Over the Weekend during the 4 days of our annual urban Bioblitz I went back to Derway Island to document the wildlife in that area. I also went to the woods behind my dorm on the Trinity Campus, I do not know if these woods have a proper name, but I tend to call it “Trinity Woods.”

This is a map of Derway Island.

The place outlined in red is “Trinity Woods”

My overall Experience using iNaturalist was great. I love the feature that gives you suggested species in pictures you took. It is a wonderful way to Learn new species that you did not know before. My only struggle was figuring out how to get my observations posted onto the Lab Section Project but shout out Emily for helping me figure it out. 

Northern Cardinal (Cardinalis cardinalis) spotted at Derway 

White-Tailed Deer (Odocoileus virginianus) spotted at Derway 

Common Garter Snake (Thamnophis sirtalis) Spotted at Derway Island. 

Partidge Berry (Mitchella repens) Spotted at Trinity Woods. 

Eastern Hemlock (Tsuga canadensis) spotted at Trinity Woods. 

Looking at the Bioblitz stats Cape town shocked me with 32,784 observations. I was curious to see what kind of species were documented and It was cool to see all the different type of species that exist there like Baboons, Bontebok, and Common ostrich. There were also a couple of species that we had in common such as the Eastern Grey squirrel and Great Cormorant.  

This week me and my friend Jc went behind trinity campus to the salmon hole on the Winooski River. We started walking around 4 pm and the views were amazing. The first signs of animals besides the crows that were cooing in the trees were an old tree that looked like it had been chewed by a beaver.

Other tracks we saw on our walk include a lot of grey Squirrel

These tracks show the classic bounding pattern of a Grey squirrel. You can tell it’s a grey Squirrel and not a Red Squirrel because of the size of the stride and just context clues about the surrounding area. We were in an area that was mainly all deciduous trees and Red Squirrels like coniferous forests.

These tracks were harder to identify for me. but I think they are red fox as you can see the x pattern in the pad of the track.

The tracks were also very difficult to Identify but I was thinking maybe a raccoon. They are about the right size and shape but I couldn’t count the toes so Im unsure.

Overall this experience tracking and using I-naturalist was very fun and engaging. It’s been cool looking at the I-naturalist group and viewing where people had gone and what kind of tracks they were able to observe.

Over Break I went back to my home town on Cape Cod called Falmouth. The Area I choose is one that I have been going to since I was little. Its at a place called the Knob and as you can see in the Google Maps photo is surrounded by the water of Buzzards Bay.

The Knob has many great trials to explore with Black Oaks, White Oaks and American Beeches dominating the wooded areas. when you get closer to the beach you can view cedars on some slopes. One Thing that I did notice that was different from this spot and my Phenology spot in Centennial Woods is that this place is flatter and easier to maneuver. Another change is that the over-story is smaller than the over-story in centennial woods. This could be caused by the harsh winds that comes off Buzzards bay causing the trees to grow shorter and thicker. The understory on the cape is also more populated than that in centennial woods. Both at Centennial and The Knob you can find Honey Suckle.

When it comes to leaving this very special area a gift. I couldn’t think about how I could truly show this area how thankful I am for the Beauty it has shown me on all my walks through out the years. I decided to tell the trees how truly grateful I am and gave them many hugs and kisses. Some may say that that’s crazy talking and hugging trees but I like to think that they can understand me and know how truly important they are to this area.

This is me showing my thanks to a Black Oak that I have climbed several times in my life.

Welcome to UVM Blogs. This blog is to follow the phenology go the site I have chosen in Centennial Woods in Burlington Vt