I went back to my spot in Centennial this month, mainly focusing on evidence of animals. And of course, to see the phenology changes. A picture of my spot is included below (see Figure 1).

Out at my spot in centennial, I found evidence of quite a few species!  I found rabbit, squirrel, hare, and deer tracks.  The most interesting tracks to follow were probably the White Tailed Deer tracks (see Figure 2).  These deer live and spend their time in deer yards, which are areas that are located usually in coniferous woods where there is less snow due to the trees keeping the snow above their branches.  The deer stay in these yards because it is easier for them to move around due to less snow on the ground.  During the day deer mainly spend their time laying down and sleeping.  They get up around dusk to eat and then usually spend the rest of the night roaming around until dawn, when they lay down again (Holland, M & Kaneko, C pg 421).  These deer mainly feed on twigs in the winter, and leaves and fruits in the summer (Vermont Fish and Wildlife).  Coyotes will prey on vulnerable deer, but are not significant predators (Holland, M & Kaneko, C pg 420).  The most significant predators to deer are probably humans.  Humans are probably the main factor in controlling deer population, as deer hunting is very popular in Vermont. 

Following the deer tracks was pretty interesting.  The deer tracks that I found were walking next to the stream for a while, and then the tracks finally crossed the frozen stream (see Figure 3).  At the beginning of the tracks, there was a bunch of dead maple leaves kicked around.  This could have been the deer looking and digging around for twigs to eat.  Also, at some point the deer tracks went right up to a birch tree.  I could not find any evidence of the deer chewing on any of the branches or twigs, but it definitely interacted with the birch tree.

This week specifically has been a lot warmer than it traditionally is in February.  It hit 51ºF at some point during the week.  It seemed as though there were a lot more birds out and chirping and more evidence of animals due to the warmth.  The stream had frozen over since the last time I was at my spot, and trees are still bare, with some of the younger deciduous trees still hanging on to their dead leaves.  The area is still covered in snow, but with all the animal activity my spot was not as quiet as last month, I think it is because of the warmth.  When I went to my spot, it was probably about 38ºF out.

Works Cited

• Holland, M., & Kaneko, C. (2019). Naturally curious: a photographic field guide and month-by-month journey through the fields, woods, and marshes of New England. North Pomfret, Vermont.: Trafalgar Square Books.
• White-Tailed Deer. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://vtfishandwildlife.com/node/609

This week, I continued my phenology blog at my spot in centennial!  It is the middle of winter now, so there is lots of old snow on the ground and a little bit of animal activity.  It is a little tough for tree identification, but the twigs help out a little bit.

Works Cited

Levine, L. (2014). Mammal Tracks and Scat: Life-Size Pocket Guide. Heartwood Press.

Morse Susan C. Tracking Tips.

Throughout the past few months, I have visited my place many times and described different aspects of the place, from physical and biological characteristics to land history to my emotional connection to the area.  This time, I am going to talk about my sense of place of where I am from, Seattle, Washington.  Specifically, the west side of Seattle, and a little bit across Puget Sound into the suburbs.  This area means a lot to me, and there are so many aspects that contribute to that.  For one, the physical area amazes me.  The city itself is absolutely stunning, and the city is surrounded by water, mountains, and forest.  I love the fact that you can be in a number of different types of landscapes in such a short amount of time.  Seattle and the surrounding area is also super special to me because so much of my family lives in or around the city.  While I am from Seattle, my immediate family moved to Pennsylvania when I was a bit younger, and so I do not get to spend as much time there anymore.  However, I am still from the west coast and that means a lot to me.  I love where I am from and my city.  Ever since moving away my sense of place has deepened, and I feel even more connected to Washington than ever.  It is almost rejuvenating every time I get to go back to visit.  The connection I have to Seattle even negatively impacted my sense of place for the town that we moved to in Pennsylvania.  I do not think I even ever fully appreciated Pennsylvania because I missed Washington so much.  However, moving to Vermont to go to UVM has changed my perspective a bit.  I still love Seattle just as much as I ever have, but I have started to understand that I can have a deeply positive sense of place in more than one place.  It also has shown me that as much as I want to move back to Seattle later in life, there are other cities and areas that I can fall in love with just as much as I did with Seattle… like Burlington.  I think this blog, along with NR001 has allowed and helped me to create a sense of place here at school.  I never realized how much my sense of place, along with other things, impacted my well-being.  I have learned the importance for me to have some sort of connection to where I am living, and I think that understanding has really helped my adjustment during my first semester of college here at University of Vermont.

