natalie’s spot

i’m honestly sad to be making a final post about oakledge park. i’m so glad i chose somewhere out of my comfort zone and it so cool how i got to see it change starting last october. i’ve never experiences seasons before coming from southern california and while often it was freezing, there’s something so beautiful about it. your surroundings completely change in the blink of an eye and there’s nothing you can do to stop it. it was a gorgeous spring day on a sunday afternoon, mothers day when i made my final visit. i’ve been very stressed with finals and packing up my entire room and this made me take a stop to think and appreciate my surroundings. there were lots of people around when i went and i even saw a group dressed up in medieval type clothes having pretend sword fights and role-playing i guess. when i got over to my spot, there were lots of people sitting on the edge of the cliff taking in the water’s beauty. i also saw someone fishing! it was about 60 degrees but somewhat cloudy. almost everything around me was green. dandelions flooded the grass and in general the whole area just seemed so much more lively. i sat on the edge of the mini cliff for a bit just listening. there were lots of voices talking in the background as the water lapped up against the rocks. the water was so still and clear i could almost see to the bottom. lots of different birds chirping all around me and their voices overlapping. it was so peaceful until a plane went by and then a small motorboat. the boat was going fairly slow, but even so the wake ended up crashing against the rocks and was excessively loud. nature and culture intertwine a good amount at my spot. oakledge park is quite often used as a meeting spot. i saw a few kids’ birthday parties as well as the medieval meet up as i described before. i consider a part of my place because i am no different from the other people walking on the path and slowly exposing the tree roots. in conclusion, it was a perfect last visit and i definitely will be visiting more next year!

i explored oakledge park like always for the city nature challenge. my most memorable observation oddly enough was passing by the university of vermont sign on my way and seeing around 30 seagulls just hanging out on the open lawn space. my experience using iNaturalist went very smoothly mostly because i have used lots of apps like that in the past to identify species of trees and different plants. the one i typically use is called picture this where you just take a picture of the plant and it tells you what it is. i included screenshots from the picture this app. i found it easier to use that app to identify and then upload the picture to iNaturalist because i already knew how to use the other app. i found it interesting just how many people participated in some other cities. for example, cape town! i had originally thought that the city nature challenge was just in burlington and then just in the united states. i was shocked that it was such a variety of cities and such large participation. i was very impressed however and it was cool that i got to be a part of it.

when i went back to oakledge park today it was quite evident that spring had sprung. there was no evidence of snow and the recent rain had made everything very green. there were several new buds emerging and it was a really nice day out.

there were lots of people around picnicking and relaxing on the nice day. however, it was also very obvious that people had been there the night before as there were a ton of campfires around as well as beer cans and trash.

there are not many animals to be seen here as it is a fairly public place. i did see a good amount of flies that i had not seen in the past though. i could hear birds chirping but i could not see them or identify them. while i had no evidence, robins are a common bird so i included them in my drawing as a substitute. squirrels are also common and i did see a few running around in the trees. as always, i saw lots of dogs as this is a popular spot to walk your dog. however, i forgot to include the arrow between dogs and humans! the ferns were starting to come up so i included those as well.

when i was walking around downtown i could feel that spring was coming! it’s been warmer recently and the snow on the ground is melted in most places. however, some of the sidewalks have now turned icy and i almost slipped in some spots. there is now mud where the snow used to be and i saw some dog paws and boot prints in the mud. thankfully, it is still just warm enough that the mud isn’t everywhere. there are icicles still hanging off of buildings and the snow that remains tends to have an icy cover. the snow isn’t as bright anymore and is usually at least a bit dirty. i am not a birder so i don’t have experience listening to birds and unfortunately did not spot any on my walk. i walked down to the waterfront and the ice on the edge is still there, but the cover is not much and fades away quickly. the trees are mostly barren as well. i did spot some berries on one tree which was exciting and added some color to the natural world around me, but there was not much otherwise.

