What did I find?

Beyond the few flowers I stopped to take a photo of on Saturday while walking downtown, my main observations came from a visit to Centennial Woods. I tried to take a photo of anything that stood out to me and tried to make a great effort to really pay attention to everything around me, sights and sounds, and smells included! I enjoyed using iNaturalist, and I have for a long time. My Senior year Environmental Science Professor encouraged me to get it, so I’ve been using it for over a year now!

Although somewhat hard to decipher, the left is a map of the general area surrounding Cenntenial Woods and the observations of all of the Lab Sections. On the right, is my specific path of observations.

How Many Species?

According to iNaturalist, I on my own was able to identify about 16 species, although as a whole, I made 55 Observations. I will attempt to caption all of the photos of the findings that I have the names available.

In an effort to not excessively include tree species I frequently identify, I only included three of the many I took a photo of.

Finding Slugs was new for me, but I was pleasantly surprised to see many of them showing up in Cenntenial Woods. I am not entirely certain about my identification, but according to iNaturalist suggestions, the three slugs above can be classified as Arion Slugs.

Not only did I see a lot of trees and a few species, I saw quite a few beautiful fungi species!

There were a few species that were out and about in Cenntenial including a Black Capped Chickadee, a Mouse of some sort, and a Common Racoon!

I loved getting to see some ferns out and about today, and I was mesmerized by just how beautiful they were!

On my walk back to campus, I stopped outside of Jeffords Hall to take a look at all the spring flowers that were planted and there were some pretty beautiful colors to behold!

City Nature Challenge Takeaways?

I went looking into other City Nature Challenge pages and was amazed by some of the beautiful observations I found! I went first to my home state of Texas, where the Dallas/Fort Worth City Nature Challenge is currently in fourth place! I put some of my favorite photos I found scrolling through the observations below:

I decided to look at the location in First Place as well, La Paz in Bolivia and I find it so interesting and inspiring how much participation there is! I also found out through a quick Google search that La Paz is actually the World’s highest city as well! Some interesting photos from Bolivia I included below:

If it wasn’t obvious, I am a big flower person, so I really enjoyed seeing all of the various and diverse flora of the world, and I will be excited to see the winner of the whole challenge!

The End

Even though I was a whole sentimental mess at the end of the last blog post, I will spare this post from being a follow-up to that. I was excited to return to Centennial Woods today for the BioBlitz just like I was excited to visit Centennial as my very first Tree ID trip from last semester!

I am so happy to have learned so much, and gotten to document it here. I will miss getting to ramble on about trees and flowers and tracks all the time, but I am grateful that I had somewhere to go on about it all!

“There is no real ending. It’s just the place where you choose to stop the story.”

Frank Herbert

A Final Visit

I really didn’t expect to be as saddened as I was that this would be my last blog post and that I wasn’t going to have to go to Rock Point every month to notice changes. That’s not to say that I can’t, but it’s a great reminder about all of the changes that are not only happening phenologically at Rock Point but in my life as well. I have come to learn so much through the past semesters that each time I returned to Rock Point I knew more than I did before, and it’s strange to think that as I have taken the time to notice the changes at Rock Point, I now know what many of them mean.

When I got to my sit spot to sit and sketch, I felt more inclined to write about the prompts, and I probably spent about forty minutes or so writing. Just taking the time to soak in my spot, and remember all of the ways that I have seen it change. I’m going to include what I wrote here, with photos in between that will scale the entire length of my visits to Lone Rock Point.

Some Spring Images From Today’s Visit!

My Sit-Spot Writing

I have come to Rock Point at nearly every landmark of its phenological timeline, and so I had asked myself: What’s Changed?

The Northern White Cedars, still strong and sturdy went from golden brown in the fall to freezing over with ice, and then back to the vibrant green that they once were.

The Leaves that once overwhelmed the pathways have gone back to the trees, with buds blooming all around. The rocks on the shore are no longer frozen together, and the sounds of the Limestone Cedar Bluff have re-emerged.

These changes are hard to spot with the everyday eye, but focusing on Lone Rock Point has shown the complex and distinct changes that have come with a phenological calendar.

Humans… Hurt or Help?

The sign that is to the right of my sit spot that once read, “Please do not cross roped area; protected wildlife habitat.” is no longer there, there’s hope that this was a change for the better?

Storms? Massive Changes to the Landscape?

The forest and all of its surroundings survived the fairly mild winter, and with no major changes due to storms, the landscape remains for the most part the same throughout the seasons.

My Major and Minor Landmarks

I have become familiar with the community garden and mini library that Elise, Isabella, and I have stopped to look at each walk down to the point. I’ve become familiar with the Paper Birch tree I have spent the last month analyzing and visiting (which is now budding!!) Familiar with the ferns that line the ground beside the base of the Northern Red Oaks and Eastern White Pines. I’ve become familiar with the ever-allusive Adirondacks, which have been green, gray, snowy, and completely hidden by dense fog, but now are back and on display.

How are Humans, Culture, and Nature Intertwined at Lone Rock Point?

Rock Point School and Episcopal Stewardship maintain Rock Point, as well as the respect and adoration of the beauty of the spot of all the people who come to visit. It is undoubtedly that nature and culture are intertwined at Lone Rock Point, as well as the people who partake in admiring the view.

How do I fit in?

I do consider myself a part of Rock Point. I feel so obliged to take care of the landscape and as I have been sitting listening to birdsong, and feeling the sunshine peak through the leaves of the Cedar above me, how could I not consider myself a part of this place?

Strength In Numbers!

I have had such a great experience coming to Rock Point, and I have learned so much about what it means to be a part of a place and to have a relationship with it. I didn’t do it alone though, I have great friends (and a brother) that have accompanied me, and I am so glad to have gotten to share this place with them too!

Words of My Own!

I usually end with a quote, but I thought that I would end with a poem I wrote with magnets on my dorm fridge, just because this is my last post about Lone Rock Point, and it generally fits the themes of what I usually choose!

I feel like spring
so today I dance beneath 
the stars and like the flowers
my heart will bloom too

Lauren Holloway

Warmer Days and New Signs of Life!

Today, I went back to Rock Point to look at my tree and try to notice any changes or signs of budding since the last time. While there wasn’t a significant change in the bud, there were significant changes that point to springtime and new life all around!

It was a beautiful sunny day at Rock Point and my Paper Birch is looking as good as ever. It may have just been the sun, but the bud, as pictured on the right, has more green to it, and appears to be slightly more protruding than during my prior visits.

iNaturalist Post!

This is my iNaturalist post, which gets very little action from fellow Tree ID-ers!

Other Signs of Life!

Even though there wasn’t much of a change with my bud and Paper Birch tree, there were quite a few noticeable changes throughout my walk at Rock Point. From new Ferns, mosses, budding grasses, and birdsong, it is clear that spring, even more than last time, is upon us.

Close-up Waters!

Another interesting find that I thought I would share, is that Elise and I went down to the water this trip because there was no longer any ice that made it difficult to get down to the shore. This time down by the water, the water was incredibly close, and there was a small icicle that showed the remaining winter weather!

Birdsong and New Friends!

Showers and sunshine bring,
Slowly, the deepening verdure o’er the earth;
To put their foliage out, the woods are slack,
And one by one the singing-birds come back.

-William C. Bryant