This was my last visit to my spot and to Centennial for the rest of the school year (will be visiting again soon), and I loved just taking in and appreciating how much my spot has grown, shifted, and changed as the seasons interacted with its species. The maples and oaks that are scattered about my plot were covered in fresh, light green buds and leaves, bringing the baby growth of spring. The barks on the trees had a new color and tint to them from the new warmth and sunlight. The groundcover was no longer grey and dead but now covered in wildflowers, grass, and barberry bush covered in bright hues of lime green buds. The ferns were now sprouting into their fiddlehead stage, bright with promise, and the portion of ground that was the layer of fallen pine needles was now minimal and a deep and lovely shade of emerald green. The Eastern pines surrounding my plot were breathing the new spring air in, and I took in the view by lying completely down and staring straight up into the canopy (pictured below). Centennial is one of the only undeveloped natural areas of land on UVM’s campus, as well as the greater Burlington area, so it can receive heavier foot traffic, especially when the warmer weather starts approaching. These interactions can lead animals to be more stressed in their environment, but it is a factor that cannot be changed and most of the inhabitants seem unbothered. Culture in the natural sense has a deep connection to the nature in this place because of the array it holds. Biodiversity in Centennial alone is rich, but concentrating it to just my plot still offers quite the array of species interactions and a variety of stories to be observed that are whispered by the trees. I consider myself to be an appreciative guest of my phenological spot, as I have watched it change so much that I am only an observer of the place. Like the scientist I am, I still am that little kid in the forest and I love interacting and appreciating my place like I am part of it and that I know it well enough to understand the changes and shifts in its biological stages.
While I am not much of an artist, I wanted to “challenge” myself and draw my phenology spot for my last blog as it was encouraged in the directions. In doing so, I allowed myself to draw however I wanted to, and not confine myself to what the physical image was, but more of how I felt the place looked like with multiple seasons mushed together. This rough drawing is a culmination of these ideas and thoughts.
I spent most of my Sunday exploring Centennial Woods, as I have a personal bias. I entered into the woods at around noon, planning to spend the rest of the day there. I really enjoy my time in there because I can really spend my time these days focusing on the smaller changes in the woods. Having viewed this forest go through all four seasons now, I truly appreciate and love everything it has to offer for me and everyone who chooses to explore it. I had traditionally used Seek as my app for nature identification, so switching apps was the only jump. The actual identification process was also a breeze, and I picked up a lovely small array of 12 observations, with a total of 12 species.
This first plant that I identified was this lovely Canada Hawkweed. I was strolling along the stream bed that is just past the first set of bird feeders, and I stumbled across a nice patch of this. This American Red Squirrel enjoyed its time examining the bird feeder in the tree adjacent to him, as a hungry and very curious chickadee explored said feeder. I found this Purplepore Bracket along the riverbed by first set of bridges that are completely outside of the forest’s canopy. This Bittercress was scattered near the Bear Crossing bridge and pond. The hungry gold finch was pecking at this feeder for almost 10 minutes before losing interest. I watched with my friend as it explored the ins and outs of the contraption. This Rough Horsetail, which I memorably call by the first part of its latin name, Equisetum, was scattered about and beginning to grow all along the inner parts of the marsh, a sign that warmer temperatures are upon us. However, it is nonnative but is mostly harmless aside from taking up habitat space in the competition of the web. This lovely Mallard was quite fearless when it walked confidently across the bridge at this pond with my friend and I also on it, minutes after this picture was taken. This Common Garter Snake was slithering along the path that is just past the pond and into the field of mixed-species saplings. I was particularly excited to find this Eastern Crayfish, as it is always a species I am on the lookout for when I come across small forested streams, ponds, and brooks. These fiddleheads of the Royal Fern Family were scattered all about Centennial Woods, sprouting up and beginning their next stage of growth. This maple bud was hanging off what had looked to be a dead tree that ended up being very much alive, however precariously perched against another tree it might’ve been. This plant striked me with interest due to how uninteresting it probably appeared to most people. I could not identify it fully as iNaturalist defined it as a Burdocks, and I was unsure what it was, and my friend was unsure as well.
For spring break this year, I travelled with two of my friends to Maine. We did a beautiful sunset hike of Borestone mountain, an Audubon Society protected land area. There was about 5 inches of snow, and the trail was extremely icy at parts, but it was a great hike. We drove up most of the way to the timberline, where spruces were dominating the first part of the trail, with a few softwoods scattered about. The summit was mostly hardwoods, with a few ravens circling nearby. Bird activity was low, and the only birds I observed were ravens, a chickadee, and a few robins at the beginning of the hike. This spot is much different from my phenology spot in Burlington. My spot here isn’t above a timberline and has more easily observable smaller mammal activity. I found it easier to find smaller tracks in Centennial woods then compared to Borestone, which had larger and more spread out mammal tracks. The Burlington spot it much more oak and birch dominated, with more fern underbrush, whereas Borestone had more white pine dominated areas and alpine tundra areas.
