Winooski River Phenology Project

Last time visiting! It was really nice, almost hot out, when I was walking down to Winooski, but when I got there the rain started to roll in, and I had to make my visit shorter than I would have liked.

I immediately noticed that there was driftwood and a lot more sand on the ground. The river must have made it all the way up to this area at one point when all the snow was melting!

Some woody plants were beginning to bud and leaves beginning to grow, but most were still in the early stages of springtime. The oriental bittersweet has still managed to hold onto its leaves from last fall, visibly unaligned with the native plants in the area.

The herbaceous plants present here before are barely showing signs at this point, with sparse patches just beginning to pop out of the ground.

Culture and nature intertwine at my place mainly through the view of the mill town Winooski across the river. The river became the sole reason this town became a driver of textile mills in the 19th and 20th centuries. As well, the history of the Winooskik tribe, the original inhabitants of this area, sets this area apart from others. The tribe settled along the rich river valley, relying on the river and the floodplain for sustenance. Today, this area has been designated as hiking trails by Burlington Wildways, providing people like me with access to this nice location.

The riverbank, especially this rocky area off to the right of my site, has always been something notable to me. This time around, the rocky area had been taken over by the river. As well, the staircase that takes me down to this area is another notable landmark in this area, even if it is man-made. Some of the dead trees here, especially one that has been half eaten by a beaver, always stick out to me.

I do consider myself part of this place. I have undergone a lot of change over this year, changing almost alongside this site. Visiting Salmon Hole has always been a constant during the school year, and I have grown to really love this place. I will definitely continue to come here in the future as it feels very special to me. This place is just off of the road, but it feels so isolated. Even just having 30 minutes to myself in a place that I have become so familiar with has been a formative experience for me in my freshman year.

There has not been fresh snow in a while, but winter is in full swing. There are no longer any signs of leaves, with the exception of a few oriental bittersweet berries left over. Even the last straggler leaves have dropped to the ground. Almost everything that once covered the forest floor has decomposed.

The first signs of wildlife I saw were a chickadee and a woodpecker! I saw more bird activity than in the past. At first, I thought there would not be many tracks to observe, but after about 10 minutes I realized I was mistaken.

These tracks look like they belong to a rabbit.

I was unsure of what may have left these marks, but after consulting with my mom’s coworker (an environmental educator), I’m thinking it may have been a fisher dragging its belly in the snow.

There were plenty of tracks like these. I’m assuming this is a dog since it was accompanied by human footprints.

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.

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.

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.

During the 15 minutes, I first noticed the juxtaposition of where I was sitting and the other side of the river. On the opposite side of the river, there is the town of Winooski. Anytime I’ve come down here I’ve had my headphones on, so the auditory observations I made were the most notable. There was a distant hum of cars mixed with the rush of water at Salmon Hole. I could hear cars beeping and at the same time birds chirping. Something about the giant cottonwood trees creaking and the animals rustling the leaves was freaking me out though. I can’t think of a time I’ve been able to sit without distraction for that long since I’ve been here, so it was refreshing. I did spend most of the time ripping apart leaves. By the end of the 15 minutes, I was starting to reflect on all my life choices instead of my phenology spot, so I was ready to be done.

The vegetation has changed drastically since the last time I was here. Almost everything has died, and all the trees have lost their leaves with some stragglers on the buckthorn. A little outside of the circle of my phenology spot but still within sight, the Norway maples have largely held onto their leaves. The grasses and some of the leafy vegetation has survived, but the woody vegetation has been left to sticks. Some of the bittersweet has held on as well, relying on the trees it has enveloped.

Winooski River, Salmon Hole

I chose this location because I had only ever been around the Winooski Falls Park on the opposite side of the river, but I would always see people walking down by the banks on this side. I was curious how they were getting down here, so I investigated, finding a path that comes to this spot and then continues along the riverside. This spot has more of a clearing than most of the surrounding areas, with a patch of new growth and some vegetation surrounded by more mature trees.

Directions:

• Starting at McAuley Hall (Trinity Campus)
• Walk left (north) down Colchester Avenue all the way until Riverside Avenue
• Follow the sidewalk to the left and cross Riverside Avenue
• Turn left and walk down the path past the Salmon Hole sign and then around the corner
• Follow the first dirt path that diverges off to the right and follow the small sign that says “Burlington Wildway”
• Walk through the two stone pillars and down the River Walk Trail
• Take the first steps to the right and cross both wooden bridges
• Pass the bench at the first trail and take the second trail to the right down to the water

Woody Plants!

• Eastern Cottonwood
• American Elm
• White Ash
• Silver Maple
• Ashes
• Chokecherry
• Oriental Bittersweet
• Common Buckthorn
• Basswood
• Riverbank Grape
• Sugar Maple
• American Bittersweet

I only observed deciduous trees in this area. By far, the most common woody plant I observed was Oriental bittersweet, an invasive vine from Asia that chokes out native species. I noticed the vines stunting new growth and growing all the way up mature trees. I was struggling to differentiate American and Oriental bittersweet, but I do believe there was some American bittersweet as well, which is native.

A lot of the understory is comprised of ashes, buckthorn, and chokecherry, and the most prevalent mature tree in the overstory is the Eastern cottonwood. Most of the ground cover is woody plants, but the vegetation includes mainly ferns with some grasses closer to the river.