A UVM blog Phenology Assignment- Salmon Hole on the Winooski River

This will be my final blog post about my phenology place this year 🙁 I rode my bike down to Salmon H\ole, it was finally warm enough to bike again, about 56 degrees F, and made my first observations of ’22 without snow on the ground. Spring has certainly sprung. There are many green plants sprouting every which way, buds emerging from the tips of branches and a flowing river with no ice shelves to speak of.

I consider myself a part of this place because it is a part of me. I’ve spent the better part of this school year returning and observing this place and learning from it. I have spent countless hours here, drew sketches here, taken magnificent photos here. Even if I have not necessarily left any lasting impression on this place, just the connection to the land is enough.

This speaks to how nature and culture intertwine at Salmon Hole. The indigenous Abenaki people of this region used to utilize this place to catch and harvest salmon as they returned upstream to spawn, thus the name. Now, we have dams that drastically alter the landscape and prohibit the salmon’s natural return upstream. Even if the landscape is nothing like it once was, it is still inextricably linked to the people of the past.

I thought it looked kind of like the very beginning of winter, everything barren yet still some plant life lingering. Though I noticed that the water was a distasteful shade of green, assumably from the snow melt runoff carrying nutrients and soil into the river.

These are the most mature ostrich fern I have seen so far this spring.

I managed to maintain some tracking skills from the winter and found some sandy raccoon tracks. Interestingly, I’ve previously found this exact same trail in the winter across the snow dusted ice.

Both this waterfall portion of the damn as well as the large outlet pipe below were spilling with water, some this that thick ice has restricted for several months.

This weekend was beautiful spring weather, perfect for the City Nature Challenge iNaturalist BioBlitz! I explored the Intervale (right next to Salmon Hole!) during their Spectacular Nature Day Celebration. My experience using iNaturalist was fantastic, I uploaded some unknown observations that I had no guess as to their identification. By the time I open the app again a few hours or days later, other user usually has left a commented identification for me. Because of this, I am learning many new identification skills.

On this particular day (not including my previous iNaturalist uploads) I encountered 12 species of plants, animals and insects (not including the ones I deemed too mundane to document).

This tadpole and fish were in a container by the pond left for people to investigate. Super cool!

Something that I found interesting about iNaturalist reports from other cities participating globally was how many people actually took the time to make the observations. Even though the populations of many global cities are incomprehensible compared to Burlington, I think of Burlington as a place with a hyper concentration of environmentalists and naturalists. Places like London or New York City are hubs for people with agendas, places to see, things to do. But surprisingly, they also have a large amount of people paying attention to city nature.

A week before spring break, my roommate Gwen and I decided to visit the ice caves. We first walked downtown and looked out across Lake Champlain while we waited for the bus. It was pretty well frozen over, several boats and ships were frozen into place. Being down there reminded me of an NR1 lab when we visited the ECHO center and went out on the Melosira. During that lab we learned about the dynamics of the lake and how twice a year it “turns over” in the spring and the fall. Seeing the frozen lake prompted me to think about this process as the last time I saw it it was right before the fall turnover and the water was still warm. It was also interesting in comparison to the Winooski River which I observe on my visits to Salmon Hole. The ice on the lake was not as fragmented and broken as it was last time I was at the river, probably because the water is calmer and slower moving at the shore of the lake than at a river dam outlet.

Gwen and I proceeded to take the bus to the ice caves, which I found out were located right by Burlington High School. We walked down a hill through a sliver of forest until we were out on the ice. At first we didn’t even notice we reached the ice yet because there were several inches of fresh powdery snow covering the ground.

Inside the ice cave there was unfrozen, still water and massive icicles hanging from between the ceiling rocks. The shape of the cave was peculiar and made me wonder how it got to be the way it was. There was one rock pillar that reminded me of the windblown rock monuments of the west.

After a brief time at the ice caves, we walked to Rock Point because it was so close (across the street, passed the high school and the bike path) and I wondered how it would look in the winter.

The path that allows access to the shore of Rock Point was effectively a frozen waterfall. This was unexpected, and unfortunate because we were unable to view the limestone trust fault. Instead, we walked to the observation points a short hike away and overlooked Lake Champlain from a new perspective.

