Ryn Staggs' Phenology Blog

It is with bittersweet feelings that I post my last phenology blog for NR 1020. I will miss writing this blog, however I hope to come back to the Salmon Hole and do my observations. I also might give an update on my Coldbrook Creek spot back in Michigan that I posted about some weeks ago.

My final visit to the Salmon Hole happened on a beautiful, rainy, and pleasantly warm Sunday afternoon. To show how the Salmon Hole has changed over time, I tried to retake the picture I took at the beginning of the year.

The Salmon Hole in the fall (left) and spring (right)

They’re not exactly the same picture layout and weren’t taken at the same time of day, but you can clearly see the difference in leaf cover, as well as the difference in colors between fall and spring.

These weren’t the only phenological changes occurring at the Salmon Hole, though. I especially noticed this visit how luscious the understory was. I think the combination of rain and warm weather was making all the plants really happy : )

This one robin was probably my favorite part of this visit. What a curious cutie!! :0

One of my favorite parts of the Salmon Hole is how it is a prime example of a place that combines nature and culture. The site holds important history as unceded Indigenous Abenaki territory, particularly its proximity to the Winooski river, a river who’s name was given by the people due to the wild onions that once grew along its shore.

The river and the Salmon Hole in particular have retained its importance to humans. Almost every time I’ve come to the Salmon Hole, I have seen people walking dogs, hammocking, hiking along the Burlington Wildways trail, or fishing. There is evidence of human-caused pollution at the site (trash, proximity to wastewater treatment plant, etc.) however the joy that I see people gaining from the spot gives me hope.

Speaking of people who gain joy from the Salmon Hole, I would consider myself to be a part of that group. I feel very connected to it, especially after visiting it for the past 9 months. I’ve gone here with friends and family, and I now believe it is one of my favorite spots ever.

Here’s one picture that sums up my love for this place:

Thanks for reading and happy spring-almost-summer! 🌿

It’s the end of April which means it’s time for the annual four-day global Bioblitz as a part of the 2024 City Nature Challenge! The BioBlitz is an international collaboration/competition where cities around the world share observations on iNaturalist. During the BioBlitz, I took observations at my favorite spot—the Salmon Hole—as well as the Intervale, and even on campus at UVM.

Garden tulips (Tulipa gesneriana) on Trinity campus at UVM

During this four-day period, I made 44 observations consisting of around 26 different species. I had some duplicates of box elders and other trees in the maple (Acer) genus, ostrich ferns, American robins, and birches. I also spotted four double-crested cormorants at the Salmon Hole, which confirmed my conclusion that the sighting I made during my last visit was, in fact, of a cormorant and not of a black scoter like I mentioned in my last post.

Ostrich ferns (Matteuccia struthiopteris) found at the Salmon Hole near my sit-spot on the left, and a double-crested cormorant (Nannopterum auritum) in the Winooski river on the right.

In terms of using iNaturalist, I had a great time with it! I’ve been a big fan of the app for a while now, but doing this challenge made it even more exciting to use. I felt so involved in the community of naturalists in Burlington, especially since people responded to the majority of my observations either confirming or denying my initial suspicions regarding species identification.

Boxelder bug (Boisea trivittata) found near Colchester Avenue

Additionally, looking at the global data on iNaturalist was super interesting. I was especially intrigued by which cities were in the lead in terms of observations. For example, the fact that La Paz in Bolivia was way ahead in the North & South America challenge with over 80,000 observations made me want to learn more about the city and its culture, history, and natural areas. Additionally, when I clicked on the submissions for La Paz, I was fascinated by the diversity of the plant species in particular. The most common species identified in La Paz was Viguiera pazensis (also called Paz viguiera) with over 400 observations. It was so cool getting to click on all the species identified around the world and learn more about them. Furthermore, it was surprising getting to notice species that are in places like Bolivia that are also here in Vermont. For example, there were 11 observations of American kestrel in Bolivia according to iNaturalist data.

Turkey tail mushrooms (Trametes versicolor) spotted at the Intervale

Some other data that I was super excited to look at was the observations made in West Michigan, which is where I’m from, and the greater Burlington area, which is now a place I consider to be my home away from home. For starters, I was curious to see the differences in the most observed species in both areas. For West Michigan, some of these included mayapple, garlic mustard, common blue violet, large white trillium, and common dandelion. For Burlington, these included red trillium, box elder, eastern white pine, northern cardinal, eastern hemlock, and dutchman’s breeches. It was super cool to me to compare and contrast the data found in these areas, and it also made me realize just how many species that they have in common.

