A little background
Up until the 1930’s this location was used to mine the stone used for many buildings around Burlington, including some of UVM’s own, such as Redstone Hall. The rock here is called Cambrian Monkton Quartzite and is between 540-470 million years old. Today, the University of Vermont is responsible for the management of the area and the protection of the biodiversity within it.
11/1/21
I was eager to do this aspect of the assignment after having such a peaceful experience my first time visiting. While sitting quietly for 15 minutes on the bench by the water, I made a few different observations. First, I realized I observed much less wildlife than last time, which may have been due to the rain, the cold or the fact that it was the middle of the day. The colors of the place were especially prominent in the rock cliff and the fall foliage due to everything being slightly damp. The air was very crisp and fresh, it is interesting how the air during Autumn has an entirely different feel. It was very quiet there, other than some crows and a couple of people walking, it was very still there. It was very refreshing to simply sit in a meditative way for 15 minutes here, and is a great breather for anyone who needs a change of scenery. Since visiting last time, the biggest change has been with the leaves. The colors are past their peak now, where they were just reaching it last time I visited, and many of the trees have lost a fair amount of their leaves.. The ground was covered by leaves, especially due to the rain taking them down over the past few days, and there were lots of leaves in the pond as well. Despite the couple cold nights we have had here, there was still a lot of life at the Quarry. I think that by the next time I visit there will be a drastic difference in both biotic and abiotic features, and maybe even snow! 🙂
10/10/21
I came upon this location through the very useful Burlington wildways website (https://burlingtonwildways.org). My first time coming here, I was pleasantly surprised by the variety of nature, which can be observed best from the view on the rock ledge. I spent quite amount of time here exploring, listening, and capturing some of the beauty on camera as the sun went down.