This perspective provided a far more expansive view of the lake’s ice. We could see that there were large fissures that disconnected portions of the ice and that it was not solidly frozen. On the edge of one of the fissures stood a bird of prey which we could observe from a distance (too far to photograph). It appeared to have prey locked in its talons and was tearing pieces off to eat with its beak. There was another bird flying around, presumably another bird of prey looking to do the same as the other. I would tentatively identify the birds as falcons due to their flight pattern, wing shape and size; they flew in swooping circles with minimal flapping of their sickle shaped wings. They were fairly small but larger than a backyard songbird.

On President’s Day, my roommates and I decided to use our day off to go tracking. Gwen and Alexis accompanied me on a “nature walk” as I investigated some tracks. It was about 18-20 degrees and the sky was grey and overcast. The snow was quite poor for tracking, I am used to tracking in pretty fresh, pristine powder. It had been a fairly warm week and the layer of snow capping the ground was thin and melty. Because of this, the tracks we found were not very detailed which made identification very difficult. There were also tons of tracks, so it was a bit confusing what was what.

We walked down Colchester Ave on our way to Salmon Hole, but on the way we passed Greenmount Cemetery. We decided to look around in there and we came across an animal tracking sign which I thought was interesting. I also found what looks like a fallen nest at the base of a pine tree (squirrel?). It was composed of dead plant matter, leaves and some sprigs of cedar. On the way out I spotted a Robin perched on a headstone and a few sets of squirrel tracks.

At Salmon Hole, the river was not wholly iced over. The sheet of snow covered ice that I observed during my last visit was broken apart and crunched together in massive chunks on the river banks. This allowed me to see a cross section of the ice, in some sections it was as thick as 24 inches!

I followed some indistinct tracks, possibly from a dog, to the far right of the clearing where I found the trail of a pacer! I am fairly certain that a raccoon or an opossum left these tracks due to the size and the long thin toes. Two tracks were side by side, one front and one hind.

As we continued along the Burlington Wildways path by the river, I continued seeing tracks with long toe prints which I could be sure were not from a dog. However the path was heavily traveled and dog tracks were everywhere so I was unable to find clear trails, just the odd individual print. Along the way, I found what I believe to be raccoon scat, but it also may just be squirrel.

Lastly, I found these obscenely large tracks that leave me at a loss. If they are dog tracks, they are from a record holding enormous horse sized canine. I know that there are very few if none at all mountain lions in this area so I can’t imagine these tracks are from one. Same with wolves. The nail marks in the snow tell me they are canine, but I have never seen a dog’s foot that large.

On this day it was a chilling 17 degrees, but I managed to make my first visit to Salmon Hole of the second semester! Just as it was in December the ground was covered in snow, though quite a bit deeper this time. There was several snowfalls worth of accumulated snow topped with a fresh sprinkle of powder, perfect for tracking. All trees and plants were dormant, braving the frigid temperatures. The only significant difference in appearance from my last visit was the almost entirely frozen river.

I crossed the Winooski Bridge and looked upstream from the dam, all areas of slow, calm water were frozen over. Only the water falling over rocks and actively flowing was still fluid.

The outlet pipe of the dam was also completely frozen from its edge to the surface of the river. Though I could hear water continuing to flow within the ice capsule.

I walked along the Burlington Wildways path parallel to the river that I took on my last visit, finding some interesting things along the way:

This series of tracks were quite difficult for me to identify. At first I thought they were fox tracks, possibly from the same individual that I tracked on my last visit. However, unlike my last visit, there were several human tracks along the entire length of the trail. What made me so sure that last visit’s tracks belonged to a fox was the untouched and pristine snow, allowing me to clearly see the whole trail and foot fall pattern without interruption. The fact that human tracks were absent last visit also assured me that they were not dog tracks.

This visit, it was much harder to spot the tracks as the path was churned up by hiking boots and snow shoes, erasing the precise trail of animal tracks. The presence of human tracks also increased the possibility that these tracks were from a pet dog and not wildlife. Despite this challenges, some tracks were quite well preserved and visible so I was able to look closer at the details of the paw. The size of the tracks appear to be about the size of a fox’s if not a small dog’s. I also considered the possibility that they were feline tracks, but they are too big to be a domestic cat’s and too small to be bobcat or other.

With all evidence taken into consideration, especially the active den I found and my knowledge that there is a fox on the area, I think they are fox tracks again.

