Month: May 2021

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.