Salmon Hole Park Phenology Blog

Well, this is a bittersweet blog post! I had my last visit to Salmon Hole this week, at least until next semester, to document the final changes I have seen in the ecosystem. Aside from the gorgeous river scenery, some flowers were in bloom and I saw some additional tracks on my adventure.

The trees and leaves were still coming into full growth past the spring season as the climate shifts into the summer months.

Salmon Hole is an amazing case study in the delicate nature of interactions between humans and the environment, or rather how interactions should be. Fishing is a common practice in the hole, yet sturgeon populations are declining in Lake Champlain and Salmon Hole is an important breeding ground for the species. Should fishing still be allowed as a recreational practice there? Salmon Hole also demonstrates the importance of maintaining riparian zones as buffers between human communities and nature.

The site is also an important location to discuss the need to recognize and validate the Winooski as a critical part of Abenaki culture. The Winooski itself ties together the natural, human, and cultural aspects of the landscape, and Salmon Hole acts as a highlight of this interconnectedness.

Do I consider myself a part of this place? Yes and no- yes in that I have found solace and safety, wonder and awe, happiness and peace during my adventures through Salmon Hole, and a part of my soul is tied to that place, just as part of Salmon Hole now rests in my memories and heart. Yet, I don’t think I would enjoy calling myself a part of Salmon Hole. Part of my love of nature is the mysticism surrounding and encapsulating it, that idea that I will never truly understand the inner workings of a place or a being that I encounter in the wild. As much as I try to throw myself into nature and discover its secrets, part of it will always remain beautifully elusive and ephemeral. In that sense, I take care in knowing that the past, present and future of Salmon Hole will continue without me, and its truths and secrets will remain to itself alone. I am endlessly grateful, however, to Salmon Hole for allowing me to journey through its paths and for letting me witness gorgeous events of pure, wild nature.

I truly hope whoever reads this blog gets out to Salmon Hole and explores the place with care and compassion for the wildlife residents. It is truly a glorious, amazing place that I have had the privilege to analyze and discuss throughout this past school year. Thank you Salmon Hole, for your wisdom, mystery, and generosity.

Happy belated Earth Day! This past week I’ve gone back to Salmon Hole and beyond to explore more of the Winooski watershed, and I saw some spectacular species along the way! I mostly explored in my phenology site, but I followed the Winooski all the way down to the Intervale, where I ended my adventure for the day. The trail was fairly straightforward but I saw some amazing species that I’ve never seen before! The most memorable observation I had was that I saw a beaver swimming in the water within ten feet of where I was standing. I hear a massive splash near me and at first I thought it was a rock or branch that had fallen in the water, but then I saw the beaver’s head bobbing above the surface! It had smacked its tail on the water, likely to warn its fellow companion that I was nearby. Here’s a photo of the one I saw!

Some other memorable species I saw were double-crested cormorants, mallards, mergansers, groundhogs, raccoon tracks, squirrel tracks, and lesser periwinkles.

My experience with iNaturalist was, for the most part, gratifying and rewarding. It was nice to be able to post a photo and see how other people could remark on what they thought it was, and the feature that identified the closest species was very useful. The only thing that was bothersome was that none of my observations uploaded to my labs’ project page, although they loaded on the project page for the entire class. Overall, it was a great experience and I will definitely be using the app again on future explorations into nature.

Being a part of something as massive as the City Nature Challenge was so amazing and just cool, for lack of a better word. Seeing how so many people contributed to their projects was almost an out-of-body experience, that so many people are just so fascinated by nature they want to take as many photos as possible and collectively identify them together. One of the coolest pages I saw was a city from Holland; they had so many bird species that I had never heard of and it was so awesome to see their observations and learn about the species. The sheer diversity of species was truly awe-inspiring and I’m so grateful that I got to participate in such a great, global project.

Welcome back to Salmon Hole! This past visit was particularly fun, since I got to do some tracking and saw some great avian wildlife! The species of the day was the ruby-crowned kinglet, a unique looking bird with a blazing crest on its head- this was the first I’d ever seen of this species both in Salmon Hole and ever.

