A UVM blog Salmon Hole – Phenology Project

My First Adventure to Salmon Hole! – 10/4/2024

When I was looking for possible spots, a couple interested me. I knew that I wanted to do a place close to the water as Lake Champlain is such an important part of Burlington, so as I looked at the beaches around the area and other spots near the lake I saw Salmon Hole. After researching what this area looked like, I knew I wanted to choose this area. The Winooski River, which backs up to the Salmon Hole is part of the Greater Burlington Watershed. I also saw that on the Phenology project list, this was a good area to choose. So now with all of this knowledge behind me, I chose to do the Salmon Hole. I wanted to be able to bounce ideas off of a friend thus we chose areas far enough apart from each other while still being in the same place. It was an extremely easy walk there as it was only forty minutes and stretched through flat areas of neighborhoods.

When I first got there I was immediately taken aback by how gorgeous it was. There were so many different types of plant species that I could spot. Once venturing further in I found how much of a hidden gem it is. It is a small little mini forest right next to bustling streets with very little parking space. The river was beautiful although ruined by the factory easily spotted on the other side of the Winooski River. After some exploration, my friend and I parted ways and went to our specific spots. It was here that I used INaturalist to categorize trees as well as just looking around and trying to understand this place. After using the INatralist I met back up with my friend to discuss what we both found and the most common plant life we both seemed to find was Moss, Basswood, and Bittersweets as these plants seemed to pop up everywhere. Although these were the most common there were many different types of plant life there, most of them being newer plants. There were many tall trees but I noticed that in my area there was an abundance of new plants just starting to sprout. There were many different things that I noticed in my area. Here are some of the more common INaturalist findings below:

Bittersweets:https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/245999477 https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/245999133

Basswood:https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/245999881 https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/245995722

I noticed many small things such as there were very scarce wildlife due to how much noise pollution there was. The combination of the airport, the loud cars buzzing through not even a 10-minute walk away, and the people who are walking through the paths created. I only saw one snake and one spider while I was there which for such a well-populated area, surprised me. I also noticed that although it was kept as preserved as possible, there were very distinct human changes to this land. There were wooden stairs that went all the way down to the water, paths where anything green would not grow to help people walk through, and the area directly around it. The last big human impact I saw was the signs bolted into some of the trees. There were signs such as fishing signs which although useful to not decimate the fish population are not good for the trees.

Overall this was an extremely well-rounded area to do this phenology project as it has many good attributes as well as things to work on. The Salmon Hole is a beautiful area with a rich diversity of plant life as well as terrain life with rocks, water, and grass. It is a good place to take a walk or just to sit and take in nature.

Time Spent in the Salmon Hole – 11/4/2024

Going back to the Salmon Hole was no different than last time. I again saw the beautiful foliage, this time with more color as well as fewer leaves. It was a beautiful mix of yellows, reds, oranges, and greens. Once I settled down in my spot I put my phone away with a fifteen-minute timer set and just sat there. I will admit that for the first couple of minutes, I did get bored as I felt I had looked at everything there was to look at but once I fully took in everything I was able to just sit there in comfortable silence. It was an extremely calming experience and I am happy that I was able to just sit there and take in nature.

I sat on one of the man-made stairs that had been created to help people get to the water. As it has gotten colder during the fifteen minutes I experienced zero interruptions by people either walking their dog or just coming down to be near the water. Once I sat down, I immediately noticed the lack of animal noises and heard the wind whipping me. I noticed the lack of animals last time I went to The Salmon Hole and this time was all the same. Besides the wind and lack of animal and human life, the entire time was extremely quiet. I did try to block out all human-made noises such as cars and airplanes otherwise it would have led to a very frustrating fifteen minutes. I could hear a constant buzz of traffic and one airplane that flew past me. After around five minutes of sitting there, I was able to drown out the traffic as no new noises were going on to scare me. Once became accustomed to the noise I really started taking in the scenery of what I was surrounded by. The vegetation had not changed besides the color and variety of leafage. There were many leaves on the ground rather than the branches. Considering it is Autumn this was unsurprising that many of the leaves had fallen off as well as changed colors but was still beautiful to see. The trees were the big contender for change in vegetation as the bushes, flowers, and moss had stayed consistent with what it looked like last time.

