Phenology Project: Centennial Woods

The time has come for me to say goodbye to the Salmon Hole for this school year. Unfortunately, my last day at the Salmon Hole was dreary. However, that didn’t take away from the area’s magnificence.

The water level was significantly elevated, likely caused by snowmelt, and hindered our ability to access the far island area of the rocks. Notable features of this location include the picturesque view of Winooski on the opposite river bank, the line of trees that follow the river as it flows, and the sizable rocky island that extends towards the center of the river. A smaller, yet personally meaningful landmark for me, is the paper birch tree that I’ve used for practicing tree identification throughout the semester.

In my opinion, the Salmon Hole beautifully illustrates the intertwining of nature and culture. Despite being a stunning natural location, it is bordered by a major road and offers a clear view of Winooski, highlighting the coexistence of urban and rural environments. Moreover, the Salmon Hole serves as a hub for recreational activities such as fishing, boating, etc., allowing residents of Winooski to connect with the surrounding nature that’s just a stone’s throw away from their backyard.

I do consider myself to be a part of the Salmon Hole, as I feel a sense of belonging there. I have watched the space transform itself throughout this semester, making me feel more closely tied to the area than the average person might. I hope to continue frequenting the Salmon Hole throughout my next three years at UVM. In summary, this project has been a valuable learning experience for me, as it has deepened my understanding of phenology and fostered a greater appreciation for the intricate relationships within the natural world.

With the beautiful weather we are having, I was hoping to see more progress in my tree this weekend. However, it is still just on the verge of budding. I managed to get some up-close photos of the buds on this visit to the Salmon Hole. Regardless of the fact there’s not much difference in my tree within the past three weeks, it nice to at least have some blue skies as the background to my photos this week!

This week I ventured back to the Salmon Hole to check up on my paper birch. I got some better photos of my tree at different angles and observed any changes. To be honest, there weren’t many! My tree is still budding, with the promise of leaves on the horizon. As a whole, the Salmon Hole seems to be waking up from our long, cold winter! The water level is very high due to all the snowmelt, and I heard more birds than the last time I visited. I am excited to see how the warm weather this week and next affect my tree!

This weekend, I visited the Salmon Hole to find a tree for this phenology post. After looking around at the large variety of trees to choose from, I settled on a tall, thin paper birch. I identified the paper birch firstly by its white, chalky bark. The peeling, papery strips of bark peeled back in spots where I could see the pinky-grey inner bark. I was able to distinguish this paper birch from its lookalikes because I knew that paper birches thrive in wetter areas, making the Salmon Hole the perfect environment for them. I could also identify the paper birch by its buds, as it only had sharp, pointed, lateral buds.

For the iNaturalist assignment, I explored our university’s campus for signs of wildlife. I wondered if there would still be signs of wildlife in a heavily populated area. Because of the ground’s wet, muddy, snowmelt conditions, it was difficult to find many clear animal tracks in the mud. However, after it snowed an inch or two this weekend, I managed to find two different types of tracks.

The first tracks I saw looked like they had a similar orientation to the red squirrel tracks I saw in Jericho Research Forrest. However, the front two paw prints look very rounded. I entered the tracks into iNaturalist as unidentified and I am interested to see what other people think of these tracks! The second set of tracks I saw on campus look like they belong in the cat family because you can clearly see four toes but no claws, meaning they could’ve been retracted. I found these tracks near one of the campus buildings where I have seen an orange cat around, so I am wondering if these are domestic cat tracks. Still interesting!

I also managed to see three Eastern grey squirrels on campus! I was excited to see so many squirrels as it has been a couple months since I have consistently seen squirrels around. campus.

For the spring semester, I decided to switch my phenology spot to the Salmon Hole on the Winooski River. I changed from Centennial Woods to Salmon Hole so I could have the opportunity to explore more of the natural areas Burlington has to offer.

I found Salmon Hole to be incredibly beautiful, especially with all the snow we have been receiving lately! The trees species at Salmon Hole, although mostly bare, include Buckthorn, Northern Red Oak, Paper Birch and American Beech among a number of maples. The trail leads out to a rocky shore that overlooks the fast-flowing river. I was amazed at how full and fast the river was, it felt similar to being at a beach! Salmon Hole, although dominated by nature, overlooks a factory in Winooski which creates quite a unique contrast in scenery. There is also a trail in the woods that follows alongside the river. Overall, I was in awe of the spot and so happy I chose to switch.

Because of all of the snow at Salmon Hole, I was able to see many animal tracks! We were able to identify a couple, as pictured below.

I was very excited to see traces of wildlife since I did not ever see much evidence of wildlife at my spot in Centennial Woods. I also saw some scat, but was unable to identify it due to how frozen it was.