Common eastern bumble bee (Bombus impatiens) pollinating a common dandelion (Taraxacum officinale)

Siberian squill (Scillia siberica) found along Colchester Avenue accompanied by some garlic mustard (Alliaria petiolata)

All things considered, I had an awesome time participating in this global effort to collect scientific data. In fact, I already can’t wait for next year’s BioBlitz!

To close, I’d like to share a quote taken from Dr. Robin Wall Kimmerer’s book Braiding Sweetgrass. She says, “Action on behalf of life transforms. Because the relationship between self and the world is reciprocal, it is not a question of first getting enlightened or saved and then acting. As we work to heal the earth, the earth heals us.”

With the arrival of spring (though it’s been a fairly snowy one so far) comes another visit to the Salmon Hole! On a sunny yet cold Friday afternoon, I took a stroll down to the Winooski. Along the way, I saw promising signs of the season to come. For example, I noticed some tree buds starting to swell, lots of bird activity, and bits of greenery peeking out from the snow.

Some of the tree twigs/buds I looked at included shagbark hickory, sugar maple, Norway maple, boxelder, red twig dogwood, and common buckthorn. A few of these had started to open up, while others seemed to be put off by the lasting cold weather and have stayed shut for now.

Red twig dogwood (left) and boxelder (right)

Norway maple (left) and sugar maple (right)

Here’s a sketch I did of what I believe to be a shagbark hickory twig that I found on the ground during this visit:

Additionally, while I didn’t see any signs of amphibians and the only tracks I saw were from humans and domestic dogs, I found signs of spring in other places. For example, the persistence of moss and ferns as well as the emergence of greenery such as garlic mustard and celandine showed the swinging in of spring.

Schreber’s big red stem moss/Pleurozium schreberi (left) and Smoothcap moss/Atrichum undulatum (right)

Celandine (left) and garlic mustard (right)

Another exciting discovery during this visit was being able to hear and see some new bird species that I hadn’t observed before at the Salmon Hole. Some of them were the same, like the ever-present crow, but others I hadn’t seen before in this area, which may have been linked to the changing of seasons (or the high tide of the river at the time I visited). For example, this visit I saw gulls and some mallards, which I’ve seen flying overhead before but never so close to me in the water and on the rocky cliffs. I also got to witness a juvenile double-crested cormorant repeatedly dive into the Winooski trying to forage some food.

Two gulls walking on the rocky cliffside of the Winooski (left) and two mallards swimming in the water (right)

Two videos showing a juvenile double-crested cormorant landing in the Winooski and then diving to get food.

On Thursday, February 15, I decided to go past my usual spot at the Salmon Hole and follow the Winooski River down to the Intervale. For a while along the trail, the only thing I saw were gray squirrel tracks, which I could tell due to the length of the tracks I spotted being 5 centimeters and the fact that red squirrels prefer coniferous forests. Though I’ve seen many squirrel prints by now, the prints on Thursday were more clearly visible than usual which was exciting. I was getting down about there being less snow a couple of days ago, so it was thrilling to go out and track again in the fresh snow. I did more walking around and didn’t find any tracks that stood out to me, so I turned my attention up to the trees and the many bird calls I was hearing. I heard a lot of chickadee and crow calls, along with some calls that I did not recognize (which I have added audio clips of below; sorry if they’re hard to hear because of the wind). While I was looking up more, I also noticed a couple of trees with holes that I assume were either from the nearby chickadees, or by other birds such as woodpeckers and nuthatches. I also saw a tree that looked like it had beaver chew marks on it which was really cool!

After this, I kept walking along the Winooski, keeping an eye out for any interesting tracks. Then, a path of hand-like prints leading towards the river caught my attention. The fact that the length of these tracks was about 6 centimeters mixed with the fact that they were in groups of two side by side led me to believe these were raccoon prints. After this, I went closer to the bank of the river and spotted a different set of tracks that looked very interesting. At first glance, I saw five toes in the print and got very excited, assuming it could’ve been part of the weasel family. However, after measuring these prints and looking at their pattern, I concluded that they were probably skunk prints (or potentially raccoon, but I’m leaning towards skunk). I came to this conclusion not only because of the track’s size but because of the fact that the tracks had one front foot in front of the larger hind foot, which is similar to that of a skunk.

