January 29, 2023

For second semester, I chose a new spot for my phenology blog. The trip to Rock Point was getting a little complicated with the weather, so I opted for somewhere closer and easier to get to. I will now be visiting the wooded area that is behind the Country Club golf course and near the UVM Bio Research Facility. You can get there by going around the back of the Fieldhouse and the track, and following the bike path. The path will take you past the barns and some research areas until you turn into the woods. You can also cut through the golf course! Here is the map 🙂

here is the wooded area –>

When visiting this new spot, there were plenty of tracks and evidence of life in the snow. The difficulty is that lots of people walk through there with their dogs, so a lot of the tracks can be attributed to that. However I did see some tracks that I thought were definitely other animals!! I don’t know much about tracking yet, so I cannot tell exactly what they might be from. My best guess is probably bunnies and deer! I didn’t notice any trees that had been marked or gave more clues of animal presence, besides a few nests and lots of crows. (Trying to get over my FOB….)

I saw some really cool old growth trees when I was out there!! Also, the birch this time of year have so many eyes, it feels like they are alive and watching over the rest of the forest. So cool!!