My phenology spot this week while we’re on break was in my backyard back home in Hillsborough, North Carolina.
The ecology in this site was quite a bit different, with the primary tree being White Oak. There were also many other small shrubs not present at my phenology site in Centennial woods. The phenology itself was also quite different as several of the trees still had some leaves on them, and the shrubs were still all green.
I would’ve liked to say I heard some different birds in my spot, but the dogs next door are constantly barking (I swear they have 10 over there). I have seen a lot of Chickadees (Carolina Chickadees, the better Chickadee) and Tufted Titmice the last few days though at my birdfeeder, as well as Northern Cardinals. One Northern Cardinal I observed was missing her tail feathers.
I always love going into these woods behind my house because it gives me the opportunity to spend more time with my dogs, the one pictured is Parker. The dogs themselves a huge part of this ecosystem behind my house. They hunt moles and rodents. Interestingly, due to this my front yard, which the dogs don’t have access to, is now covered with mole tunnels.
I feel like the fact that I’ve spent so many years back there building up a relationship with the place, as well as taking nothing from the environment, feels like that’s already a gift. I’ve spent time there, and also tried to prevent my dogs from killing things, which feels like a gift in of itself. I have a really strong sense of place here, as I’ve spent so much time back here when I was younger and we had a playset back there. Recently I’m one of the few in my family who will go back there to see what my dogs are up to. Overall I have a lot of good memories back here and that provides me with a strong sense of place.