This was my final visit to Salmon Hole before winter break and the end of the semester. It was 27 degrees and sunny with fresh snow on the ground. It was perfect for looking for animal tracks! I was a little apprehensive to commit to the 2 mile journey there though because of the cold, and I already had my bike put away for the winter. This was my first time walking instead of biking to my spot.

I went with Makenna, a person from my chemistry lab table. We walked down Prospect Street and stopped at a little thrift store behind a jewish synagogue called Shalom Shuk. We continued down the hill and saw something interesting: a dead crow. It was a little jarring to see, but it looked so peaceful, like it just dropped out of the sky.

When we arrived, the paths were covered with snow and we were wearing street shoes, so we cautiously continued into the trees. I had my eye out for tracks, there was an obvious trail of a big dog, snaking back and forth across the path. Near the clearing out to the rocks near the river, I found my first wildlife tracks!

Disclaimer: All of my identification is guesswork

Once through the clearing, at my specific spot, we looked out across the river. There was no foliage to be seen save a few evergreen conifers, just snow capped rocks and barren deciduous trees.

While walking along the rock outcrop, I discovered a path I had never seen before that lead down the river. I decided to follow it and found many more tracks.

We found a series of very small trails of tracks, scurrying from one hideout to another. These are assumably from a mouse or chipmunk; something small that burrows.

As we continued, we saw a large shelter constructed of leaned together branches. There were tons of tracks leading into it and all around the inside. Squirrel party!

Lastly, we found a fox trail! there were no human or other tracks on this part of the path, evidencing that they were not left by a dog on a walk. They are also linear, one after the other which follows the footfalls of a fox, not a dog. Also, the trail is deliberate and straight, efficient and along the path of least resistance, all characteristic of fox trails. We decided to follow the trail until we lost it and see what the fox was up to.

I decided to make Salmon Hole my phenology “spot” for a variety of reasons. It is right on the Winooski River and by the Winooski dam so it has a lot going on and a lot to observe. This spot is also only about 2 miles from campus, a very palpable distance for a leisure bike ride. I figure the repeated visits I make here will give me opportunities to explore beyond the direct outskirts of campus.

To get to Salmon Hole, I ride my bike from Athletic Campus, all the way down North and South Prospect Street and along a bike path on Riverside Avenue. There is one big hill but otherwise it is a moderate ride lasting 10 minutes.

Here is a link to the Google Map of my spot:

https://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?hl=en&mid=1v5Wiys2TYfih9iK-CFSheRPzA0Y1iabj&ll=44.48716307801208%2C-73.18931200000002&z=18

The vegetation is largely green, however you can see that fall is right on the horizon, some trees are turning orange and yellow. Some common woody plants that I identified are: Northern Red Oak, Paper Birch, Sugar Maple, Barberry, Mugwort, Buckthorn and the odd Northern White Cedar and Eastern White Pines.

I explored beyond my exclusive spot, I crossed the Winooski bridge and looked over the river from the other side. The water level was quite low so I was able to walk very close to the water on some exposed rock.

This phenological exploration was not of my spot, Salmon Hole. It was an urban-ish exploration of Burlington. My classmate Alex Doby and I went on a phenological exploration of the UVM dairy farm and the route along the way.

The route we rook to get there was the bike/running path behind the UVM outdoor track. I walked from my dorm in University Heights to the path entrance. We followed the path with the golf course to our right until the farm came into view on the left across the road. Alex and I crossed the road and entered the farm through the driveway.

During this visit to my phenology spot, I sat for a few minutes and experienced the environment with all of my senses. It was a beautiful sunny day, no clouds in the sky. I could hear the cars passing on the nearby bridge but it was otherwise quiet. There was a slight breeze that carried with it the fresh, crisp smell of autumn. The temperature was slightly chilly just sitting, but it was perfect for my bike ride to Salmon Hole. This visit, I went with my friend Quinn.

The vegetation and foliage changed quite a bit from my previous visit. The green foliage that I saw last time was now far less, replaced with shriveled orange, brown and yellow leaves. Trees were also sparse with leaves, some already fully barren. Most of the other woody plants had died back and left dry, brown stems standing.

The water level was also much higher this visit, more water must have been let through the dam, concealing many of the rocks that were previously exposed. I crossed the Winooski bridge again but was unable to climb down the rocks to the water like I was last visit.