Trinity Woods Phenology

During the City Nature Challenge, I decided to explore deep into the woods behind my residence hall. There are a few trails behind it, but the one trail I focused on goes down a hill and leads to a creek. I have never explored that trail before, so I decided to pick it for the BioBlitz.

Using iNaturalist, I identified 16 different species of plants, and 15 different bird species in Burlington. For plants: an Elder bush, a Black Cherry tree, an American Aster, a Box Elder tree, Burdocks, Solomon’s Plume, a Chokecherry bush, Spindles, Canada Mayflower, Valerian, Lady Ferns, Maple trees, Royal Ferns, a Honeysuckle bush, Goldenrods, Celandines. For birds: a Red-bellied Woodpecker, a Chipping Sparrow, a Pine Warbler, an American Robin, a Northern Cardinal, a Tufted Titmouse, a Black-capped Chickadee, an American Goldfinch, a Red-winged Blackbird, an Eastern Phoebe, a Downy Woodpecker, a Song Sparrow, a Northern Flicker, a White-throated Sparrow, and a Dark-eyed Junco. I was surprised to hear so many birds, especially so close to campus and busy roads, but they seemed to like the small wetland area and tall trees of the forest. As for the whole world, I was surprised about how many different species lived in highly populated cities. San Antonio has the most observations, currently sitting at 100,890. When in cities, I never stopped and noticed the biodiversity around me because I always assumed there was little to none. After coming to Burlington (a more city-like area compared to my rural town), I realized that there is wildlife living here, you just have to seek it out. I think it is so important that these places still have so many plant and animal species as urbanization threatens these populations. Seeing these numbers is relieving to me. It makes me hopeful for the conservation of wildlife in areas that it might not seem possible!

Elder bush starting to gain its color!

Maple tree breaking its buds and growing leaves!

Super cool Royal Ferns I encountered in the woods!

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During my cloudy walk on April 11th, there was not much apparent phenological signs of Spring. I first went over to the Norway Maple in front of Williams and noticed that there was no change in the phenophases as marked before. None of the buds on the tree were breaking, so there were no leaves, flowers, or fruits growing. This was different than the Red Maple I observed just a few hundred feet over in front of Old Mill. Almost all the buds on the tree were breaking and red leaves were starting to grow. They were less than 25% of full size, but were apparent in their growth. I didn’t observe any flowers or signs of fruit growing. I then made my way over to the White Oak. This was in the same phenophase as the Red Maple, but to a much lesser degree. Some of the buds were breaking, but not all and there were some leaves growing. This tree was much smaller, so it had less buds and not every bud had a leaf growing from it. The Sugar Maple was in the same phenophase as the Norway Maple. No signs of breaking buds or leaves, fruit, or flowers growing. Lastly, the Red Oak only had a few broken leaf buds, about 3 to 10. Otherwise, all other phenophases were not apparent as of this day. On the National Phenology Network website, I found an article that talks about how artificial light affected phenological phases in trees, causing them to break their buds about 9 days earlier than trees not surrounded by artificial lighting. Obviously, climate change is a big factor in the shift of phenophases, but even things that don’t relate to climate change could be affecting the growth of the trees around campus. Most of these trees are surrounded by street lamps, which could explain why most of the trees are in different phenophases.

Norway Maple

Red Maple

White Oak

Sugar Maple

Red Oak

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Over the weekend, I visited downtown Burlington and walked along the bike path. It was a nice and sunny day, so I was able to walk pretty far and found many tracks along the way. Most commonly, I saw dog prints and scat as many people walk their dogs along the bike path and veer off to play in the grass/snow. Besides visual tracks, I heard a few birds. I was able to hear some Northern Cardinals and many American Robins as well as some other birds flying over Lake Champlain that I wasn’t able to identify. I tracked all of my observations easily on iNaturalist which was extremely helpful in narrowing down animal prints and tracking bird calls that I heard while adventuring!

