Oliver’s Phenology Blog

A UVM blog

November 2, 2019
by orands
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Mapping My Site

This week’s assignment had us going back to our site, finding organisms, and mapping our location from memory. On October 29th, I visited my spot and there weren’t many changes from my last visit, except for the weather. Another change that I noticed was that almost all of the leaves had fallen off of the trees that had tons of leaves last week, most of the trees only had a few leaves left on the very top. On this day the weather was beautiful. It was sunny and in the high 50’s. My day did although come after a day of heavy rain so the path and my spot were a bit muddy and the water in the brook was higher than the week prior. The mud also brought out one species I could identify which were Lumbricus Terrestris, also known as earthworms. The earthworms were all over the bank and the surrounding area due to the excess of water. Another animal that I saw while at my spot was a small Black-Capped Chickadee (Poeicille Atricapillus). Chickadees aren’t a species that fly south for the winter because they have adapted to survive the winters here in Vermont. I was also able to easily identify the Norway Maple (Acer platanoides) due to our tree quizzes in lecture. This tree that still had its yellow leaves with black patches unlike many others in the forest. Two other species were the Sciurus carolinensis (gray squirrel) and a chipmunk from the Sciuridae family. Another tree I saw growing low to the ground was a young Northern Red Oak (Quercus rubra) which large red leaves growing out of its short and small trunk. Another species I was able to see was a beetle from the Coleoptera order. This beetle was shiney, black, and had many legs.

After mapping my spot, I was able to realize how much this place means to me. I could remember almost every detail of the place after taking so many field notes.

Photo was taken by Anna Edgren

February 29, 2020
by orands
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February; Survival

When visiting my site in Centennial Woods this week, there was actually not a lot going on. It was a weirdly warm day, 51 degrees, and sunny. much of the snow from the recent storms has melted leaving a muddy path as well as a rushing brook. The brook was flowing very quickly but it was still very clear. I could easily see the rocks along the stream bed. There was still some ice sticking out over the water but it wasn’t even close to covering the surface (see Figure 2.). One animal species that I wanted to focus on was the gray squirrel. I saw multiple squirrels while I was in centennial and they were running wild. I was able to spot the squirrels nest where it lived up the top of a large oak tree. When I approached the oak tree containing the nest of leaves I didn’t notice any tracks around the tree even though I saw the squirrels in the tree, but this is most likely due to the fact that the snow was very hard and a bit icy. The squirrels spend most of their days out foraging for food or digging for their stored food, and at night they try to stay safe and warm in their nests. Aside from the acorns that they eat, I also saw one of the squirrels eating some small red berries that were left on a nearby tree to the brook. As a smaller rodent, the squirrels do have to worry about multiple predators in Centennial. One of the predators that the squirrel interacts with is the red-tailed hawk. While most red-tailed hawks migrate south for the winter, some do stay and they are still a major predator throughout the rest of the year. Since the last time at was at my phonological location in centennial woods there has been more snow and more continuous cold weather other than the few warm days. This means that by now most of the animals that hibernate should all be doing so, so there would be less animal activity overall. there were still tons of human tracks all over the place and dog tracks as well (see Figure 1.).

Figure 2: Some ice on the brook, as well as the fast moving water.

January 31, 2020
by orands
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January; Endurance

Since the last time that I visited my phenology site it has been nearly two months, and there have been a lot of changes. First of all, the ground is covered with snow! This is super exciting because I can now do some wildlife tracking and see what animals there are interacting with my site that I’ve never seen in person. this is one of the first things I did when I got there. Since my spot were I usually sit it right on the path, I decided to walk around a little bit and right away I saw some deer tracks. These tracks were very clear and probably pretty fresh.

Deer track path
Deer print next to the tracking guide
Clear Deer print in the snow

As I continued to wander about my site I also discovered some tracks from a cotton tail rabbit. The rabbits tracks were near the brook and headed towards the brush and the woods.

Set of Cottontail Rabbit Tracks

Once I went back to my usual spot I found ti interesting that there was absolutely no ice formation along the brook. When I visited, it was about 31 degrees F, and overcast with snow showers. IT had also been quite cold and below freezing for a couple weeks so I was surprised that the brook wasn’t able to freeze at all. Another thing that I noticed was that all of the trees had lost their leaves, but there was still a few red berries on one of the shrubs. These berries are going to be food for birds throughout the winter when it is difficult for them to find nuts and worms.

Flowing brook
Red Berries
Field Notes

December 5, 2019
by orands
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Sense of Place: Home

Since the age of two, I have lived in the small town of Woodstock, New York. Woodstock is part of Ulster County in the Hudson Valley, and it is surrounded by the Catskill Mountains which greatly define the landscape of the region. Although Woodstock is quite small, according to USA.com, the Onteora school district is ranked as the 15th largest school district, by land area, in New York State. Meanwhile, my graduating class was only 92 students and the grades below me are only getting smaller. This means that I grew up with a very small and closeknit group of people, so moving to Burlington and attending a school of over 10,000 is a big change.

The topography of the area contributes greatly to my life. The mountains surrounding my home have had such an impact on my life growing up. Some of my greatest memories and experiences came from skiing, hiking, and biking around Woodstock, the Catskills, and the greater Hudson Valley. I find myself to be extremely lucky and grateful to have grown up in this area that I know love and cherish profoundly. One major part of the area is the Ashokan Reservoir. This reservoir provides drinking water to the city of Manhattan as well as other smaller cities and towns along the way. Because of the reservoirs purpose, there are very strict policies related to the protection of the land around in order to ensure that the water quality of the reservoir and the feeding rivers is perfect and safe for consumption. This means that I grew up in an area where most people are very concerned about the environment so I didn’t have to deal with very much pollution and littering. 

