Changes at 2 weeks – Miranda Garrow's Phenology Site

Since my last visit, my site has become a lot quieter and brighter. The leaves have mostly fallen to the ground, leaving the ground littered more than it was during my last visit. The squirrels presence has decreased. The amount that they are playing and screeching has slowed down so that they can start storing up for the cold long winter ahead of them. I have still seen them chasing each other around though. They are not spending as much time searching for food at my site because there is not an abundance of nuts like there is directly on Trinity campus. There was a snake hole that was easier to see than it was before although I did not see any snakes. During Walt’s lecture on Tuesday, he mentioned what the perfect habitat for a wood pecker would look like and I knew that my site would be the perfect location. There are tons of dead snags and there is not a lot of open canopy so I decided to go back and try to find evidence that wood peckers were in fact present in my site. One of the pictures below I took of a tall snag that has been used by the wood peckers. Every time I enter my site I am just amazing that there is such a beautiful place just outside my dorm that most people would take for granted. The trees feel so large and I have found it a relaxing place to go and forget about all my worries of school and I can watch and laugh at the squirrels so there’s a little entertainment factor as well.