Casavant Natural Area– Winooski – phenology fieldnotes & blog

Final visit to Casavant!

While Casavant was not my phenology site in the fall/early winter, I have definitely watched it change through the seasons. The transition from winter to spring is a beautiful phenomenon and there is no other place I’d have chosen to observe it in real time.

Sit & Sketch

Changing Seasons

I’ve visited Casavant 3 times this semester in total, with different phenophases being expressed during each visit. Once in January, once in March and once in May. During my trip in January, it was very cold and I didn’t make it far down the trail. In March (for lab), I walked all the way down to where the natural area bordered the Winooski River. This last visit, I walked the entire loop. I am very excited to see how the park changes over the course of summer.

The most visible changes from my first to last visit is the melting of snow and regrowth of groundcover. Ferns, flowering species, grasses and other understory species are flourishing. Most trees have began budding, but only a quarter of the buds have broken and began growing new leaves.

Landmarks

Casavant has some distinct, defining features which I have come to love. The most prominent are the powerlines which span over a portion of the park, the large wetlands which the trails perimeter, the Winooski River bank and the rocky outcrop.

The more minor features are the numerous culverts and access points, the brook which drains into the wetlands and the numerous flooded areas with small bridges.

Socio-ecological Connotations

The natural area is shaped by both the natural world and urban development. Casavant Natural Area is borders the most urbanized areas in Vermont. Winooski to the north, the airport to the east, and Burlington to the southwest, the area is surrounded by developed land.

Before E Allen St. and I-89, the Winooski River shaped the land. Casavant consists of floodplain forests and vernal ponds, supplied by the Winooski’s intermittent flooding. The hiking trails run through the area’s more wooded, higher elevations.

Human intervention through the construction of roads, culverts, powerlines and housing has shaped the land to how we know it today. Culverts have eroded small valleys in the land as water drains from the roads above and large sewage access pipes jut out of the trailhead. I-89 borders 2/3 of the park and in combination with the airport, introduces significant noise pollution.

Located within Winooski, VT– a town named after the river, winoskik, Casavant offers a small representation of land stewardship and the human-nature connection, heavily emphasized in the indigenous Abenaki peoples culture. The “Onion River” flows through Casavant with little blockage among the banks on either side. As I visit this site, I remain conscious of the past land stewardship of the Abenaki and the gratitude I feel to those who came before me. While the land may only look a fraction as beautiful as it once did, it remains natural thanks to the Indigenous culture deeply rooted in the land’s history.

The river flowing into downtown Winooski

“Do you consider yourself a part of your place?”

I don’t usually directly insert the questions asked for these assignments into my blog, but I feel like this question deserves a section. Short answer: no, long answer:….

I do not feel as though I am a part of my place in the way that the mourning doves or the ferns are a part of the place. I do not feel like I contribute to the land as the streams and ponds do. I feel like a part of Casavant in the way I leave footprints like every other visitor or move sticks into the puddles to make makeshift paths. My mark is visible, if you look with intention, yet no one would know I had gone unless told. The park exists without me, but the trails do not exist without people. I do not consider myself a part of the place as an individual, as I have not contributed anything to the land other than gratitude, but I would consider myself as a collective, as the broader community of humans a part of the area.

While I did not highlight all the species I photographed at Casavant during this trip, I did upload them to iNaturalist, so if you are curious about those, you can find them here.

Happy New Year!

With NR 1010 behind me, I am now 2 weeks into NR 1020. With the beginning of classes comes the start of the phenology project once more.

I have decided to choose a new location for this semester. Rock Point was a beautiful location, however it became a struggle to bus there, then walk from the bus stop to our selected natural area. The whole ordeal took about 45 minutes, one bus change, and a lot of walking. It was fine when it was warm, but as it grew colder and snowier, the walk became increasingly more dreadful.

My new location is a little ways down the trailhead at Casavant Natural Area in Winooski, VT. It’s about half a mile closer and only takes about 20 minutes to get there from campus (by bus).

This past visit I was lucky enough to drive there with my boyfriend, but the bus route is super accessible as well. Hop on bus 2- Essex Junction to Fort Ethan Allen at the UVM Medical Center loop, then get off at Abenaki Way at CCV. From there, its about a 3 minute walk to the trailhead, 190 E Allen St. It doesn’t look like much of a park from the road, the parking lot is right next to a house and before the railroad crossing. The specific location is about a minute walk down the trail, near the little bridge.

The snow cover has been pretty consistent since winter break, so we found plenty of tracks. There were some birds we spotted overhead, and I was able to record their calls (whether not you can hear them through the wind is debatable).

Tracks and Snow Mysteries! I looked through my little pocket guide to identify what animals walked through here but I am still not super sure what many of these are.

The dominant tree species included black cherry, ash and sumac. I was having a difficult time without being able to see the leaves to properly identify the other trees.