Sofa’s Phenology Blog

April 24, 2023April 24, 2023

Final phenology!!!

Hi everyone! Happy belated Earth Day!!!! In my final phenology post I am happy to share that the birch started budding!:) it is hard to see it in the pictures because the branches are really high up, but the bugs are there :0

I’ll attach all pictures and screenshots below!

It was really nice to watch the weather change and everything around become more green and spring-like, and this particular project made me realize that these changes happen every day but we just don’t always notice. I’m happy I got to witness this particular paper birch become back alive again and show some buds 🙂 there weren’t many changes I could talk about besides the weather-dependent factors and its location keeps it from being affected by humans

over this semester I learned a lot about landmarks and terrains, like elevation/depression, its surface textures and etc.. FUN FACT: I also learned that if a tree looks like it’s growing out of a weirdly shaped land/area where it has its roots– it is probably because it grew on top of another tree (nursing log), which is a big thing for birches !!

Besides this tree being a great specie for my phenology place it also is a part of the Centennial Woods Natural Area. Centennial has become not only one of the most frequently visited spots around campus and a great outdoor classroom, but also a part of the UVM campus that serves many people. Going for a walk, hammocking, birding, or any other outdoor activity can be a great way to socialize, distress, enjoy the nature, and get closer with the community. I think areas like Centennial Woods, Redstone Pines, and all other public natural areas are a prime example of nature and culture being intertwined. I love visiting these places and hanging out there with my friends or by myself, I am very grateful to have access to nature and call this place a home <3

April 9, 2023

Paper birch UPD 4/9!

By sbatyrsh

Happy Easter! 50 degrees and the sun brought spring to Burlington and today I saw some early buds on the paper birch 🙂 Besides the buds, pretty sun & fresh moss there weren’t other changes. Hopefully, the weather stays this warm for the rest of the month so there can be more noticeable changes next time I visit!

March 20, 2023March 20, 2023

Paper Birch late March update!

By sbatyrsh

Hi! Happy first day of spring everyone!! I was able to visit my little tree in the woods today and I caught it in the prettiest golden sunlight:) it was beautiful and sunny but still snowy. It’s a little early for the birch to start flowering (not until mid-April), so there were not many changes.

poor quality, but this is just a picture of the twigs with no buds

March 7, 2023

Have you even seen a paper birch before?

By sbatyrsh

Hi! It’s early March and it means that there’s still lots of snow and cold weather here in VT! In this post, I will share my paper birch find for the phenology assignment this week! I’ll attach some pictures with descriptions down below:

she’s pretty mature, sorry about the poor quality :c

little twig that was found near my tree: shows no signs of flowering or budding

February 20, 2023February 20, 2023

Exploring more of Burlington! (or more of Centennial..)

By sbatyrsh

Hi! This time I went to the Centennial Woods with Connor, my friend, and we both explored some new trails and more areas of the woods. We saw a few tracks, but unfortunately, the snow was melting and mostly icy, making it harder to find any tracks or scat because the entire area was a muddy mush… I want to attach my iNaturalist observations here, but I forgot to open the app before going to the woods, so I don’t have anything recorded:(

Below I’ll attach a picture of the track we saw with my hand to understand the size of it. It was a little hard to find these tracks because of the weather (melty and runny), but these two little feet belong to a possum. It wasn’t too hard to identify these tracks because Connor had his red book with a ruler and it looked like there was an alternating pattern. It is also a common habitat for possums at Centennial (or at least I’ve seen a few so far). Following the direction of the tracks I think the animal was just crossing the trail, moving from one bush to another.

tracks Download

January 30, 2023

Moving spots….

By sbatyrsh

Last semester I went to the Red Rocks Park in Shelburne, which was super beautiful but with the snow and how far it is I decided to move a little closer- Centennial Woods. I picked a spot I always go to when I go for a little walk or a hike, it’s super close to the entrance, but it feels so hidden and private. To get there you should enter the forest like we normally would (NOT the parking lot entrance, the road one) and turn right onto the steep trail down when you see a “Caution: poison ivy” sign.

I’ll attach some pictures of the spot, the way it looks in the winter is so much different from what it looks like when it’s green and fluffy, but it’s beautiful in either state! It’s a little “peninsula” surrounded by the stream, which makes it a dead end, but it is really nice and peaceful there. The soil is constantly wet, and water moves along the banks constantly so it’s a little eroded there. From memory, I think there were a few crabapple trees and buckthorns around.

December 9, 2022January 30, 2023

DecemBRRR at Red Rocks Park

By sbatyrsh

I went back to my phenology spot first time in a while and it has changed a lot: it’s stick season now but there are some trees that haven’t shed their leaves completely- quite a few maples have their leaves on (even though they’re dry) and a bunch of buckthorns that have green leaves still!

buckthorn, understory beech, and naked trees

One of the most common plants at this time of the year in Red Rocks park is the fern. There were a bunch of patches all over with lots of green ferns.