This week I went back to my spot in Centennial Woods again, and it snowed!  All of the trees and plants were bare except for the conifers.  There was a bit of leaf litter on the ground still, but the snow was covering most of the ground.  When I got there, there was only a dusting of snow, but it was still exciting.  It was super quite too, even more than usual.  My sense of place in my place has changed a bit through the changing of the seasons.  During the summer, it was super green and lively and it brought me a lot of happiness and I felt as though I could sit out there for hours.  When the leaves started changing, I still loved going out there, but it was not as exciting.  When everything was bare, and it was a bit chilly out I was not as excited to go and it was not as enjoyable.  However, going during the first snow was super exciting.  I feel as though my connection to this spot gets deeper and deeper every time I visit. 

My spot is a small area in a large plot of land called Centennial Woods.  Centennial woods is owned by the University of Vermont, where I study, and is only a short 10 minute walk from where I live.  I think it is important that Centennial is connected to UVM, and the city of Burlington.  It makes me feel like I belong even more, and it is a great place to walk to and re-center and relax.

My spot has a really rich history, which is really cool.  Knowing the history of Centennial woods helps my connection grow even deeper.  So many people and things have walked through and existed in my spot.  It was first settled by the Abenaki people, then European settlers came and deforested all of it.  It was then used for sheep and dairy operations until University of Vermont obtained the land and reforested all of it.  I think that it is cool knowing a brief history of my spot and it definitely makes my connection even deeper.

The natural areas and outdoors like my spot in Centennial is a huge reason that I came to University of Vermont.  Being a short walk to woods but still having the city right around the corner is super nice.  This visit to my spot really allowed me to step back and think about why I am at UVM and what this campus and place means to me, and it could not have come at a better time in the semester.

My spot for the phenology lab is on a nice little offshoot path in Centennial Woods.  It is super easy to get to but filled with nature and beauty.  The first time I visited my spot was during a self-guided centennial woods lab.  While doing the lab, my friends and I wandered off route a little bit and at one point ended up at this spot.  For some reason I felt connected to it right away.  Later, when I started this phenology blog, I knew this was the perfect spot for it.  What really drew me to this spot is that there are quite a few trees in this area with curved and misshapen trunks and one tree that is leaning over quite a bit.  What intrigues me about this one tree is how at first, I thought it was a dead fallen tree that has been uprooted, but it is actually alive.  Its branches are only growing on the side facing the sky, understandably, and there is a lot of moss on this tree.  I was really drawn to this particular tree.  Also, the stream runs right next to my spot.  It was calming being back in my spot again, it had been too long and being in nature is so peaceful and soothing to me.  Being somewhere in nature that I can think of as my own is so reassuring and comforting.  Walking to my spot this week was beautiful because it is peak foliage time.  However, most of the trees in my spot had already started losing leaves and some are even bare.  It was a little sad because it makes me happy when everything is green, but it was still my spot which brought me a lot of joy.  The ground was super muddy in my spot and around the stream.  This is probably due to the recent rainfall that has occurred recently. Overall, it was nice to be back in my spot and feel connected to nature again.

Phenology Blog Visit – Field Notes 10/24 @ 4:33 pm

• Overcast, a bit chilly but not too cold
• Mostly hardwood stand
• Peek foliage time, but a lot of trees in my spot have begun to lose their leaves
• Not as green as it was before, sorta sad):
• Ground is super damp and mushy from all the rain recently
• Tons and tons of leaf litter on the ground