline had a very strong scent. With all of the cloud cover the landscape was very dim, and the river was very dark in color. The whole area had a very calm energy from the sound of the rain, to the dark lighting. It was incredibly calming to sit in my spot and let the rain hit my face. After the 15 minutes I felt very refreshed. Along with that, I gained a great appreciation of my place, and felt a deeper connection to it.

I noticed a few subtle changes in my place since I had last been there. The river seemed to be moving faster than the last time I visited, mostly likely from the increase in runoff from the past few rainy days. The water temperature was also felt fairly colder than last time I had been there. The temperature seems to finally be dropping along the water enough to induce phenological changes. Another one of these changes is that the leaves of the trees are now changing colors, similar to the other ones further inland.

I am excited for the coming months to see this place really change as temperatures begin to drop more and more.

Derway Island Nature Preserve is a 148-acre plot of protected land, bordered by the Winooski River. The preserve can be accessed by a trail head that begins on North Ave, which is neighbored by the Burlington North Water Treatment Plant.

I first discovered the natural area earlier in the semester when I was biking to Colchester along the bike path with a friend. We saw people walking along the shoreline of the river from the bridge that spans the mouth of the Winooski river. When I was assigned this project I knew I had to find out how to get to the trail we had seen.

Getting to the trail head was a 30 min bike ride from campus, to the waterfront, and then along the bike path. I went out on Sunday afternoon around 12pm. The temperature was 57 degrees F, but when the sun was out it felt much hotter. It was partly cloudy and there was a slight breeze. It was an incredibly clear day, so I could see the detailing of the Adirondack Mountains across the like as I travelled along the bike path. The bike path was packed with people, most likely due to the nice weather. And I could not help noticing how much leaves had already changed color.

At the opening of the trail head there is a map of the Nature Preserve.

Further down the gravel road is a small parking lot, past that point only foot traffic is allowed. The parking lot is situated across from the Water Treatment Plant next door, divided by an overgrown fence.

Along the parking lot and the rest of the trail I noticed a lot of signage.

This amount of signage at first glance led me to the conclusion that this is I highly trafficked trail.

At the opening of the trail there is a dense concentration of understory and overstory vegetation. There is a Boxelder slanting over the opening of the trail. Ferns are the main spices in the understory, along with some small green ash. The overstory is comprised of Paper birch, Red Maple, and larger green ash trees. As you walk down the trail American Beech starts popping up.

About 5 minutes down the trail it bears left to follow the path of the Winooski river. Here there is a lot of understory vegetation. There is a short drop to the right of the trail, here long grasses populate the soft ground. To the left of the trail Barberry becomes a huge component of the understory. Another shift is that Norway maples are introduced into the overstory.

After observing the composition of the vegetation along the river, I walked down to the edge of the water. I saw a few frogs in the grasses, and there was a loud humming from insects. The sand at the water’s edge felt like memory foam and was still a warmer temperature. I noticed the same when I felt the water temperature, it is still warm despite the overall cooling temperatures in Vermont recently. This is because water can absorb energy to stabilize temperatures. This stabilization is keeping the Derway natural area around the river warm, this must be why the trees her have not been changing color, as opposed to what I was observing on the bike path.

My first journey to Derway Nature Trail was a huge success. I love the area and I am excited to get to know it better. I’m interested to observe how the river effects the phenology of the area. I am also interested to explore the aspects of the Water Treatment Plant and learn how it effects the surrounding ecosystems.

Google Map Link: https://www.google.com/maps/d/u/0/edit?mid=1Pm15ySo-Zv2AsNq5ajLk6mHd5H7UBJ7Y&usp=sharing

Welcome to UVM Blogs. This is your first post. Edit or delete it, then start blogging!