All in all, it was really cool to explore an area outside of the Salmon Hole that I had never been to before. After making this visit, I uploaded pictures that I took onto iNaturalist, which is one of my favorite apps for organism identification. After uploading, I got responses to some of my pictures confirming some of the suspicions I had about what I saw. For example, someone responded to my raccoon track pictures agreeing that they were most likely raccoon tracks, and someone else responded to my picture of the tree with the chew marks and said they were probably from a beaver. It was cool to see this confirmation from others.

Unidentified bird call audios

Gray squirrel tracks

Raccoon tracks

Skunk (?) prints that I followed leading to a tree overhang

Tree with beaver marks

Trees with holes and other marks left by birds

To close, here’s a picture I took of the icy Winooski river : )

I’m back in Burlington so you know what that means…another Salmon Hole blog post! I was so excited to go back to what has become one of my favorite spots to walk to in Burlington. I was a bit worried going into it that I wasn’t going to see many signs of animal activity, since most of the snow had been melted by the recent rainfall. However, I was pleasantly surprised by the presence of multiple different animal tracks in the slush. While following the tracks of one particular animal (which I believe was either a large dog or potentially a coyote), I strayed away from my usual spot. However, I still noticed some changes since my last visit in the area that I normally stay in. For one, all of the buckthorn had finally lost their leaves, and some of the Northern Red Oaks were still holding on to their last bits of foliage. I also noticed that mosses, liverworts, and lichens were continuing to thrive in the wet and rocky environment that is the Salmon Hole despite the seasonal drop in temperature.

Moss (left) liverwort (middle) and lichen (right) making their presence known during the cold winter weather

Once I started to walk away from the path I usually go, though, is where things started to get really exciting. Like I mentioned before, the tracks of a larger mammal really stood out to me. It was really thrilling getting to take out my mammal tracking guide and following the prints in the snow until I couldn’t anymore. It made me wonder where the animal was going and why. It was really cool to try and put myself in a coyote’s shoes and think about what they’d be doing.

Tracks off the beaten path next to my mammal tracking guide. Assuming these aren’t dog prints, I believe they’re from a coyote (this could make sense due to their adaptability to areas that have higher human presence)

Another set of prints I found walking in the direction of the Winooski river. These were somewhat melted and so they were a bit hard to identify but looked a lot to me like squirrel tracks.

For my last visit to the Salmon Hole for the semester, I had bittersweet feelings while walking to my spot. I was excited to observe the changes in the landscape brought on by the start of winter, but I was also a bit sad that I won’t be seeing the Salmon Hole for a while once I go back home for winter break. As I walked to my usual sit spot, the main thing I noticed was there was a much clearer view of the river, since the majority of the leaves on the trees had now fallen. I did notice a couple of Northern Red Oaks were still holding on to their last few leaves as well as the abundant buckthorn, despite looking much more withered than the last time I saw it. Another species that was still holding on to their vegetation was a shrub with red berries and buds (according to iNaturalist it was multiflora rose). I was also struck by the presence of ice while walking on the trail where water had puddled. Along with the presence of ice, I noticed that the thick layer of leaves in the understory was more mushy rather than crunchy, probably due to the recent rain and snow but also because of the start of decomposition.

As far as animal activity goes, I definitely noticed less bird calls than I usually hear at the Salmon Hole. I heard a few crows, but beyond that my visit was silent for a while. At one point while I was walking around, though, I started to hear the calls of Canada geese and got super excited. I looked up and sure enough there was a beautiful pattern of migrating geese overhead. I also tried looking for animal tracks and thought I wasn’t going to find anything but was pleasantly surprised when I eventually found some small tracks on the edge of the trail, which I believe were most likely squirrel tracks. Another potential sign of animal activity was some marks I saw on trees. On one tree, I noticed horizontal scratches in the bark, and on another I saw holes (potentially left by a woodpecker) and vertical breakage of bark. It was hard to tell what left these marks, but it was still a curious sight. Despite me not being able to find any animal nests or scat, it was still really cool to already see tracks in the fresh snow, mysterious marks on trees, and evidence of migration as shown by the geese.

It also wouldn’t be a visit to the Salmon Hole without me finding a cool mushroom to share. On this visit, I found a tree absolutely covered in fungi. They looked a bit like turkey tail mushrooms, but I’m not 100% sure what they were. All I know is that I’d never noticed this particular tree before, and it definitely stood out while completely overgrown with mushrooms.

Finally, since it’s my last visit to the Salmon Hole of the semester, I’d like to reflect on some of my favorite parts of visiting this beautiful spot. Like I mentioned in my first post, I was initially drawn to this place for its view of the Winooski river and an open rock face, but since then my relationship with it has grown beyond that. I’ve loved getting to notice small details, from the vegetation to the traces of wildlife, that reflect the bigger picture of the Salmon Hole and the land surrounding it. I hope this blog has so far reflected that excitement and I can’t wait to keep visiting this spot in the future.