Going back to The Salmon Hole gave me a new appreciation for nature as sitting there with nothing to do but to look and listen for fifteen minutes helped in fully take a look at this part of nature. It was also incredibly beautiful to watch the leaves fall and see all the different shades of orange, yellow, and red that formed over the time I was there last to this most recent time. This was still such a well-rounded place to go to and explore and I can not wait to go back!

My Last Adventure to the Salmon Hole – 12/8/2024

Coming back here for the last time felt a little strange as just a few months ago it was vibrant with color and warmth. Now, although I do love the winter for the beautiful snow, it was cold, dark, and seemed almost lifeless. Since coming here for the first time there have never been any animals but that did not become really apparent until this most recent trip. As I was walking around I noticed just how quiet it was and how little activity there was. At this moment I was ignoring the sounds of cars and urban life and just focusing on what was going on in this small area.

I will say that there were limited amounts of greenery still there. In the image to the right, there is moss on the rocks and there was moss all over the Salmon Hole, on the rocks, the fallen-over trees, and the dead grass. I was very presently surprised to see that there was still some greenery around. There were also some common buckthorns that I spotted that still had almost all of their leaves. There was also some grass sprouting out of the ground which was the most surprising to me considering how cold it was. The biggest thing I noticed when I first got there was the amount of leaves on the ground. Although when I went last time there were a lot of leaves, this time was even more intense. I could so clearly see Winooski River in a way I could not before.

stand by my statement in the first post that The Salmon Hole is a well-rounded area with much to offer not only the Burlington area but the wildlife community as well. Although there are not many animals or critters present, there is still a great community of plant wildlife. There are so many pockets of species to explore and it has been so fun and beautiful to go to. My favorite aspect of the Salmon Hole is how close it is to the water. Coming from a place where rivers are not nearby or at least in parks, It is fun to be able to experience this in a state I find myself growing more and more fond of as I go on this semester!

Back at the Salmon Hole – 1/26/2025

Going back to the Salmon Hole was definitely a jarring experience as the last time we went there was almost no snow. This time, however, it was covered in snow and ice and was difficult to walk around in. It was gorgeous though as the river has mostly frozen over and the snow had perfectly covered most of the ground. Although most of the leaves were gone last time I saw the Salmon Hole, there were some left. This time I visited there were no leaves yet but some leaves were still decomposing underneath the snow. Besides the large amounts of snow and the complete lack of leaves, there was not much change with the ground. Now the Winooski River has mostly frozen over which is a big change as this park gets used as a fishing spot for a lot of people in the community. That definitely does change a lot of the foot traffic in this park as, based on the footprints I saw, most people who come here have been with their dog on a walk.

There have always been little to no animal footprints since I have started coming to this area but I did manage to find these footprints which I assume to be a squirrel. There were many footprints in the snow but most were either dog or human. These footprints looked the most accurate to that of a wild creature. Other than that there was no sightings of any wildlife activity. I was honestly assuming this would be the case as the Salmon Hole has never had many creatures besides fish I could not ever see.

I was honestly excited to return to the Salmon Hole as I have now had the chance to watch it change throughout most seasons. I have not seen it in Spring yet, however, I saw it in the Summer on a windy day which acted as Spring. It did not disappoint as seeing it covered in snow was so beautiful.

Walks Around Burlington – 2/23/2025

The Phenology Walk – 4/27/2025

On April 27th, 2025, I completed the Phenology walk around campus. It was exceptionally dreary today as it was windy, raining, and cold. Beginning with the Norway Maple, we noticed that there were very prominent buds on the tips of the branches. Some of these were already far into their budding process, while others had just started that process. There were even some that hadn’t opened yet. I did not manage to see any leaves on or surrounding the tree. Then we looked at the Red Maple, which had red buds beginning to open. Some of these buds were further along, with a small flowerlike vegetation growing. These flowers will turn into leaves, but there are no full-grown leaves on the tree. Moving on to the White Oak, the buds were beginning to open, and there were some leftover orange/yellowish leaves. These leaves, however, were very sparse as I counted maybe 10 on the entire tree. There were also small acorns that were growing, as well as acorns on the ground around the White Oak. The Sugar Maple had sharp green buds that were at various stages. Some had not begun to grow while others had started the transformation to the flower stage. There was a lack of leaves on the trees. The last tree, the Red Oak, had yellow/brown buds that were beginning to grow. There were also acorns on and surrounding the tree. All in all, all five trees seemed to generally be in the same place as they all had buds that were in different stages, as well as little to no leaves. 