Compared to the first time and most recent time I visited the park I didn’t notice too much difference in wildlife, except there were much fewer birds and squirrels, and all the chipmunks have gone underneath for hibernation. I think I found a few signs of deer feeding on the tree bark and some holes in trees from woodpeckers .

there were better examples of torn bark that I didn’t take a picture of

The most favorite part of my phenology place is its location. Even though it’s not so far from campus it still felt like an adventure to take two different buses, walk through the park to get to my spot and just enjoy my time while exploring this place. As I was walking over to my spot I was just mentally acknowledging how lucky I am to be able to enjoy nature and everything it has to offer. I also felt very grateful for being able to study something I really enjoy, be able to get outside to do my work for this course, and just be surrounded by people who have similar interests. I will be definitely coming back to the Red Rocks park soon to walk the loops again 🙂

December 1, 2022

Humpback Rock, VA

By sbatyrsh

The view of the Rockfish Valley, Skyline Drive.

Humpback Rock is located near Waynesboro, Virginia. On the way to the entrance of the hike, you take the Skyline drive which has beautiful views with multiple lookout stops, like the Rockfish Valley above. Below I attached the map of the location of the spot on the map and the Humpback Rock hike.

This place is special to me because it is located near one of the towns where I went to high school and it was one of my favorite areas for beautiful sunsets and long drives with my friends. This hike has beautiful views of the Blue Ridge Mountains and Shenandoah National Park.

Honorable Harvest, Braiding Sweetgrass

Inspired by Robin Wall Kimmerer’s Honorable harvest practices I wanted to emphasize the importance of loving the land you’re taking from and giving back by respecting and protecting the gifts we enjoy. Sustain the ones who sustain you, and the Earth will last forever. Enjoying nature without taking more than what was given is the least we can do to even out the taking & giving. Visiting the trail with the least impact we could is something I practiced when visiting recently.

To compare the ecology of the Humpback Rock and my phenology spot Red Rocks Park in VT I can point out that both spots are super different in terms of views (but both are super beautiful!!!), have some different and similar trees — oaks (white and red), white pines in both Humpback Rock and Red Rocks park, and maples in Red Rocks, VT. Both spots are rocky with a steep trail that leads to an elevated point and hanging cliff rocks.

November 7, 2022November 7, 2022

Meditation Spot

By sbatyrsh

Welcome back!!! Below you can see my poor sketch of the little spot at the Red Rocks Park that I found. The perspective I used was as if a bird was flying over the Shelburne Bay and looking at the hanging cliffs over the water. On my sketch I tried to picture that only evergreens and some leafy trees (yellow colored) are left, as well as naked trees all over the place. This spot is beautiful to enjoy the sunset, meditate, and just look over Lake Champlain. Within the past 2-3 weeks this are shedded most of the leaves and the floor has more colorful crunchy leaves that the trees themselves. I’ll attach some of the better quality pictures to show a bit of the park to better understand my sketch:)

naked trees right by my spot!
photography by Emerson Kauffmann

hanging rocks and the view from the spot
photography by Emerson Kauffmann

another view from the spot, Shelburne Bay
photography by Emerson Kauffmann

October 16, 2022January 30, 2023

Exploring Red Rocks Park

By sbatyrsh

Hi y’all!!! I visited the park this weekend, I got there a little late, but the weather and sunset were beautiful! I’ll share some professional pictures in next post but for now I’ll just attach some snapshots I took on my phone!

Easy directions: to get there you can take a bus #5, the station is near a gas station on the main road (bus station is on the S Winooski st.), and it’ll take you to Queen City Park rd. station, and from there it’s a 5 minute walk to the main entrance.

At the park: the park is not very big (or I guess the trails combined together are not very long). It has some maps and signs but it’s not very clear. When you enter the park and find the first map sign, the trail will separate into two: one going downhill (you want to go that way if you want to hit the beach and all of the viewpoints, and maybe go off the trail and find perfect hanging rocks with beautiful views;), and one going somewhat uphill (which is a nice walking distance, you can see tree change from leafy to needles, you can spot some great rocks and see a huge tree- I’ll attach a picture of it!).

Vegetation! : As I mentioned previously, if you choose to go on the East Loop Trail (I think that’s what the longer trail’s called), you will see many leafy trees at the start of the trails- maples, beeches and birches, and white pines- which are the most common trees there. Closer to the edge of the rocks you will notice many northern white cedars as well. There are a lot of buckhorn trees, invasive species, and one and only, the spotlight specie- the Wolf Tree.

I want to give the Wolf Tree its separate “topic’ on my blog, but for now I will only quote Sophie Mazowita, a graduate student (once upon a time..) here at UVM and put her explanation/description from Seven Days Vermont gazette: “150 years ago, the area around and including Red Rocks was pasture. In those days, she says, wolf trees were a common sight on Vermont farmland. While most trees were cut down to make way for pasture, these were spared from the ax because they provided shade for grazing animals, such as sheep and cattle, and some degree of protection from predators, including wolves. Standing sentinel in open fields, wolf trees had no competition for sunlight and took full photosynthetic advantage of the opportunity to grow, both vertically and horizontally, to monumental proportions“. (Bolles, https://www.sevendaysvt.com/vermont/whats-up-with-the-wolf-tree-at-red-rocks-park/Content?oid=2242147)