This was my final visit to my phenology spot for this year, and looking at the pictures I am reminded of what my spot looked like the first time I came to Centennial Woods to take pictures of this spot! The green color is now starting to approach full bloom and dandelions are poking through the green. Compared to the last photos of Centennial that I posted on this blog there is a lot more color now, as well as the path is clear of old leaves. The sounds of birds are now filling the trees and Centennial Brook is a cool temperature thanks to the sun. 

Nature and culture intertwine in this place mostly through the university. My phenology spot is often used to teach students about the environment so it has become apart of the research culture here at UVM. The locals also use Centennial Woods as a spot to escape into nature and walk with their dogs. Because of this Centennial Woods adds to the culture of the neighborhood nearby as well as the university. For example if you mention Centennial Woods to a UVM student, a lot of them will know what it is and many of those students will have been to Centennial Woods before.

After coming to this spot often and completing my phenology blog I do not feel apart of this place, but I do feel connected to it. I found that for this blog I looked at my surroundings objectively and I noted the changes around me but I felt like I was not changing with Centennial, but observing the changes. I would say I feel connected though because I was able to notice things about Centennial that I normally would not have payed attention to if I were to just be walking through this place. 

Goodbye Centennial for now!

This week I explored the nature of UVM’s campus a little bit more outside of Centennial Woods… 

The City Nature Challenge’s BioBlitz took place from April 30th until May 3rd! During this period of time residents from Burlington/Winooski as well as residents of communities spread globally across more than 40 countries participated in documenting the species that live with them in their respective urban areas!

I spotted some flowers across UVM’s campus that were starting to bloom, but I was also excited to sight Paper Birch and Norway Maple which we learned about last semester in NR1. There were also some trees I wasn’t too sure about their ID. I was most excited to try and get a good picture of a bee but I failed to get a clear enough picture or one that was close enough (given the timing of this post there is still time for me to do it by the end of the day though!). My most memorable observation was the bird noise that I did not think I’d be able to capture given the amount of white noise that is on campus. 

Using iNaturalist was really easy to use for this BioBlitz and was exciting when people would identify the species that I spotted if I didn’t know what it was! I’m still waiting on that bird ID but I’ll hopefully know soon enough. Through iNaturalist you can also look through the reports made by other people throughout the world! I got to see what some species in other urban areas are like. My favorite picture that I saw was from Attica Greece of a Red Deer! (Pictured below).

It is now April here in Centennial Woods and the sounds and colors of spring are poking through the trees again! Green is starting to bud on the edges of branches and the water in the stream is riffling over rocks. Birds are chirping as well as woodpeckers are drilling into the trees creating a peaceful song.

While standing in my spot I saw a crow, a robin and I even saw a woodpecker at work. In the video below there is a woodpecker on a tree chipping away, take a look for yourself! 

Another thing I spotted today was some leftover fur from an animal that is likely left over from their shedding process that is starting to take place here as it gets hotter outside. 

Some of the species in this area I was able to locate today was a squirrel, a robin, a woodpecker, a few spiders (ah scary), some insects and plants such as grass and trees. Below is a species diagram of some of the interactions that species located in Centennial Woods have within the ecological system.

There was also some leftover human evidence of some shelter building. Until next time!

This week is the first week of March! As the end of winter is starting to approach us, the Burlington waterfront is a place where not only can ecological phenology be observed, but also urban phenology. The boardwalk at the waterfront was still ice covered, and quite slippery, there weren’t many people in sight. Only a man and his dog as well as myself and some other NR students were walking around this place. The water has ice sheets just on top, but broken enough that the water moves underneath it. Further out from the lakeshore the water moves freely without ice on top. A boat is docked at the waterfront and the rest are covered up and in storage for the winter. Across the lake the mountains are snow dusted. On the lakeshore dog prints, boot tracks and a few other animal prints are found in the snow. These track the wildlife that has passed through here. No birds were seen nor heard, but some should be returning around this time.

Overall the waterfront area looks bare, and not as vibrant and alive as it looked and felt in the warmer months. March will bring more changes in this area, and with them will come more movement in this area. Walking upwards from the waterfront we then explored the urban phenology on Church Street. More people there — eating food and shopping around, but similarly to before at the waterfront it felt bare. The melting snow covers the greenery and trees are left bare making the street look like it is made from monochrome colors. March’s phenological changes are set to mark Burlington in the coming weeks.

I’m back in Centennial Woods visiting my phenology spot for the first time since the fall. Many changes have occurred since I’ve left here, the biggest, most obvious and arguably most exciting one being that now there’s snow! I went to visit my spot on Wednesday right after a fresh snow fall hoping for some new and obvious wildlife tracks, but I mostly came across a smooth fresh blanket of snow with a small path that seems to have had quite a few people go through before me. In the small trail you can see boot tracks and a few paw prints, most likely curtesy of the dog that followed me into the trail accompanied by their owner. In the fall this spot had the sounds of creaking of wood and wind rushing through trees and remaining birds chirping before migration. Now this area is quiet, with the sound barrier of snow to catch any of the noises. There are some areas of low snow covered trees around that most likely serve as an animals shelter, but I can’t see or hear any signs besides their potential homes. I wonder what is going on below me in the subnivean zone. Colour in my spot has altered to monochrome tones compared to the green colours of late summer that became orange, red, brown and purple in the fall. Winter is in full effect.