Tracks-

There were an abundance of tracks along the river during my visit- because it had rained, the tracks were preserved in the ground. I saw a variety of species ranging from salamanders to turkeys- here is a comprehensive list of all species I believe were active in the area after viewing their tracks and presence in Salmon Hole–

Bobcat, Turkey, Raccoon, Muskrat, Coyotes, Spotted Salamander, Wood Duck, Cormorant, Seagull, Canada goose, Ruby-Crowned Kinglet, Common Sparrow, Goldfinch, Grey Squirrel, American Robin, Junco

Species Interaction Diagram

Signs of Spring-

March is coming head on with cold winds and icy days! The past few weeks have been extremely frigid, yet this does not stop trees and animals from pushing forward with their lives and surviving until the warmth of spring and summer. Burlington offers unique spaces for animals to thrive in the city, with Church street filled with trees on up and down its length and parks and greens covering the land near the waterfront. The lake still has ice forming at the shore and tree buds are fully present. Some of the bird species I saw while walking around Burlington were crows and common songbirds like chickadees and sparrows. In some swaths of clean snow I saw some squirrel tracks, likely because squirrels thrive in city environments and they have an established presence in Burlington. Human activity hasn’t changed too much, but as the snow continues to melt and the weather warms, activity will continue to heavily increase in the city and on campus.

I also had the opportunity to travel home to Southern Vermont for part of the week and was able to capture more tracks and winter scenes from my hometown! The integration of nature into Burlington contrasted with the agricultural themes of Southern Vermont demonstrates the volatility of Vermont’s natural landscape during the month of March!

It is great to be back at Salmon Hole for the first time in the Spring Semester! I saw lots of great animal tracks, birds, and general signs of animals in the area. Although I was unable to snap a photo of it, a Great Blue Heron flew upwards from the Winooski within my line of sight, and I got to see its full wingspan and gorgeous feather colors. I also saw a mallard swimming in the icy water and walking about the frozen parts of the river. Overall, in terms of phenological changes I witnessed upon returning to the site, the differences were profound and provocative- the trees have lost their leaves, the river has almost entirely frozen over, and while the birds continue to stir up a racket, I did not see nearly as many mammals and rodents like I did last semester. I’m not sure if this is to do with the seasonal change or the more localized change inflicted upon the area (the river freezing specifically), but there was a clear change in the way the animals were interacting with the site. I saw many tracks during my adventure, most of which were curiously on the ice itself it wavy patterns with the footprints in line with one another. There were multiple sets of tracks heading in the same direction, so it can be assumed that there was likely more than one animal venturing out onto the river at the time. Further, the waterfall in the area has almost completely frozen as well, dulling the roar of the river as it flows across the landscape and making the bird noises much more noticeable. The visit was entirely enjoyable, especially with the fresh air and change of scenery from the dorm rooms. I look forward to visiting again!

*Attached are the photos of various tracks and photos of the site

Stopping By Woods on a Snowy Evening

Whose woods these are I think I know.   
His house is in the village though;   
He will not see me stopping here   
To watch his woods fill up with snow.   

My little horse must think it queer   
To stop without a farmhouse near   
Between the woods and frozen lake   
The darkest evening of the year.   

He gives his harness bells a shake   
To ask if there is some mistake.   
The only other sound’s the sweep   
Of easy wind and downy flake.   

The woods are lovely, dark and deep,   
But I have promises to keep,   
And miles to go before I sleep,   
And miles to go before I sleep.

Robert Frost

I thought this was a fitting poem to summarize by love of Vermont during the winter months- the prose is truly timeless! I hope you all have a wonderful break and I will be back to visit Salmon Hole come next semester!

Over the past 12,000 years, humans have inhabited and used Salmon Hole. This human history in the area can be expanded to encompass the human history of the Winooski itself, which derives from the Abenaki word Winooskiok (land of the wild onions). Since Salmon Hole is marginally inland from Lake Champlain, it’s water flow is slow and steady, allowing for easy human access to the area; therefore, it also has important attributes to sustain human involvement there. The large bay in bent shape in the park allowed for fish to spawn there (salmon, alewives, and shad were typical species that inhabited the area). Thus, it supported a fishing industry in the area not only in Salmon Hole but also on Lake Champlain, since fish could safely reproduce and migrate to Lake Champlain. The human remnants in the area, namely the bridge over the Winooski and the manmade waterfall, along with the industrial buildings along the river, also demonstrate the industrial/farming aspect of human history in Salmon Hole and the greater Winooski area.

