Forgot to take my honorary Cate picture at the quarry so here’s Cate + Mona during lab!
Lab A12 set out on a beautiful Sunday afternoon: rainy and cold with a high of 53*F. Meeting up with Bec and Mona in front of the three big trees on Redstone, we began our descent to our site of exploration: the Redstone Quarry!
Because we were in the middle of the quarry for most of the trip, cell service was pretty sucky, so I took a lot of the pictures to input into iNaturalist when I returned to my dorm. Once I did so, iNaturalist offered me much support in identifying species that I was unfamiliar with.
What I found extremely interesting was the amount of new species I had never seen before just beginning their growth into the Spring season.
Here are a few that I used iNaturalist to identify:
Cyprus Spurge
Shining Clubmoss
Familiar Faces
Ostrich Fern
Northern Cardinal
Common Buckthorn (lots and lots)
Juniper-Apple Rust on a Cedar tree
Interestingly, I took a picture of this tree intending to document it to iNaturalist when I got home, and didn’t realize until after that this was a diseased tree. After this came up on iNaturalist as “Juniper-Apple Rust”, I was interested as to what it was and some research uncovered that this disease occurs in areas where Crap-apple/apple species coexist with cedar species.
Un-pictured, we also saw a Northern Flicker, Mourning Doves, and many Ring-Billed Gulls
In total, I was able to capture 15 observations and 5 different species, and while there were many more species at the quarry, I wanted to make sure I balanced cataloging the species we encountered as well as enjoying being outside during such a pivotal phenological point. Comparing spaces that I visited during the Winter, such as Centennial, Bolton, and even just around the greater Burlington area to the Redstone Quarry, it’s beautiful to watch life slowly find its way back to Vermont even though we have such little time to enjoy it.
Thoughts on the Challenge as a Whole
I took the time to explore some of the cities near where I live and ones I know of, and also those that are international. The first thing I found interesting, and telling, is that my town, and the first four closest towns that surround mine having 0 participants in the challenge. Disheartened, I decided to look into larger cities and found that New York City had over 15,000 observations! As I explored the world observations, I was surprised to see that the most common species internationally were those that we encounter on a regular basis, for example the most common species were Dandelions, and nearly all of the top bird species such as the Mallard, American Robin, Canada Goose, and the Northern Cardinal are all species that are extremely common in the greater Burlington area. I was expecting to see many more species that I was unfamiliar with, but I think that this is in part due to large percentage participants being from the United States.
Closing Thoughts
Overall, I really enjoyed participating in this challenge. I liked having the chance to go out and explore with my friends and be able to encounter new species with each other. I will continue to track my findings until the challenge ends and hope to find my favorite bird species the American Woodcock.
MEEP.