Blue Jays are in the white oak collecting acorns. The honey locust’s leaves are falling a lot. I was yelled by horse girls on my way there.
10/7/24 at 11:31
It had rained the night before and the fall air is starting to arrive. The area is quiet today and very wet.
10/8/24 at 13:50
The day was once again cloudy but I did discover the Eastern Phoebe flying around again. I also dove more into the tree species here and discovered there are two Wheeping Willow trees. More leaves are starting to change too.
10/13/24 at 15:14
I saw about 100 geese fly over the area.It is starting to rain and will for the next 3 days and expect the area to flood. The Norway Maple has yet to change color despite most of the area already doing so. I have also discovered a Basswood tree and ash trees in the understory. It has also been getting colder and chillier at night causing more leaves to fall off.
10/15/24 at 13:11
The rain is in a pause right now but the creek definitely has more water in it. There is not much activity probaby since there was an 18-wheeler in the breakdown lane near the forest making loud noise.
The high was also 47º F (8º C).
10/17/24 at 15:45
The sun is back and the reed saplings have gotten bigger than the beginning of the month. The red oak is turning red too. I have noticed less activity of wildlife the area.
10/21/24 at 14:38
The aspen and box elder trees have lost most of their leaves now. The amount of leaves that have fallen could be due to the windy conditions today. However the Norway Maple continues to still be green. Most of the other non-conifers leaves have turned yellow. With less leaves there is much less shade.
10/22/24 at 17:43
(Special Report of my 15 minutes in the area)
This was the latest I had ever arrived at my stop. I hoped there would be more activity, but there wasn’t much. I lay next to the Colorado Spruce for 15 minutes. Being next to I-89, I heard the constant roar of engines going by which made it hard to concentrate. Unlike yesterday, it wasn’t that windy at my spot. The leaves have fallen on more than 60% of the trees in the area since I first came here but it’s interesting how the Norway Maple continues to stay green. Unlike the grass near closer to the marsh which resembled grass like the horse barn the more into the forest, I got the path’s grass had much more variety of plants within the grass. There were wild carrots, buttercups, and common selfheals within the grass. With a pipeline being under the soil I noticed much is growing on the path. In addition, I have noticed that all but one Colorado Spruce is losing a lot of its needles towards the bottom but this could be due to the tree’s preparation for fall or signify poor soil conditions. Despite the area being a wetland, the soil around it doesn’t get waterlogged easily.
As for wildlife, I didn’t notice that much in my time, under the piles of leaves I observed only a couple pillbugs. In the distance, I could hear Hairy Woodpeckers calling but that was it. However, when I was about to leave, I stumbled upon a black cat. I couldn’t tell whether this was a house cat or a feral cat as it stood and watched me but when I approached it, it kept running away. It was quite an interesting encounter on my way out. All in all, the area is filled with a ubiquitous amount of plants and trees but a lack of wildlife.
10/27/24 at 13:00
Lots of leaves have fallen. The aspen leaves have all fallen off while the rest of the hardwoods have turned yellow except for the Norway maple. The highway is much more easily visible as well as the mall across the highway. The lack of leaves also revealed 2 more Colorado spruce trees.
Blog and Updates: November
11/3/24 at 12:03
The big Norway maple is starting to lose leaves while the goldenrods have all turned brown. I did find a tiny brown frog hopping around
11/6/24 at 11:16
Most of the leaves have fallen except for the Norway Maple, black oak and honeysuckle. The grass is more pale and light green.
11/8/24
The area remains covered in more leaves while the black oak still has its leaves but it’s all brown now.
11/13/24 at 11:34
I explored the stream in the area. There are many fallen trees surrounding the stream. Most of the leaves have fallen except for the Norway Maples. You can easily see the highway now too.
Blog and Updates: December
12/2/24 at 11:31
I returned to my spot after break in the 20ºF snowy forest. The snow didn’t accumulate but was on some of the fallen leaves. Almost all of the leaves have fallen off the trees and the area lays dormant. The only trees that have some leaves are the Honeysuckle and Northern Red Oak. There was some more activity that I have seen as I noticed three Black-Capped Chickadees eating away at the dead branches of two Colorado Spruces. This shows there appears to be insects in the Colorado Spruces and the health of these conifers are decaying. While the Black-Capped Chickadees are finding any food they can in this season to increase their fat. The soil also feels much more solid compared my last visit since it has gotten much colder. The leaf cover is also more abundant since I first arrived as much of the leaves cover the grass. The area that has had leaf litter for a long time are wet, compact, and the bottom leaves are slightly decomposing. Overall, my spot has become very dormant and dull but is still able to be a functioning ecosystem.
