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)