So when I went outside and sat in my spot, I noticed several things. The first is how wind it is. The dominant sound were leaves moving in the wind. The few trees that still had these leaves were holding on TIGHT, and the normal gentle rustling of leaves was a lot higher pitched and a tighter sound in general. Another noise I heard was running water. There is a small brook that runs right along the base of the hill my spot sits on and i could hear it gently running. There were also a few people walking by listening to music and (seemingly) enjoying their walk back to their condos. I also decided to take my shoes off and have my feet touch the ground (I find it very therapeutic). It was so darn cold. But a good cold. This didn’t last super long and I put my socks and shoes back on and just sat down. I closed my eyes and tried to immerse myself in the woods. It was very pleasant. There is a less moss on the ground and the leaves are falling more.
Snowballing Phenology
•December 9, 2022 • Leave a CommentWell hello there! In case you wondering, yes I am doing all of this literally the day b4 it is due. I am certainly not proud and I am embarrassed that it took me so long to do this. Anywho, my phenology spot is this lovely trail behind Mercy hall. I chose this spot for several reasons, but the two biggest ones are that I have been there several times and because I really needed a spot quick. I got to my place by walking on the concrete sidewalk down to the back 5, and along this route, there is an offshoot into the woods. I walked down a bit until i saw the spot where I attempted to build a snow fort. By far the most common vegetation was the moss on the forrest floor. This moss covered everything that the ferns didn’t. In terms of trees, the most common was American Beech. There were a few Eastern White Pines and even fewer Red Oaks (there was one of them). The tree that stood out the most to me was the Eastern Hemlock that was there. There was one in the understory and one in the overstory and they both stood out to me. How did they get there?