As I wrap up my time here at the forest behind the horse barn, I reflect on the many adventures I have been to. My favorite part was the journey I took to travel to my spot. It is always nice to stop by on my way and see the horses. Then going to an area with a diverse amount of biomes in an area was quite cool to see. I found so many tree species and plants I never learned of before. This was really amazing. Sadly, I must leave the area for a little bit and will miss it. Thank you Horse Barn Forest!
January 2025
1/14/24 at 15:21 Phenology Assignment #1
Today was the first time this year I returned to the forest. The ground was covered with a few inches of snow. It made the area aroud me seem way more quiet as the snow reduces the sound. The snow also presented me with the opportunity to see what mammals inhabit the area. Using my booklet, I noticed a lot of Eastern Coyote tracks and a few deer prints. Following the tracks I found an area in my spot where one coyote pooped and urninated. Near that snow was dug up and it seemed like a hole was dug possibly to spread sent. This is called “tandem mark” as a way to mark territory. Furthermore, I found a trail with White-tailed Deer, Cottontail Rabbit, and Raccoon. The trail leads west towards the apartments and goes through a small break in the fense to I-89. While looking at the break in the fence I noticed a dead Northern Red Cedar and that the Colorado Spruce has a massive hole in it from some species. This could mean that the soil here has become more acidic or very saturated.
March 2025
3/26/25 Phenology Assignment 3
Today I traveled around the campus to check out five different types of trees: Northern Red Oak, White Oak, Sugar Maple, Norway Maple, and Red Maple. Being different tree species and tollerating different conditions, some of these trees flower earlier than others, such as Red Maple.
Since spring had just begun six days ago, most of the trees were dormant. Although, the Red Oak had some of the past year’s leaves still attached to the branch. The only tree I noticed that had some buds that are unravaling. However this is very common as Red Maple tend to be the first trees to bloom. The Red Maple was mostly flowering buds with some that have pollen towards the tips. The rest of the trees remained dormant with no buds breaking. All the trees had no new leaf growth though but the conditions seem favorable for it.
Furthermore, I also explored the National Phenology Network’s (NPN) website and viewed their newsletter, The Leaflet. I too was curious how the federal support for the program would with all these cuts in federal funding. It is quite concerning how the long term effects could lead to NPN not having enough funding. I feel concerned without this important organization, it could affect the large database it has to provide infomation on the effects on phenology due to global warming.
April 2025
4/27/25 at 13:34
Phenology Blog Assignment #5:
On this rainy day, I visited this spot for the last time in awhile. Now being well into spring, many trees started to spread their flowers and leaves. I arrived to my area to see that many of the trees not (or barely) shown their flowers and leaves. The only trees that had leaves were the Weeping Willow, Norway Maple, and Japanese Honeysuckle; All of which are invasive and non-native to the area. These trees were also some of the last to hold onto their leaves. This highlights their competitive advantage and the treat they pose.
Sadly, I have noticed that one of the Colorado Spruces have almost lost all of it’s needles and there are more cavities carved into it. This is quite sad as I had hope for this tree and fear for the future of the other Colorado Spruce nearby. The last Colorado Spruce is a major landmark for the area and can be spotted from the highway nearby. It would be disappointing if this trees dies too. The only other landmark here would be the large blue pipe that stick out where the pipeline has gone through.
However the ground had much more change than the last time I went. The ground had been splotches of wild carrot’s and Golden Alexanders. All of which belong to the carrot (daucus) genus. The prevalence of this plant genus highlights to me that the soil is well draining and loamy. I would support this hypothesis as despite being near a steam, the area tends to avoid getting waterlogged. The ground also had a few violets and clovers in the grassy area as well. Finally, what I have noticed so much this year was the lack of mammals. This could possibly be due to the noise of the highway.
The fact that there is a pipeline running right through the site, and a horse barn, a neighborhood, and a highway nearby and yet there can be so much nature is truly an interwoven connection. I choose this place as it unique forest that is surrounded by urbanization to see how it alters a forrest. I’ve noticed how so much of these “urban” forests have much more invasive species and the lack of mammals. Visiting this place so often has made me feel connected to the land and it feels that it is my job to help protect, clean up, and research the area to help preserve it. It was a gift to document this forest and I won’t forget it.
