This week was my last visit to my phenology spot for the semester, as I’m going home in a few days. It was nice to be able to go this week and wrap things up.

I noticed an increase in bareness, realized in how much farther I could see through the trees in the woods as the leaf coverage decreased. The American Beech’s are as slow to lose their leaves as Nevada was to count their votes.

I climbed onto this dead tree that sits perpendicular to the trail. It was a good place to sit and gave me a bit of a new perspective of the main dead tree in my spot. In looking at it, I remembered something I read at the head of the trail; that pileated woodpeckers make rectangular holes in trees. The holes I had somewhat overlooked before now had a story.

I also noticed smaller holes for the first time, scattered on the tree going up as far as I could tell. I couldn’t tell what made these holes, or what inhabited them.

I’m curious to come back after break and see what’s different. I imagine it will be a dramatic change, considering I notice changes every week.