Withered common buckthorn (left) and Northern red oak leaves (right)

Geese migrating (left) and small animal tracks in the snow (right)

Mushrooms covering a tree (left) and multiflora rose berries (right)

Tree with horizontal scratch marks (left) and tree with holes in it and bark broken off (right)

On the morning of Thanksgiving day, I walked with my dad and my dog, Rudy, to Coldbrook Creek on Aquinas College’s campus. Coldbrook Creek is an urban stream that flows through Grand Rapids, and is a short walk from my childhood home. It’s headwaters are at Fisk Lake and the creek eventually drains into the Grand River, which flows to Lake Michigan. I was fascinated when drawing my comparisons of ecology and phenology between the woods surrounding Coldbrook Creek versus that of the Salmon Hole back in Vermont. For one, I was immediately struck by the presence of common buckthorn in the understory, which I am all too familiar with by now. I also noticed that a lot of the tree species found in the overstory were common to both areas, such as American Beech, Northern Red Oak, and Sugar as well as Noway Maple. There was also withered Goldenrod found on the path along Coldbrook Creek just like what I pictured in my last blog post about the Salmon Hole.

Besides just vegetation, though, these two areas are also similar due to their location and land use. They are both urban natural areas with a body of water running through them, and they are both next to roads and college campuses. They also both have evidence of human impact on the waterway, with visible drainage pipes and/or water management facilities nearby. Because of their urbanized environments, both of these natural areas have, in my experience, had limited wildlife sightings. During my visit to Coldbrook Creek, I had some encounters with squirrels and heard occasional bird calls, but didn’t see much beyond that (though I’ve heard of Barred Owl sightings in the area). I was also surprised to see bark from a tree that was rubbed off in an area somewhat low to the ground. My dad suggested that it could’ve been the work of a buck, but that would be surprising since deer aren’t often seen here in this busy area. Another thing that was unique about my visit to Coldbrook Creek was the presence of English Ivy, which is an invasive species of ivy, in the understory and growing up trees. I also spotted a couple of bladdernut trees during my walk, which are native to Michigan. Overall, it was really amazing to visit a place that I have grown up next to through a new lens and be able to draw comparisons to my phenology spot back in Burlington.

Common Buckthorn in the understory of the woods near Coldbrook Creek

Pods of an American Bladdernut tree (left) and a leaf from an American Beech tree (right)

English ivy growing in the understory and up some trees (left) and a curious squirrel (Eastern fox squirrel?) who spotted me walking (right)

A curious sight of bark rubbed off of a tree (could be from a buck rub)

Google maps view of the area I was exploring

On a beautiful November evening I took a stroll to the Salmon Hole once again. It was very exciting to try and discover what changes had occurred in this area between this visit and my last. One of the most obvious differences was the large increase in leaf cover on the ground. Another thing I noticed which was related to this was the notable bareness of the trees and other vegetation. In particular, the goldenrod along the path to the Winooski river, which had already lost its distinctive yellow color the last time I was here, was even more withered. Additionally, the buckthorn, which there is a lot of in this area, stayed mostly intact but even it was starting to lose leaves.

I chose to sit on a fallen paper birch in the area where the path splits off into two to take notes about the things I heard and saw. This is the same birch that I showed a picture of in my first post, and it still had the fungi on it and buckthorn surrounding it. During the fifteen minutes that I sat there, I heard planes flying, cars driving, water rushing, leaves rustling, wind blowing, and chickadees calling. I also saw leaves falling and trees swaying. Once I was done sitting down, I was curious to see if I could find the chickadees that I had heard. To my delight, I saw a couple of them flying and one even landed and got close enough that I took a quick video before it flew away. Besides that, though, I again didn’t see much wildlife.

Pictured above is an aerial view of my site at the Salmon Hole. I put a black dot where my sit spot was, and tried to depict the area around it as best as I could, though it turned out a bit chaotic. I know the map is unorganized but I hope it still aids in visualizing where I’ve been visiting.

Withered goldenrod along the path leading to the Winooski river

Small mushroom I found hiding in the leafy understory

Images showing the many leaves covering the ground and barren trees (while the buckthorn is still doing particularly well)

Short video I captured of what I believe is a black-capped chickadee hopping up a branch and flying away (sorry for the low quality)