I found it quite difficult to identify some of the tracks I saw due to the fact that the snow was very deep and many of the tracks didn’t have a defined print. The first tracks I saw were large and looked like the animal was moving quickly because there were large gaps around print with kicked up snow most likely due to a leg moving in and out of the snow. The tracks were diagonal, which is the main reason I believe it was a deer. The foot print was large in size, but got skinner moving up the layer of snow. I am still not 100% sure if this track is from a deer, but it seems like the most plausible option. Besides the bird tracks and dog prints spotted, I found some more interesting tracks the more north I went on the path. I came across prints that I believe belong to a red fox. The tracks were also diagonal, but much smaller and more defined. The print was about 2 inches wide and 2.5 inches long in size and the rest of the snow layer seem disturbed, most likely due to the back legs following in pursuit of the front when walking. Minimal to no drag is shown, but that could be likely due to the fact that the snow was very icy and solid on the top layer. Not far from these tracks, I noticed a trail near the water that looks most similar to a bobcat. The tracks are kind of sporadic, but I can see that the shape of the prints are round/ovalish and it follows a diagonal pattern. I was hesitant to call these bobcat tracks because it didn’t seem to be a common area where bobcats are found, but after comparing pictures of my tracks to photos online, it seems like the best match. Their prints are about 2” in size which matches with my observations. The final tracks that I saw were very difficult to identify, but I believe that they come from a river otter. The tracks follow a bounding pattern and also appear to have a small tail drag in pursuit. Although the tracks are quite big, river otters walk very close to the ground so it could make sense that they would kick up a great amount of snow when moving or moving quickly. The path the animal took was also leading down to the lake. Overall, I found it difficult to identify the tracks I saw and I am still not 100% all of them are correct, but I did find a diverse amount of animals in Burlington!

Deer tracks…?

Red fox tracks

Bobcat tracks

River otter path

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Not much has changed since I was last in the woods behind Trinity Campus. This time there was less snow, so it was a little easier to walk deeper in the woods. Last time, there was no sign of green besides from the Eastern White Pines, but this time half-alive ferns were seen on the ground underneath the snow. I hadn’t been able to see those last month. The Birch Polypores that have been there since I first visited this spot were still alive on the same tree. It seems like there was less animal activity that I could identify since December. I didn’t hear any birds, but I did hear a few Eastern Grey Squirrels chirping. I was able to identify a few tracks, but it was difficult with the lack of snow. I used a animal track identifying book to identify tracks from a Eastern Cottontail Rabbit, and from an Eastern Grey Squirrel. I had identified both of these animals last month as well. These were the only signs of animal activity in the woods, I didn’t hear or see anything else, but that makes sense because it was quite a cold and windy day!

Birch Polypores that have been here since the beginning! The tree is starting to decay, so maybe that is a reason why the mushrooms are growing here…

Ferns popping up from under the snow! They don’t seem to be much alive.

Eastern Cottontail tracks! I’m 99% sure that is correct, but it is possible that it’s something else.

Eastern Grey Squirrel Tracks! They are kind of faint, but they do look similar to the diagrams shown and also vary from 0.6-1 inch in size.

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Returning to the woods for my final observations posed a but of a challenge. Over the past two days, it had snowed a lot! I had to bundle up and put my winter boots on to be able to walk to my spot. Upon my first look, I had noticed that all of the deciduous trees no longer had leaves. The Red Maples, American Beeches, and few Paper Birches were all bare. The only trees that had any green on them were the very few coniferous trees, AKA Eastern White Pines. Underneath the snow, there are a lot of signs of decomposition happening. All of the leaves on all the trees have collected on the ground and were decomposing under the blanket of snow. The only sign of decomposers I found were a few Birch Polypores growing on a Birch. I observed many animal tracks in the snow! I noticed many Eastern Cottontail Tracks along with Eastern Grey Squirrel tracks all along the path of my spot. While in the woods, I heard a few birds. I heard Black Capped Chickadees and a Tufted Titmouse, two birds that are often still active during wintertime. I also heard a couple of crows high in the trees. My last visit to my spot was definitely interesting and full of new things!

What Aspect of my Phenology Spot do I Enjoy the Most?

The part of my phenology spot that I enjoy the most is that it is a mini ‘urban wild’. Living in an urban area, especially having a dorm isolated from main campus and off of a main road, there is not much woody areas that I am used to having back at home. This small patch of woods might not be comparable, but it does provide a large habitat for animals and plants that they may not find in many places around Burlington. In times that the urbanization might seem like too much, I have easy access to this own little ecosystem near where I live. When I got to my place, I seem to forget that I am in a city and am able to enjoy the silence of a natural forest. I have enjoyed tracking the changes throughout the seasons here, as well as observing all the different plant and animals that people may not have known lived here. It is like a little hidden gem that I have been able to appreciate and observe over the past few months. Taking time for myself here makes me think about how I took being surrounded around this all my life. I am so used to exploring the woods, having multitude of bird species right in my backyard, and constantly being surrounded by new plant species all the time. Coming to Burlington from a rural area has greatened my appreciation for nature and desire to seek it out in urban places. I love having a little forest in my backyard that I will definitely continue to visit!

