Assignment #5: December 4, 2024

04 Dec 2024 Leave a comment

by hlightca in Winooski

Final visit to the Winooski River!

Since my last visit, even the Norway maples in the distance have lost their leaves, leaving only sticks throughout the surrounding forest. Some grasses speckle the forest floor.

Even the oriental bittersweet is barely holding on and the berries have lost their casing.

I did not notice much animal activity, but not necessarily any less than before. All the tracks I saw in the sand belonged to sneakers and boots. A squirrel and a few birds have stuck around. The leaves have lost their color and have begun to curl up and decompose, exposing the sandy soil.

An outside view of my phenology spot from the rocky area of the riverbank.

I really enjoyed doing this project and connecting to one place for an entire semester. It honestly made me sad to see this place lose its life, but I can appreciate the cyclical nature of the seasons and remind myself that the leaves will be back in just a few months. Winter is the time for everyone to hunker down, including plants and animals. My year has been somewhat tumultuous, so having one constancy during this first semester was comforting. I saw myself developing and changing alongside this place, with my fall being full of disruption and this coming winter bringing some restfulness back into my life.

Assignment #4: December 1, 2024

01 Dec 2024 Leave a comment

by hlightca in Extras

Over break, I visited the Three Sisters at Sugarcreek MetroPark in Bellbrook, Ohio, with my dad. The Three Sisters are 580-year-old white oak trees. Neither my dad nor I had visited here before, but we’ve been trying to explore the different MetroParks in the Dayton area.

The middle sister fell to the ground in 2008 after being weakened by a fire, seen to the right. The big sister, in the front, is one of the two biggest trees in the MetroParks.
Little Sister
Osage Orange Tunnel
Big Sister

Honeysuckle visibly dominates the understory of this forest, as it is the last tree here to hold onto its leaves. There was sparse new growth for the native trees of this forest. The overstory consisted of a mix of white oak, sycamore, cottonwood, sugar maple, black cherry, and chestnut oak. There are little to no coniferous trees in this forest, which is similar to my phenology spot by the Winooski River. The soil in Ohio felt more clay-like, in contrast to the sandy soil in Burlington. Most of the groundcover has died off by now, but it appeared to be grassy in this opening where the white oak trees were. It appeared that there were a lot of fallen trees in this forest, and with most of the new growth being invasive honeysuckle, it makes me worried for the future of this forest.

What was most notable to me when I was picking somewhere to visit for my assignment was that Sugarcreek MetroPark was once completely farmland. The Osage orange trees seen planted in rows once acted as fencing for their cattle before barbed wire was invented. The MetroPark system in Dayton is similar to the urban natural areas in Burlington, in that conscious land use practices have restored this forest after its clearing, allowing for use by the public.

Overall, I was really shocked that these trees had been 40 minutes away from my house my whole life and I had never seen them! I can’t imagine what they have seen in their lifetime, and I am curious about the history of land use in the Greater Dayton area as it compares to what we have learned about Burlington. I am extremely grateful to have these urban natural areas available to me at home as well as in Burlington.

https://maps.app.goo.gl/JP1EwWk2wsT9EBJ4A

"Live in each season as it passes; breathe the air, drink the drink, taste the fruit, and resign yourself to the influences of each." -Henry David Thoreau, 1853

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