Cloudy and misty, 55 degrees F.

As the semester comes to a close, it becomes increasingly more difficult coming to terms with leaving behind one of my favorite places in Burlington, Centennial Woods. Especially as plants begin popping up through soil and trees slowly getting greener, it makes it harder to say goodbye to this place for the summer. I’ve explored this location for quite a bit of time this semester and have seen it go through many changes throughout the shift from harsh winter to rainy spring. I often consider the heritage of the land as belonging to the Abenaki prior to European colonization, and in many ways, the Abenaki’s legacy lives on through the natural history and ecology and of the landscape.

Furthermore, the shift in Vermont from exploitative land use to conservation to recreation is overly apparent in Centennial, as during each one of my visits there I have seen at least one fellow hiker, runner, or dog walker using the space recreationally. There is a great cultural emphasis on getting outdoors in the UVM and greater Burlington communities that makes Centennial Woods such a highly popularized location to spend time in, especially as the weather gets warmer.

Place-based education is an idea that has reached me throughout my time NR001 & NR002, as well as in my Environmental Studies courses, various guest lectures, and time spent outside with friends. Since August, I have come to feel like a significant part of the landscape in Vermont, and specifically Centennial Woods. UVM students (including myself) have a large impact on the health of this natural area, both directly (ie leave no trace principles) or indirectly (runoff of pollution from fields into the natural area). I feel like I am part of my place through small tasks like picking up litter when I visit and making the ecosystem just a little cleaner and healthier for wildlife. Simultaneously, I must consider how my own visits inspecting plant species impacts their ecological health in addition to other practices such as walking on trails while they’re still muddy and compacting the soil. Regardless of whether my impact on Centennial is more positive or negative, I continue to see myself as part of the landscape.

Some phenological changes I have noticed since my last visit to Centennial about a week ago include more moss, increased fern growth, and trees beginning to bud. Additionally, the trails have dried up a little bit; while they are still muddy, the trails are more firm and sturdy. Additionally, the water level in the stream is a little lower than it has been and is flowing less rapidly.

I would like to extend my deepest thanks for following along Centennial Woods’ phenological changes throughout the past semester or two with me, and hope you enjoy your summer.

Sincerely,

Melissa.

Saturday, April 27, 2019

Light rain, 50 degrees F

Happy Earth Week! The center of today’s visit to Centennial Woods was the stream flowing at a much higher speed and volume than I’ve previously seen. With all the rain of the past week, the stream is rapidly flowing and the trails are quite muddy with puddles.

There were no observed wildflowers poking up through the leaf litter; however, there are many dandelion greens which may soon have flowers.

Additionally, only a handful of trees around Centennial are flowering, yet just one of these were located in close proximity to my phenology site (see below). Most trees have buds formed that are not yet at the flowering stage.

Also, I’ve included a sketch of the a flowering tree which can be found here:

And again, happy Earth Week!

10th & Boardwalk. 51°F. Saturday, March 16, 2019.

My spring break was spent in my hometown Ocean City, New Jersey where it was beautiful low-fifty degree weather and sunny all week, with a couple 60+ degree days. That being said, I spent a fair amount of time taking advantage of the unusually warm March by walking on my town’s soft white sandy beaches. This sand is an important part of making my town the popular shore community it is due to its fine texture and light color due to its makeup of primarily quartz with traces of titanium and iron oxide (Stopyra, 2017).

Ocean City was originally a summer home for the Lenape Native Americans. It served as a slightly cooler location to live over the summer with access to plentiful fish and ability to collect oysters and clams. Around the year 1700, Ocean City became home to whaling via whaler John Peck, eventually naming the island Peck’s Beach, in addition to cattle grazing and a place to picnic (Ocean City Vacation, 2019).

In 1879, four Methodist ministers settled Ocean City as a seaside resort and camp meeting place, which lead to the development of the summer family resort the town is today. Currently, OCNJ is a large tourist destination for people from South Jersey and people in the Philadelphia area and suburbs. In the summer time, the beaches are packed with families, beach umbrellas, and seagulls on the hunt to steal the occasional hot dog. But the offseason is really the best time to visit.

Days like today, where it is sunny, warm, and not too windy and the beaches are almost entirely empty are the best days.

Almost all vegetation on the beach here is located on the dunes. Primary species here include Bitter Panicgrass (Panicum amarum), ‘Cape’ American beachgrass (Ammophila breviligulata), Sea Oats (Uniola paniculata), and ‘Avalon’ Saltmeadow Cordgrass (Spartina patens) (Wootton et al, 2019). The purpose of dunes on beaches is to protect the island from flooding during storms, limit erosion on beaches, and provide habitat for wildlife.