The general area of Salmon Hole, specifically its relative location surrounding the Burlington area and Lake Champlain, has appealed to humans due to the warmer climate (reinforced by climate change), resulting in longer and more bountiful growing/harvest seasons. further, the biodiversity of the area is higher due to the extended elevation gradients- there are also many resources in the area (trees, water, good soil, etc.)

“This park offers an interesting history of geology. The rippled rocks speak of the water currents that covered the land about 500 million years ago.

The velocity of the water shows itself in the striations seen in the cliff-side. Small holes can be identified in the rocks as wormholes, one of the most advanced species of their time. If you follow the Riverwalk Trail along the Winooski River, the trail will take you all the way to a viewing area off of Intervale Road.”

Salmon Hole Park has impressive cliff sides surrounding the deepest area of its body of water, which invoke a sense of magnificence and grandeur along with great history upon viewing. The weathered stone is another addition to the greater geologic history of the Burlington area of VT, which has a multi-million year history involving massive earthly collisions, the flooding and melting of seas, and the creation of the Adirondack and Green Mountain Ranges.

“The rock layers at the Salmon Hole record sediment that was deposited on the shoreline of an ancient ocean approximately 540 million years ago. The red-colored sandstone rock unit that is found here at Salmon Hole and at several other locations around Burlington (ex, Red Rocks Park) is called the Monkton Formation. The rocks of the Monkton Formation preserve the sediment, structures formed by extinct marine organisms, and sedimentary structures that formed on the shoreline of an ancient ocean. Evidence for this interpretation can be seen by walking on the rock layers of the Salmon Hole and looking down at the rocks under your feet. You are literally walking on what was an ancient sea floor.”

https://www.uvm.edu/sites/default/files/Department-of-Geology/Salmon_Hole_geology.doc#:~:text=The%20rock%20layers%20at%20the,is%20called%20the%20Monkton%20Formation.

Having learned of the history of marine organism deposits in VT and their impact of the geologic makeup of the area, specifically with reference to the calcium rich soil along with its relationship with limestone, it made my experience with Salmon Hole Park so much more special knowing that I was standing on ancient worldly history.

Abstract of Source-

“This study compared 141 ecologically relevant climate metrics to field assessments of sugar maple (Acer saccharum Marsh.) canopy condition across Vermont, USA from 1988 to 2012. After removing the influence of disturbance events during this time period to isolate the impact of climate, we identified five climate metrics that were significantly related to sugar maple crown condition. While three of these are monthly summary metrics
commonly used in climate analyses (minimum April, August, and October temperatures), two are novel metrics designed to capture extreme climate events (periods of unusual warmth in January and August). The proportion of climate-driven variability in canopy condition is comparable to the proportion accounted for by defoliating pests and other disturbance events. This indicates that climate conditions, though rarely included in sugar maple decline studies, may be of equal importance as more traditionally studied stress agents. Modeled across the state, results indicate that changes in historical climatic conditions have negatively impacted sugar maple health over the 25 year study period, and are likely to degrade further over time. Climate projections under a low emissions
scenario indicated that by 2071 55% of sugar maple across the state would likely experience moderate to severe climate-driven stress relative to historic baselines, increasing to 84% under a high emissions scenario. However, geographic variability in projected climate impacts indicates that while conditions for sugar maple will likely
deteriorate across the state, climate refugia should also be available to maintain sugar maple in spite of changing climatic conditions. Considering the predominant role of sugar maple in Vermont’s economy and culture, managing this resource into the future could pose a considerable challenge.”

Link to Publication-

https://www.fs.fed.us/nrs/pubs/jrnl/2018/nrs_2018_oswald_001.pdf

https://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?mid=17z-aukxyoV89J-CKeL5J44sopNi0Nnp9&usp=sharing