I cannot believe that this is my final post!! Unfortunately, I left campus a bit early so I was not able to head back to centennial woods for a final check-in. Since I couldn’t talk about centennial, I decided to take a trip to a local natural area about 30 minutes from me. This week I traveled to Great Brook Farm State Park in Carlisle, MA and took a lovely walk through the forested trails. During the walk, I noticed lots of similarities to the phenology around Burlignton since I was still in New England. I saw some familiar tree species such as the eastern hemlock, red maples, red oaks, birches, and eastern white pines. I also saw several fiddleheads and saw some that had unfurled and began to form adult ferns. New leaves and buds were a lot more present here than in Burlington, I am assuming it is because I am much further south so spring temperatures are rising faster here. For animal species, I saw several chipmunks, grey squirrels, geese and their new babies, and heard so many bird species. There were also several abandoned structures here such as rock walls, stone foundations, and even a full cabin! I also got to look around the dairy farm at the park, which is part of the Cabot co-op just like UVM’s dairy program. It was so interesting to compare this site to places I know in Burlington, and it was so fun to show off my tree ID skills to my friend who joined me on my hike. Overall, this trip was a really great time to reconnect with nature in my local area and to re-cap all that I have learned throughout NR2. Thanks to all involved for a great year!!