Now, for my place. I chose to sit and observe my backyard for this assignment. While observing this place for only 20 minutes, I saw a bunch of squirrels running around gathering food, birds flying from tree to tree, and even a couple of white tail deer just wondering by. I was also able to determine some of the trees in the yard including oak and white pine. This experience was very interesting for me since I have spent countless hours in my backyard throughout my life, but I have never really just sat still and observed what was back there. Sure I have seen a thousand deer feeding on the grass along with turkeys, squirrels, and woodpeckers in the trees, but it really never meant anything special to me until I took the time to just enjoy my place at home and be a part of it.

Since I left home in August, the structural integrity of my place and environment hasn’t changed, but the trees now have little to no leaves and all of the organisms are preparing for the winter season ahead. This place has had a monumental impact on my life and it is something that will never leave me. When it was time to start looking for schools I knew I couldn’t leave the mountains that shaped who I was. I knew that I had to keep skiing and hiking and biking. I knew that I had to keep encountering wildlife daily, and that’s because it’s who I am. This environment, where I grew up and spent all of my time, is who I am, and I can’t change that. Without the experiences I had at home i wouldn’t be who I am today, and I wouldn’t be living the life I love so much right now. And for that, I am eternally grateful.

Google Map of my area
My backyard; My “place”
View of the Ashokan Reservoir and Catskill Mountains from the peak of Whittenberg Mountain.

November 12, 2019
by orands
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Sense of Place

After reviewing the idea of “Sense of Place” last week it was very interesting to consider it while at my phenology place. My place in Centennial Forest is greatly defined by the brook which runs through. I have started to feel very connected to my place and when I’m there I am able to relax and enjoy the scenery. Since my first visit to the Brook, it has gone through many changes itself. The first time I visited, the brook was moving very slowly because it was clogged by leaf litter. The second time I visited, the brook consisted of overflowed and fast-flowing water with expanding stream beds, the water was so cloudy and muddy the bottom was not visible. The water in my visit today (November 11) was a regular speed with extremely clear water so that the rock covered bottom was completely visible. It also has a smaller and more manageable volume now with the water barely reaching the banks. In addition to the changes in the brook, there were also many other changes in the landscape and the surrounding ecology. I noticed that no trees had leaves left, except for the Norway Maple mentioned in last week’s visit. The tree only had 15 or so leaves on it. One thing that I noticed this week for the first time was that all the pine trees around don’t have many needles except towards the top. I thought this was weird and I was curious why this would be so I googled it and learned that it could be possible the trees were just aging so they did not have many needles left. After reading the November chapter in Naturally Curious, it said that in November there should have been migrating birds, lichen and mosses, hibernating animals, and very few trees with leaves. Three of these things were true, as there was only one tree with leaves, only one squirrel was spotted, and I did find lichen, however, I did not see any birds in the sky or even hear one in the forest. I think this could be due to the fact that it was snowing today!! There is a storm coming and by 3:45 pm when I was at my spot, snow was already rapidly falling and adding to the previous inch we got earlier in the weekend. I am really excited to see how my place changes with the new snowfall and what that will do to the brook.

Crystal clear water in the brook
Final berries which I’ve seen for weeks, now covered in snow/
field notes

October 23, 2019
by orands
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Introduction To My Place!

Welcome to my magical spot along the brook in Centennial Woods. This location just off of the wooden footpath that winds along the brook and deeper into the forest. My place is charming yet it also reminds me of adventure and exploration. My place on the brook is in a special spot located between both the forested Centennial Woods and the wetlands behind Centennial Brook. I am able to observe two different ecosystems. The forest is dominated by trees like the white pine, sugar maple, and cedar trees while the wetlands are dominated by cattails. Since I sit on the side of the footpath when observing I am reminded of the popularity of this location every time someone walks passed me. During the hour time period I spent at Centennial Brook, much of it was spent in silence with little to no “action” just the faint chirps of birds in the distance. Although, after about 35 minutes a large group of about 10 small gray birds moved into the area I was observing and began to feed on the seeds on the brush. With the small birds came a couple of cardinals as well as a large blue jay. After around 5-10 minutes of them feeding in front of me, they moved on and were out of my sight. I also saw many people walk past me, most were alone but some were with a partner. The grass next to the wooden footbridges were also worn down and I am guessing this has to do with people walking next to the trail or slipping off the wet bridge. I am glad to see that there is still a steady influx of students and Vermonters using the trails and it isn’t one of the things changing with the seasons. However, there are many other aspects of my spot that are showing signs of the fall and incoming winter season. The most obvious change of the seasons is the changing of the leaves. During my first time at my phenology site on September 30th, 2019, only a few trees at the head of the trail had begun to change color. Then on October 10th, 2019 almost all of the trees have changed color to their bright red, yellow, and orange hues. During my most recent visit on October 22nd, 2019, most of the trees had dropped at least half of their leaves. This shows that the trees are becoming less productive as they approach the colder season to save energy and resources for the winter. A few remaining trees and bushes still have their summer/fall fruit which organisms like chipmunks and birds are feeding on. Another noticeable change was the lack of bugs. The fact that there are no bugs means that there has been a frost which killed them. I’m stoked to see how else my spot changes!

Below are photos of my spot and my notes.

View of my observation location (Centennial Brook and wetlands) from where I sit.
Wetlands where birds were feeding
Chubby cardinal eating small blue berries from the tree. (1)
Chipmunk eating red berries from a nearby tree
Chubby cardinal eating small blue berries from the tree. (2)
Chubby cardinal eating small blue berries from the tree. (3)
Blue jay in the tree. (1)
Blue jay in the tree. (2)
Basic map of my spot.
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