As I am away from my spot in Centennial Woods this week again since I am home for the holidays, I get the chance to reflect on the human history of my place. I’ve gotten to take NR1 this past semester and in that class I got the privilege to learn about the land use history in Centennial. From farming, to research and everything in-between, this spot has a lot of different stories. Before Centennial was a UVM natural area, this land was cleared during the great cutover and used for farming. In fact you can still see barbed wire that trees have grown around leaving traces of this industry. UVM bought this land in the Burlington area from property owners including Baxter (1891), Ainsworth (1904), Hickok (1908), Kirby (1938), and Unsworth (1968)¹. Centennial under UVM used to be a space where the UVM ROTC program had housing, which is marked today by the ROTC wall that is left there – another piece of physical land use evidence. Supposedly the UVM medical center used to dispose of cadavers in these woods, and today there are dark ash pits leftover from bonfires held there. Under UVM, Centennial Woods – my phenology spot has become a forest that serves educational purposes, and recreational purposes. 

1. Centennial Woods Natural Area, Resources about UVM’s Centennial Woods Natural Area for Students, Researchers and Visitors. UVM Libraries Research Guides, 2019. Web. December 2nd 2020. 

Citations: Centennial Woods Natural Area, Resources about UVM’s Centennial Woods Natural Area for Students, Researchers and Visitors. UVM Libraries Research Guides, 2019. Web. December 2nd 2020. 

I have returned to my hometown in NJ for the holidays, and I went out to a new spot located in Loantaka Park. In this spot I see many similarities to my spot in Burlington. Below I have included a map to where I went today, as well as some photos that I took!

In this spot I notice that there are still hints of green and that it looks more golden than my spot back in Burlington. This is likely because this location is further south and hasn’t had any snow or cold spells yet – in fact the coldest its been so far has been 40 degrees Fahrenheit! In this spot, similarly to my spot in Burlington there is a section of tall grass. The grass looks the same as what I observed in my spot in Centennial. In these woods I see a lot of Green Ash trees and American Beech trees, where as in Centennial I noticed a lot more Maples and Eastern Hemlocks. In Centennial there were more new growths and as snags compared to here at Loantaka, which seemingly has more old growth trees. A cool think I noticed here is that some of the trees had tags on them which leads me to believe that people are doing research in this forrest. This is similar to Centennial which is also used for learning purposes, which is a cool coincidence! One thing that is visibility very different about this place is that it is more populated and there is a paved trail, where as Centennial has less people and does not have a paved trail. Centennial Woods feels like more of a natural area to me even though Loantaka has an 8 mile trail because here in Loantaka you see a lot of people and you stay on a certain trail. Another thing about Loantaka that is different is that it is hunting season here. Because of this I was not enticed to leave the paved trail, but in Centennial I would feel safer exploring.

Citations:

“Morristown, New Jersey.” Map, Google Maps. Accessed November 2020.

Grant, Samantha. “Centennial Woods Phenology Spot.” 2020. Photographs. JPEG File. 

The Sleeping Trail

The sleeping trail started green and fresh, It was awake, and awakening.

As time moved on the changes struck, something opened up this place.

Striped away its leaves and colors, striped away its base. 

It sleeps now this empty trail, the leaves blanketing the floor.

Until spring comes again, and awakens it once more.

— Sam Grant

Hello everyone! Welcome back to The Diary of Centennial! This week it snowed on Monday and Tuesday! By Wednesday (November 4th) the snow had melted, and I returned to my phenology spot in Centennial Woods to see what new changes have occurred. The trees are all bare now, and wet leaves line the trail floor. Rarely any sounds of birds chirping anymore, mostly just quiet and the sound of trees squeaking and cracking in the wind. Occasionally an airplane flies over and disrupts the quiet. The grasses that were once bright green are now yellow and dry. The air is crisp, but the sun heats you up as you walk through the trail. Since the leaves have all fallen the sun can peak through the branches that do not provide as much shade. It looks bare without the greenery to fill in the space and make the trail seem narrower. Below I have included a photo gallery of what I saw today, as well as an event map that will help to animate what you read about in this blog. 

Citations:

Grant, Samantha. “Centennial Woods Phenology Spot.” 2020. Photographs. JPEG File. 

Hello again Centennial Woods enthusiasts! Welcome back to my blog about the phenological changes in Centennial Woods. For reference I have created a birds eye view map of the place we are exploring.

Since our last visit, more and more leaves are starting to fill up the trail, and the air has become colder. Due to recent rains the grounds here are soggy this week, and the leaves are becoming embedded in the wet mud. The colors are at its peak right now, with there being less green then I observed last visit. Another fun thing I noticed was that I heard less chirps from birds than I heard in my last visit. Though the weather is still warm enough for the birds to stay, perhaps they are starting to migrate.

During this visit I attempted to look for indicators of wildlife. Other then the birds I discussed earlier, which was an audible indicator, I noticed some visual indicators as well. Though I didn’t see a squirrel, which is a common animal here, I noticed some acorns from the Red Oak tree. Acorns are a common food eaten by squirrels, and therefore shows that there will likely be squirrels here soon, who are collecting food for the approaching winter. Another indicator I noticed was that since the ground is muddy, you could identify some tracks. I saw two types of tracks: squirrel or chipmunk tracks, and human shoe tracks. This shows that there have been animals and people that have passed through recently given the rain from yesterday (Tuesday October 20th), which is what made the ground softer.