For this post, I journeyed with two of fellow NR 02 friends. We started on campus and went downtown to the waterfront area, where a handful of birds could be observed, like some American Robins and a handful of black-capped chikadees. The robins were flying in swarms, filling up the trees along the city. The waterfront was a winter wonderland, with the lake frozen enough to walk on. I appreciated the sheer size of Lake Champlain for a second. We then headed towards the South End, where there is less of a natural aspect and more city-like, but beautiful nonetheless. On our walk, more robins flew our way, with a few curious American crows. Towards this point in the walk, we were near The Intervale, where I spotted a lovely male blue jay with his colors shining against the sun. There were squirrels and chipmunks all around the city, especially at the Intervale and the Waterfront. Finishing up our walk back to campus, we found a multitude of dog tracks and a cool set of what possibly could have been raccoon tracks. The weather out was beautiful, with the sun hitting against the snow on the sidewalks and the chatter of strangers walking around. I noted a mix of maples, ashes, and oaks around the city, as those were most noticeable to my eye. I have used the iNaturalist app before for hikes, and it is really helpful in identifying plants I didn’t know that I was curious about. \
Ahh. The peaceful paradise. I missed the quick silencing of all the city noises as I walk into Centennial Woods. I walk briskly but peacefully, eager to get to my plot. I reach my favorite observing point on the trail to my plot, and take my strategically placed shot of the whole area, a very similar picture to the last Winter Wonderland. I look around, careful to not ruin any potential tracks, and take two more pictures, mainly for the collection of tracks but also to document all the plants and snow. It is a beautiful spot in these woods for me, as I think its a fairly overlooked spot. Not many people might think to stop and really look around a random spot on the trail that is in no way a “spectacular” spot, but I took that thought in mind and stopped randomly on the trail. It ended up being such an exciting choice that I would make, as I glanced around now in my present mind again, breathing in the cold air and observing.
The moment I entered Centennial Woods I noticed so many differences in the forest, from the loss of canopy coverage to the more brown, grey color scheme. it was actively snowing, creating a beautiful scene before me. Once I reached my spot, I noticed little to no signs of wildlife on the ground, but there was a pair of tracks in the fresh fallen snow nearby on the side of the trail. There were multiple bird songs and sightings, first spotted was a black cap chickadee before multiple other were spotted. I documented a tufted titmouse, a downy woodpecker, and multiple dark eyed juncos. About a centimeter of snow had fallen by the time I had reached my spot, and all the ferns in my area were still green, but now flattened and pressed against the ground. All the trees were now bare save for the scattered hemlocks around my plot. The snow falling on the hemlocks created a glistening affect against the light that was beautiful. I noticed a thick layer of dead and fallen leaves just under the snow, and an increase in the number of fallen branches. The snow also created some new natural patterns within the plot, with flakes falling and clinging onto fern leaves and bits of moss that are on the trees. While it is no longer bustling with signs of wildlife and foliage, the winter brings a more calming beauty to my spot that I think I like much more than what it brought just a month ago. It is certainly turning into a winter wonderland there.
I based my event map for the city of Burlington off of the examples from the article by Hannah Hinchman, “The World As Events”. I drew out the start of my route at the University Fountain on the green, and walked down College Street. I went with a few other friends as well. This particular area is mostly houses with pretty evenly spaced planted trees on each side of the sidewalks. I then took a right onto South Winooski Avenue, which was just more trees and houses, and then a left after that onto Cherry street. This street had a lot more shops and commercial buildings for the public, and was more crowded than the beginning of our journey was at the green. We then took a left onto Battery street and wandered into the Waterfront park. We saw the playground, grassy areas, large collections of trees, and people on the walkway. The ECHO Center wasn’t far away and that was a cool side adventure. After reconnecting on Battery Street, we checked out the shops and just looked at everything before taking a left onto King street. We checked out this street and it had a nice variety of shops to check out, but we moved on and took a left onto South Union Street before taking a right onto Main street, which was bustling with traffic. Finally we ended back where we started, the University Green.
I sat down on the cool yet slightly damp of the forest floor, feeling the week old fallen pine needles and the mixture of old and freshly fallen oak and maple leaves. I am surrounded by ferns and clumps of buckthorn. The cool air is brushing against my skin and causing a slight rustle to the soon to fall oak, maple and birch leaves. There is little biotic movement, with practically no bugs and the only animals I spotted were 4 squirrels and 1 chipmunk. I heard the calls of a few different birds, but could not identify what type. the bark on all the white birch trees is flaking off, with chunks of the bark littered around the trees. there is less calico aster, and the few that are left are dwindling. all the buckthorn saplings are still growing and look the same. there are almost double the fallen leaves covering the ground I am surrounded by, with at least half of the leaves looking freshly fallen. I watch at least 10 new leaves fall gracefully as the gusts of the wind tug them off the sugar maple I am staring up at. It’s at least 5 degrees cooler than it was last time I visited, and it’s much quieter as no one else can be heard. Last visit, the trail beside my spot had at least 4 visitors walk by, but today there were none. The ferns are starting to wither and look less green than last time I visited.
To get to my phenology spot in Centennial Woods, you first must follow the signs that say Centennial Woods from the Athletic Campus. Once you reach the large sign that says Centennial Woods Natural Area, follow the open trail into the woods and take a left at the “CAUTION poison ivy” sign and follow the footbridges. after a series of footbridges but just before you reach a clearing of pines that has a map sign in the middle of the clearing on one of the trees, stop. You should be about 20-30 feet from the second clearing.
I chose this specific spot because when NR 01 had the first self guided tour of the Centennial Woods area, I stopped at this same spot to admire all the ferns and it seemed like a place that would be interesting to monitor the changes it faces over the course of the changing weather and seasons.
there are currently a large number of ferns scattered across this plot, with fallen pine leaves coloring the ground light orange and brown from the soil underneath. There is an assortment of fallen logs covered in moss, and many fallen tree branches. There are a couple northern red oaks that look to be anywhere between 30-50 years of age. A few of the other standing trees are dead/or dying.
List of species:
– Wood ferns
– Alder buckthorn saplings
– Japanese barberry
– Northern red oaks
– White birch
– Common buckthorn
– Black raspberry
– Calico aster
– Sugar maple
The link below is the general area of my phenology spot !