When reading through the NPN’s website, I came across an article where they discuss how climate change is affecting the length of vegetative phases. As I read, I was very interested to see how it has been proven that the effects are much less than people may think. It has shifted to a degree, but there has been contrasting evidence that can point to the contrary. This article was very comforting as it showed ways the Earth is not giving in to climate change just yet.

Burlington City Nature Challenge – 4/27/2025

For this nature challenge, I decided to stay close to campus by going on the bike path behind the Patrick Gym. There has been harsh weather this weekend, thus why I did not wish to go far into the greater Burlington area. The bike path was home to many different types of vegetation, both understory as well as overstory. I was able to identify with the help of iNaturalist, 10 different plant species. I did not discover any animals, nor animal activity. I understand this is most likely due to the high human activity that goes on on and around this path. I have become very comfortable with using iNaturalist, as I have had to use it frequently for this class and others. I know how it works and how to work around previously difficult tasks. I have even started using it in my personal life as it helps me to understand species better in my everyday life. Below is the general area in which I researched.

I found it most interesting how big of a project this City Nature Challenge is, as I had never heard of it before the NR1020 lecture. I was going through the city list and seeing countries I had never even heard of, and doing this was really eye-opening to me. I then clicked on a couple of random ones and saw posts from not even 2 hours ago. That was really cool to see, as I was most likely getting the identifications for the same reason someone across the world was also getting them. This was, although a bad weekend for it due to the weather, a fun and eye-opening experience for me.

My Final Adventure to The Salmon Hole – 4/31/2025

I have now seen the Salmon Hole in all seasons, making spring the last on my list. Going back for the last time was incredibly bittersweet as I have grown an attachment to this place. I consider the Salmon Hole my place and, honestly, love being there and taking notes and pictures. As much as I have grown to love this place, I do not consider myself part of it. When thinking of people who are more connected to this land is the people fishing out on the river. The Winooski River is truly what makes the Salmon Hole alive and a spot to enjoy. The Winooski River has been here since Indigenous People used it for irrigation, food, and drinking water. It has been intertwined with Indigenous People for as long as history will go back to. Their culture with the water translates into today’s world as people enjoy fishing on the river as well as using it for drinking water.

Since I have become familiar with my site, I have come to notice prevalent landmarks around it, such as the Mill across the water that we had visited in NR1020 lab. The second landmark I notice is not actually a landmark, it is the fact that many planes fly overhead while being decently low to the ground. The Burlington International Airport is around 3 miles away which is why the planes are so close to the ground. Since September, as mentioned above, I have seen the Salmon Hole in so many different stages and it has been very cool to witness it. When I first went, the trees were extremely luscious and the surrounding vegetation was the same. There were people walking their dogs and other people fishing. Not to mention, there was an easy way to get from the land to the rocks on the water. Going back in November, I saw the leaves were starting to fall but still had a majority left on the tree. There were no drastic changes in November besides it being fall. The December trip was the same. There were still greenery, some leafage on trees, and lots of leaves covering the ground. However, The January trip was incredibly different. The leaves that were left had now fallen, the ground was covered in ice and snow, and the Winooski River had frozen over. It was unwelcoming as before it had been extremely welcoming. Now coming back today I had a completely different view. As It had been 3 months, I went in expecting change, and that is what I got. Although the trees were still barren, I saw many differences such as the water levels had risen dramatically, making it so you could not go onto the rocks on the water. There was also more foliage and starting blooms of vegetation. This phenology project has been a great way to interact with nature of my choosing and be able to put my knowledge in real world examples. The Salmon Hole is a well rounded spot with lots of life and surroundings!