It feels a little sad knowing that this is the phenology site post for this semester. Today I went to the Intervale in the late afternoon and the weather was pretty brutal. The wind was super strong and gusty and the sky was so dark and grey. In the woods by myself it almost felt like a scene from a horror movie… a little creepy.
Once I got to my spot, it was nice to sit for a bit and take everything in.
I noticed a lot of changes since I was last at my spot. First, the river’s water level lowered significantly since and was moving much slower. All of the leaves had finally dropped off the trees and much of the understory was wilting and browning. I didn’t see much animal activity, possibly because of the weather, however there was lots of Crow activity as they flew overhead, some possibly migrating south.
While it is melancholy to have to write this last post, I am excited to find a potentially new site for next semester and observe how much more the ecosystems change over the coming months. Since I am local to the area, the Intervale is a place my family visits often to go on walks or cross country ski, so I will keep my eyes pealed over break for more shifts around my site!