The tracks on the beach entrance included foot traffic of many tourists and locals alike, some with their dogs. Otherwise, wildlife tracks were limited to various seagulls, most of which were birds that spend their winters in New Jersey. Soon though, more birds will begin migrating back north.

The change in scenery and climate from Burlington’s Centennial Woods to Ocean City’s beaches is quite stark. I struggle to find too many similarities in the phenology of these spaces as the nature of the sites are very different. That being said, both locations are beginning to experience an increase in bird species, a warming of temperature as spring is showing its first signs, and plants beginning to thaw out.

Spring is coming up quickly (in just a few days actually!) and I couldn’t be happier to have the ability to witness snippets of my hometown’s changing of the seasons through occasional breaks, as well as an in-depth look at my new home in Vermont.  

Ocean City Vacation. (2015). A Brief History of Ocean City, NJ. Retrieved March 17, 2019, from https://www.oceancityvacation.com/about-the-island/history.html

Stopyra, D. (2017, August 16). Why sand doesn’t always look the same in New Jersey. Retrieved March 17, 2019, from https://whyy.org/articles/why-sand-doesnt-always-look-the-same-in-new-jersey/

Wootton, L et al. (n.d.). Dune Manual. NJ Sea Grant Consortium. Retrieved March 17, 2019, from http://njseagrant.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/Dune-Manual-Pgs-compressed.pdf

Wednesday, March 06, 2019

Sunny and windy, 15°F

Happy March. Phenological changes are beginning to occur rapidly as the weather is beginning to show the first signs of warming. It was rather exciting to hear the sounds of flowing water from the stream at my Phenology location and the sounds of birds.

This week, I have been tasked with finding the classifications of my natural community. Based on analysis of elevation and trees in the area, I would classify this region of Centennial Woods as an Oak-Pine-Northern Hardwood Forest. This is due to the amounts of oaks, maples, and birches found here. Within this categorization, it seems to be a Mesic Maple-Ash-Hickory Forest because of its common red maple, sugar maple, and beech trees as well as the soils being shallow and well-drained.

My site has displayed evidence of phenological changes most specifically through its changes in stream conditions. Last time I visited, the stream was completely frozen with a layer of snow on top; however, this week, the stream was only partially frozen (in patches) and flowing at an adequate rate. Additionally, water levels were higher due to the recent precipitation we have received. This also meant that there were patches of ice in areas where the increased water flow had nowhere to go.

Other notable findings are tracks found in Centennial Woods. I found squirrel, rabbit, dog, and white tailed deer tracks in the snow. The conditions for tracking were prime, as there was a sheet of ice under fresh snow, making for distinct and precise tracking conditions.

Thompson, E. H., & Sorenson, E. R. (2005). Wetland, woodland, wildland: A guide to the natural communities of Vermont. Montpelier: Vermont Dept. of Fish and Wildlife and the Nature Conservancy.

Happy February!

Kampf, M. M. (2019, February 4). Snow Covered Bridge [Digital image].

This semester, I will be visiting a new location in Burlington throughout the semester. This spot can be found five or so minutes down the trail in Centennial Woods on the bridge above a small stream (pictured above). I visited this site a few times last semester and it feels just as homey as my previous location on the waterfront, but just a little bit closer to campus. From my dorm on Central Campus, it takes roughly fifteen minutes to get to by walking down Carrigan Drive, then following Catamount Drive until reaching the trailhead. Below you can find the location on Google maps:

Its coordinates are:

Welcome back to the final blog post of the semester!

Today, we’ll be diving into the human history of the Burlington waterfront. Beginning in the 1850’s, the lumber industry was a large economic driver of the city of Burlington, and served as the third largest lumber port in the United States. To support storage, siding, and commercial build up, the waterfront underwent repeated expansion. In the early 20th century, the waterfront began to change as a result in the decline of the lumber industry through the construction of railroad. But by the mid 1900’s, rail was in decline and the area became involved as a bulk petroleum facility which was quite lucrative. This continued up until the late 1980’s, at which point Burlington’s waterfront was experiencing a decline in petroleum, rail, and other forms of profit as well as a serious degradation of the land. Rundown industrial buildings, barbed wire, inaccessible North end, and rubble.

At this point, then-mayor Bernie Sanders enacted a Public Trust Doctrine as restoration of the waterfront for public recreational purposes. During this project, major clean up projects went underway, historical evidence was documented by underwater cameras as a means of logging shipwrecks and old pilings, and a lot of planning.

ECHO opened in 2003, serving as a vital place of experiential learning, community involvement, and history museum. Additionally, replica lighthouses and waterfront affordable housing were constructed.

Currently, the Burlington waterfront is a gorgeous place of recreation, offering beautiful mountain and lake views. The bike path in addition to the park and boardwalk are excellent places to run, bike, or stroll. It is a communal area that is well kept and family friendly.

