My phenology spot is mainly evergreens such as eastern white pine (Pinus strobus) and eastern hemlock (Tsuga canadensis). These trees keep their needles for 2-3 years so they will keep them throughout the entire winter. This allows them to photosynthesize all year long. Most of the hardwoods in the area have lost their leaves. One exception is a northern red oak (Quercus rubra) along the bank of the wetland that still has some dried out leaves on its branches. There are also a couple small Norway maple (Acer platanoides) saplings that have a couple small remaining leaves.
There is some persistent vegetation. There are mostly marginal ferns (Dryopteris marginalis) remaining along the forest floor poking out of the snow, and partridge berries (Mitchella repens) hidden under logs. There is also moss on the decomposing logs.
The leaf litter is mainly white pine needles which have started to break down over time. You can see the layers of decomposition under the snow cover. Under the freshly fallen needles there are layers of more broken up, partially decomposed needles. Also, in the areas where there are a few hardwoods, there is leaf litter that is starting to decompose. You can feel the leaves become thinner and turn brown as they decay. I also found some fungus on the side of logs, indicating decomposition.
When walking and observing my area, I didn’t see any physical signs of wildlife activity. I didn’t see any tracks which may have been because of the beginning of dormancy for some species, or simply because it had recently snowed, covering up any previous tracks. I did hear a lot of bird activity. I heard black-capped chickadee (Poecile atricapillus) calls, and the Merlin Bird ID app picked up the calls of a pileated woodpecker (Dryocopus pileatus) and Carolina wren (Thryothorus ludovicianus).
Overall the animal has decreased slightly. I never saw a lot of activity in my area but I have noticed that there aren’t as many active squirrels or chipmunks. There were also less bird calls than I usually noticed earlier in the fall. The forest seemed a lot quieter.