Phenology and Place

Through all of my visits at my phenology site, I have discovered a sense of place. Before this project, I used to walk past the small retention pond on my way to class and think nothing of it. Now I have discovered the characteristics of the site that make it what it is. Over the past month or so I have noticed many phenological changes that have occurred surprisingly fast during this short period of time. During the first week of the project many of the trees still had green leaves, which quickly turned to bright yellow, orange and red colors. As the weeks moved on the leaves peaked their brightness around mid to late October and then started to dull. I noticed two mallard ducks floating on the pond until migrating the first week of November. With no other animals spotted besides a cottontail rabbit, I wondered if the ducks will come back to the same little spot after winter. Many questions like this came along as I observed and visited my site more and more. Through mapping and observing, I also discovered how the pond was man-made to catch runoff from surrounding impermeable surfaces. I noticed that the rocks have little to no weathering and erosion indicating that the pond must be fairly new. I wondered about the history of the location before the man-made pond and surrounding buildings. I assume the site was once part of a cleared land on an 1800s farm before being sold to UVM. In terms of the sense of place component on a larger scale, I thought of the impact the little pond has on Vermont and Lake Champlain. I wonder how much phosphorus is filtered out of the water before being drained into Englesby brook and eventually into the lake. How much of an impact does my little site actually have on creating a more sustainable Vermont? Questions like these occur through the development of a sense of place. I would have never thought so deeply on a small site like this without viewing the area through different lenses. Like I said before, the site used to be just something I walked past everyday. I never would have thought about the location’s history or its impact on Lake Champlain or even wondered if the mallards would be back without finding a sense of place. 

Mapping and Charismatic Species

Over the last week I noticed a few changes of the surrounding vegetation. The bright October leaves have dulled and started falling off of the trees and the reeds around the pond have turned brown. The water level of the pond has also rised due to the rainfalls, which indicates that the retention basin is doing its job by catching runoff. I have also noticed that there is less algae on the surface of the water than last week. This may be because of the water being stirred around and the lack of sunlight for photosynthesis. Six organisms that I have observed at my site are sugar maples (Acer saccharum), basswoods (Tilia americana), paper birch (Betula papyrifera), shaggy mane mushrooms (Coprinus comatus) , an eastern cottontail rabbit (Sylvilagus floridanus) and a pair of mallard ducks (Anas platyrhynchos). The trees that surround the site are all young and have been planted recently. I noticed the mushrooms on October 30th at around 8:30 pm. I was surprised because I hadn’t noticed them while visiting the site earlier that day. After further research I found that they are called shaggy mane mushrooms, also known as lawyer’s wig mushrooms. I was also surprised to see that the two mallard ducks had green heads indicating that they are both males. I previously assumed that the pair would be one male and a female. I am curious as to why the two mallards haven’t started their migration to the south yet. I noticed that they are always diving down in the water so it could be possible that the pond is a good food source and the two ducks are trying to take advantage of it before leaving. For this assignment I mapped out my site. This gave me insight as to why the retention pond is located where it is. I noticed that the small basin is surrounded by impermeable surfaces such as a parking lot and residencies. It is definitely an efficient spot to catch runoff.

Drawn Map
Shaggy mane mushrooms also known as Lawyer’s Wig mushrooms
October colors are fading
Notes