What’s poppin’! I decided to switch it up this semester, so our new phenology spot is Redstone Quarry. It’s a solid 30 minute walk down to Hoover street from my dorm–or a 7 minute Uber. In a stunning moment of brilliance, I forgot my lab notebook yesterday (I took notes on my phone and transferred them to my notebook when I got home), so a map of this new place is coming soon. 🙂
Redstone Quarry is right behind a neighborhood and has park benches and a path–proof that it’s a very recreational area. It was not surprising to find mostly domestic dog tracks, which we could identify because they were scattered and the toes pointed outwards.
We also found an abundance of squirrel tracks. It was pretty hard to identify at first, since the snow had melted and refrozen multiple times. When this happens, the prints either sink (like the picture on the left), or barely make an imprint at all.
Now onto trees! There are far more deciduous species present here compared to Centennial Woods, which makes sense because Redstone Quarry is closer to a water source, in a valley rather than on a hill, and gets more sunlight. The full list of deciduous species I identified is in my notes at the end of this post, but the most prominent species were red oaks, yellow birches, and buckthorn.
Overall I am looking forward to observing the phenological changes the next time I visit, and I can’t wait to get to know this new place. 🙂
