Over break, I chose a heavily wooded area behind my house as my phenology spot. I frequently hike in this area on trails made by my neighbors, but besides the trials, the rest of the area is mostly untouched and respected by people. I encountered many deer and a couple foxes on my hike in the area over break. The area consisted of mostly young birches and extremely tall, mature hardwoods, and little to no evergreens in sight. What’s also interesting about this area is that it is surrounded by farms with chickens, horses, sheep, and ducks, which I’ve noticed throughout the years leads to this wooded area being home to many farm animal predators. Unfortunately, I’ve come across the remains of farm animals from time to time, and I always hear coyotes and foxes coming from these woods during the nights.
Unlike the vegetation in Vermont, I noticed that the vegetation in this location tends to be more green for longer due to the slightly higher temperatures Maryland experiences during the days in the fall/winter. I saw more wildlife in this location than at Salmon Hole, which was interesting because I would have expected otherwise.
