My place was different than it was when I last visited a week ago. For starters, the temperature when I went last week was in the upper sixties and when I went this week it was in the lower forties. With this weather change has also come a change in season. In and around my places many of the fall leaves had moved from the trees to the forest floor. Although I do think my spot contains the last green tree in Vermont…

Unidentified Tree (Scannell, J. 2016)

The past couple of days have been very rainy, exactly what we needed. This recent rain has had an effect on my place. Centennial Brook is higher and moving more quickly, and the fallen logs are covered with more moss than before.

When I arrived at my spot this week I went searching for signs of wildlife like holes in trees from woodpeckers or tracks left by deer. I became so frustrated because I could not find signs of any of these big animals. I sat down on the fallen log in frustration. Then I noticed small holes in the log that weren’t there before. They must have been caused by recent insects entering the log. I realized that there is more to wildlife then big animals like birds and deer, the smaller animals too. After discovering signs of insects I went to the brook searching for water bugs and I found small minos.  They were swimming in a slow moving, shallow area of the pond. They swam away before I could capture a good picture.

Minnos (Scannell, J. 2016)

Evidence of Animals (Scannell, J. 2016)