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Over Thanksgiving break, I went back to my home in Rhode Island. My family and I decided to do a short afternoon hike at Waterman Pond Wildlife Refuge, so I chose this as my phenology spot. Waterman Pond is located in Coventry, Rhode Island in a residential and farm area. The residential area the pond is located in is not as busy as my place on Trinity. The roads are quieter, and the only people who go down them are those who live on them. Although, there is a busy Rhode Island State Route nearby, which creates a lot of noise similar to Colchester Avenue. At Waterman Pond, there is a dominance of Eastern White Pines. This is unlike my spot at Trinity, which only has a few Eastern White Pines around the edges. I also identified a Norway Spruce, some Honeysuckle, and a few Red Maples, which are abundant at my spot here. The reason for this difference in species is most likely due to the fact that my spot was located on a large body of water vs just the woods here in Burlington. Norway Spruces, Honeysuckle, and Red maples all prefer moist and well-drained soil, which is easy to find at this spot. While I was here, I also heard a lot of different birds than my place on Trinity. I heard Wood Thrushes, Red-Winged Black Birds, and a Northern Flicker. At my spot here, I have only heard mainly Blue Jays, which I did not hear at Waterman Pond. Since I had only decided that I would make this my phenology spot as I arrived, I did not have a gift to leave besides my safe usage of the land!

Waterman Pond Location on Google Maps!

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When returning to the woods, there were some noticeable changes right away. Most of the Red Maples had shed their leaves, but the Paper Birches still had bright yellow leaves. Some of the Beeches had leaves, while others did not. It was easier to see into the forest, as the leaves didn’t create such a dense window blocking the view.

While sitting here, I observed many different animals. I could hear distant chickadees and not-so-distant blue jays. I also saw plenty of squirrels searching for nuts and a few chipmunks retreating into their homes. I even was able to observe a mushroom or two! Specifically a birch polypore, which I found on a paper birch. In the woods it is very quiet and I am unable to hear the loud traffic from Colchester Ave. It really allows me to observe the biodiversity I may not notice on an ordinary day due to noise pollution or urban development. This piece of woods among the UVM campus helps me get an idea of what vegetation and species would be abundant in the area if it weren’t for the campus and development of Burlington.

A Map of Trinity Woods!

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Trinity woods is a woody forest located on the Trinity Campus of UVM, specifically behind Mercy Hall. There is an entrance to the trail off of the path that starts at Farrell Hall and leads down to the Back Five. This trail follows the entirety of the forest and eventually exits behind Delehanty Hall. As a resident of McAuley Hall, I am able to easily access the trail by exiting the back door and walking across the lawn to the entrance. The walk throughout takes about five minutes, but there are lots of different species to see. It is a nice contrast to the urban Burlington and a convenient place of natural sanctuary on campus. I chose the woods as my location for my phenology project because it is easily accessible to me, but also fascinates me. From my dorm I can hear the loud traffic of Colchester Avenue at almost all times, but once I go into these woods, the sounds are drowned out. As someone who lives deep in the woods back home, it was a big change to be living in a suburban area. Having this forest essentially in my back yard reminds me a lot of home and gives me a place to relax when I need it. Over the next months, I will be exploring the common vegetation that grows in these woods and how they change alongside the changing seasons in Burlington, Vermont. 

Location of Trinity Woods

Common Vegetation

This forest, a northern hardwood forest, contained many commonly found trees in Vermont. I noticed many Red Maples, Eastern White Pines, Paper Birches, and American Beeches throughout my first exploration. I also noticed some other not-so-common trees growing here like Alternate-Leaved Dogwoods Other shrubs found growing alongside the path contained Common Buckthorn. All of these trees still contain their green color and have yet to start changing unlike some of the other trees surrounding the outside perimeter of the woods. The trees grew unevenly and spread out, with the Paper Birches commonly sprinkled throughout the Beeches and Maples. 

Common Woody Plants!

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