If you’re interested, check out the rusty remains of industrial piling at my waterfront location which is a jetty into Lake Champlain (near the dog park!). To view this structure, walk over to the very end of the jetty and look directly out to the water, where you may find huge rusted out connected pilings.

If you have been here since the beginning of the semester and the start of the blog posts, THANK YOU for sticking with me to view all the sights and sounds of the BTV Waterfront. I’ve really enjoyed exploring this location over the past few months, and I hope you have enjoyed following along!

Best,

Melissa.

Resources:

History of the Burlington Waterfront. (n.d.). Retrieved December 4, 2018, from https://www.burlingtonvt.gov/CEDO/History

Sunny, 35°F

Happy Thanksgiving!

I’ve been with friends and family for the past week or so in my hometown, Ocean City, New Jersey. I’ve also been spending time at my favorite beach spot-right at the 14th Street Fishing Pier. Below is the link to view it on Google Maps.

https://www.google.com/maps/place/39%C2%B016’15.1%22N+74%C2%B034’51.8%22W/@39.270872,-74.5816145,19z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m6!3m5!1s0x0:0x0!7e2!8m2!3d39.2708717!4d-74.5810663 

Coordinates: 39.270872, -74.581066

If you’re interested in a live look at the 14th Street Fishing Pier, go to the following website, click on”92 Ocean City, NJ CAMS,” then click “14th Street Fishing Pier (#64)” to view.  http://attheshore.com/livecam-14th-street-beach-north#sponsorad 

The compilation of hours I have spent at this beach probably amounts to weeks of my life. This spot feels undeniably like home. The fishing pier is a great spot to set up a hammock to take a nap or read a book. The soft, white sand is incredibly familiar to me, as is the ocean.

This beach is where I went on walks with my grandfather in the morning, met with neighbors during the summertime at sunset, bonded with friends, and spent time with family. It is thoroughly home.

Here are a few photos of my favorite beach spot.

Here is a Leopold-inspired description of OCNJ’s 14th St beach:

There is great value in places that reassure us of our humanity. The beauty of the place in which we inhabit providing us of this reassurance of the beauty of life is something I find immense gratitude in. The most noticeable feature of this spot, located in very far southern New Jersey, is the Atlantic Ocean. The Atlantic’s endless wave break is one of the most comforting sounds I can possibly fathom. For a little over a week sometime in the middle of summer, the ocean turns an immensely clear wonderfully vibrant bright blue green color. But for now, you can appreciate the calm blue ocean sparkling in the sunlight on a brisk November afternoon. From here, one can smell the crisp salty air combined with the sweet scent of Johnson’s caramel popcorn.

A gull takes off from the shoreline in the direction of the boardwalk. The bird flies directly above a washed up horseshoe crab, whose shell remains more intact than the rest of its body, intertwined in seaweed. Surrounding the horseshoe crab, washed up in the sand are quahog clam and blue mussel shells. Large strands of sea lettuce lay flat on the sand, as well as burnt orange, brown, green rockweed in lumps, intertwined in sand.

The 14th Street Fishing Pier, an iconic image of Ocean City, looks strong from afar, yet is deteriorating as a result of many years exposure to saltwater and hurricane seasons. A puddle of saltwater forms around each pillar of the pier as the oceans’ waves go through its ebbs and flows.

A comparison of the Lake Champlain Waterfront and the beach at Ocean City, NJ, in Holland’s writing style:

In photographs, these two phenology sites look surprisingly similar. Beautiful blue water, sunny skies. Yet the key difference here is the lack of mountain ranges in Ocean City, and instead the Atlantic for as far as you can see. More specifically, the island of Ocean City is on the Atlantic and the Burlington waterfront is on Lake Champlain.

The sand on the beaches are both white-yellow in color. Yet the grain size is much smaller in OC, making for much softer sand than Burlington’s more coarse and sometimes rocky sand. The beach size of Lake Champlain is quite small in comparison to my hometown’s.

Another noticeable difference between these two spaces is the greenery, or lack thereof. Burlington’s waterfront has many trees, shrubs, grasses, etc. scattered with rocks nearby. Yet Ocean City’s beaches are fairly open, with the exception of dune grasses at the entrance to the beach. This is the area in which fox, bunnies, and bees inhabit. In addition to these organisms, many gulls are migrating this time of year, and one can spot an array of different bird species on the beaches. In contrast, at Lake Champlain, I’ve seen turtles, ducks, a few gulls, and songbirds.

Kampf, M. (Photographer). (2018). Untitled [Ocean City Beach, Photograph].

