January; Endurance – Centennial Woods Phenology

Wildlife Tracking

a. Squirrels

Galloper gait
3 cm track size

b. Deer

Diagonal gait
8-11 cm track size

c. Possible Mink

Bounding gait
5 cm track size
Area is fairly close to water, this supports the mink theory

Scott, J. (2020). Mink Tracks. These are what I believe to be mink tracks. I used a 7 cm long tube of chap-stick as reference. A clear bounding gait can be seen here.

Scott, J. (2020). Deer Tracks. These are examples of the deer prints I found; notice the diagonal gait.

Winter Twig Identification

Deciduous Trees:

Paper Birch
Sugar Maple
Oak

Scott, J. (2020). Twig Buds. Twig examples of oak and sugar maple. The first two images are sugar maple. The right image is white oak.

Sugar Maple and White Oak

Sugar Maple Twig:

twig is brown and slender with sharp, pointed, brown buds
opposite, simple leaf (Sugar Maple, 2019)
you can see in the images above that the two on the left are brown twigs with sharp and pointed brown buds

White Oak Twig:

twig is red-brown/gray with multiple terminal buds
alternate, simple leaf (White Oak, 2019)
you can see in the images above that the one on the right has a red-brown twig with multiple terminal buds

Phenological Changes

There’s not much difference in the area from the last time I visited. Perhaps the most noticeable is the path is completely covered in ice. The deciduous trees have lost their leaves, the ground is lumpy with debris of plant and snow, the temperature is colder, so there’s no mud as seen in my last visit.

Scott, J. (2020). My Site. This is an update of what my specific site looks like. The boards are covered in ice and snow; very slippery!

Twig Sketch and Picture of Notes

Scott, J. (2020). Twig Sketch. This is a picture of my notes, including a twig diagram.

Scott, J. (2020). Twig Sketch Page 2. This is a picture of the second page of my notes, talking about phenological changes.

References

Virginia Tech Dendrology. “Sugar Maple.” Virginia Tech Dendrology Fact Sheet, 2019, dendro.cnre.vt.edu/dendrology/syllabus/factsheet.cfm?ID=2.

Virginia Tech Dendrology. “White Oak.” Virginia Tech Dendrology Fact Sheet, 2019, dendro.cnre.vt.edu/dendrology/syllabus/factsheet.cfm?ID=35.