when i returned to my spot today, much had changed. first, i had to park in a different spot so i was a bit disoriented trying to find it. however, in my disorientation, i found many chimneys i had not seen before that i now know are from the past uses of oakledge park. i trekked through the woods as opposed to my usual walk along the water and had a difficult time getting there because of how icy it was and i was not wearing properly gripped shoes. if there were any leaves hanging on the last time i was here, they are long gone now. every tree and bush is barren and icy. it was a gorgeous day out, but deceivingly cold. while i did not see any wild animal tracks, i did see what i assume to be a dog’s paws. it’s common for people to walk their dogs over here and this would not be unusual. another set of ‘tracks’ i saw were imprints from people wearing clamps on the bottom of their shoes as well as many boot prints. next time i am going to wear better shoes for sure.

oakledge park as we know it today has only looked like that since 1971 when the burlington parks department bought 45 acres for $230,000. the property had contained 225 acres when it was bought by its previous owner in 1929, but over the years it had been sold off in various projects. the earliest information i could find was from when it was settled in 1793 by abram brinsmaid. eventually napoleon b. proctor bought the property for a mere $400 and used the south cove of oakledge park as an active shipyard during this time. he turned a profit in 1874 by selling it for $6500 to dr. william seward webb. here the dr. kept his family’s yachts and built a massive mansion for $30,000 which he named oakledge. he built various other barns, stables, etc on the property but kept oakledge for guests to stay in. the adjacent property was surveyed and broken up into over 200 lots which ended up becoming a gas tank farm that is still in use today. when the oakledge property was passed onto his daughter, she used it as a summer home. the burlington country club tried to buy the property from her, but she declined and instead sold the property the next year to some business men to build summer cottages for themselves in 1926. in 1929, the oakledge house became the oakledge manor and was a summer resort ran by fred c. hill until 1953. he leased it to his son for eight years but his son turned around and sold it in 1961 to some general electric employees who turned it into the cliffside country club. finally, it was bought by the parks department. however, everything remaining was completely demolished and the manor was burned to the ground. the park was built to how it is seen today with tennis courts, picnic areas, playgrounds, etc using a $40,000 grant from the city. they are still doing work on it as last time i was there a small section was under construction. it was very interesting to learn about all this history that has taken place on this land that is not made apparent when you walk around. the only things that remain are some occasional chimneys and some random hooks but it is rare to see much.

this spot is one of my favorite in my hometown. the ecology here is almost completely polar opposite to my spot in vermont. my friends and i usually refer to it as tree, referring to the canary island date palm that we like to sit under. there is always shade here to save you from the hot sun and it is somewhat hidden behind the dunes that separate where all the tourists go on the main beach. the small sand dunes are covered in hottentot figs, or more commonly known as ice plants. they are usually green with red tips and sometimes have purple flowers. closer to the rocks you can also find lots of california sagebrush. the landscape here is drastically different from oakledge park; there are no eastern hemlocks, red oaks, barberries or honeysuckle. the climate here is the same all year round and never changes. when i went today it was 75 degrees and sunny as it is every day. the coldest it gets is maybe 50 degrees at night in december, and the surrounding plants reflect this. on island you will see mostly palm trees and plants you would find in the desert. the soil on the beach is considered poor and well draining. there is a stormwater drain that flows out into the ocean near this as well. i also spotted 3 dead birds in near the drain which is unusual for this spot. 

i realized that one of the two trees i would use to put my hammock up is an eastern hemlock. both of the hammocking trees sit on top of graffiti ridden rocks with their roots exposed. a northern red oak nearby still has practically all it’s leaves which i was surprised about with all the snow earlier in the week. the honeysuckle in the area has lost its leaves and the barberry berries are starting to shrive up. i didn’t see many animals around but they could be scared because usually there are lots of people. especially today on such a nice day there were people picnicking, talking, playing music, and enjoying the sun. last time i was here it was freezing and i had to leave because i couldn’t feel my hands. today i wanted to bask in the sun but sadly i had to leave earlier than i would have liked to get to something.