Sunday, November 04, 2018 2:00pm

55°F Sunny

What a beautiful day for a walk on the Champlain waterfront. This is the busiest I’ve seen the waterfront since the end of this summer. So many people were taking advantage of the great weather (with their dogs, too!).

Since my last visit to the phenology site, most trees, shrubs, and saplings are brown and without leaves, with the exception of a few red maples. Also, I did not see any birds this time, nor heard any. Although the sounds of dogs barking from the nearby dog park may have been dominating the birds’ calls.

Today, I saw quite possibly the best view of the mountains across the lake, on the New York side of Champlain. Visibility was perfect, making for a spectacular view. The past few times I’ve been to the waterfront, visibility has been sub-par, so it made for quite the experience.

I also noticed substantially less liter and trash on my walk along the bike path than I’ve seen previously, which was quite nice.

Here, I have an event map, displaying my experiences on the walk to my phenology site, as well as at the site.

And here is a gallery of original photos!

Kampf, M. (Photographer). (2018). Untitled [Burlington Waterfront, Photograph].

Until next time…!

Visited on Friday, October 19, 2018 at 1:30pm. Sunny, windy, 55°F

It’s been some time since my last waterfront expedition here in Burlington. Since last time I visited, I’ve noticed the small jetty into Lake Champlain looks more bare, with significantly less green hues and lush shrubbery, and instead more yellows and ambers in the landscape, with crisp fallen leaves on the ground.

Because the weather was especially good today, lots of families and older couples took advantage and got outside to walk or bike along the lakefront. In fact, my phenology spot, usually quiet and mostly uninhabited with the exception of an occasional fisherman, was now occupied by seven or eight individuals observing the 3-4 inch swell of the Lake, fishing, or reading.

The abundance of red maples appeared to have drier leaves, crumpled on the branches and leaves scattered about on the ground.  The basswood tree I use as the epicenter of the phenology site has gorgeous yellow leaves-a vast change in detail from the vibrant green color I last saw. In addition, many of the shrubs and small plants on the jetty looked bare and mostly brown in color.

In addition to the foliage adapting to the changes in season, the wildlife is also changing. While in the area, one can spot a few ducks in addition to a cormorant here and there. Squirrels can be found passing from time to time, as well as a seemingly endless amount of flies passing in front of your face. Good times.

Below is a hand-drawn, birds-eye map of my location on the Lake Champlain jetty. Notice the basswood I mentioned earlier is located at the center of the circular map, in the center of the base of the jetty.

Kampf, M. (Photographer). (2018). Untitled [Burlington Waterfront, Photograph].

P.S. On my walk over to the phenology location, I overheard a family walking along the waterfront. A mom said to her teenage son, “Wow, this has to be one of the most beautiful places in the country to go to college,” to which the family agreed in unison. And in that moment, I could not disagree- the Lake’s vibrant navy color and the mountains across the body of water in New York made the view truly phenomenal. Observing the changes of the seasons truly makes Burlington feel especially like home. Hopefully that high school student feels the same comforting, homey draw to Burlington as I feel and decides to attend UVM also.

Welcome to the Lake Champlain waterfront jetty! This tiny strip of land juts out into the Lake, providing a great fishing spot at the very end. This spot can be reached by walking from campus if you have some time to explore.  It is close to a 40 minute walk down college street to the water, then along the bike path.  But, it can be shortened by taking the College Street shuttle down to the ECHO Center, and walking or biking from there.

I chose this location as a reminder of my favorite state park from home: a small remaining area of maritime forest in my hometown, an island in New Jersey. Any body of water is always peaceful and calming to me, so I figured I would commit to visiting this interesting area on Lake Champlain.

Here, the vegetation includes quite a few red maples: mostly saplings, but a couple matured red maples can be found also.  In addition, you can find black locust, eastern cottonwood, and lots of large rocks/boulders (great for power naps, if you can find a nice and comfortable one).

Here’s the link to the location on Google Maps:

https://www.google.com/maps/place/44%C2%B029’11.7%22N+73%C2%B013’45.0%22W/@44.4865871,-73.2313554,17z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m8!1m2!11m1!3e4!3m4!1s0x0:0x0!8m2!3d44.4865872!4d-73.2291643

Coordinates: 44.486583, -73.229167

References:

Google Maps. (2018). [Lake Champlain Waterfront. Burlington, VT] [Street Map]. Retrieved September 28, 2018, from https://www.google.com/maps/place/44%C2%B029’11.7%22N+73%C2%B013’45.0%22W/@44.4865871,-73.2313554,17z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m8!1m2!11m1!3e4!3m4!1s0x0:0x0!8m2!3d44.4865872!4d-73.2291643

Kampf, M. (Photographer). (2018). Untitled [Burlington Waterfront, Photograph].