A UVM blog Sean Swikle’s NR1 Phenology Blog

With summer knocking on Vermont’s door, my phenology site in Centennial Woods has been drastically changing since my last visit back in January: the snow is gone, the sun is out, and little green bundles-of-joy our starting to sprout out of the ground. While walking to my site, I had a somewhat bittersweet realization that this would be my last time visiting my spot for NR2 and the rest of this school year. Like always, I enjoyed the creaky floorboard crossways, journeying over the small brook on a log, and even saying hello to the squirrels that follow me on my walk; my sense of place has now followed me throughout the woods.

When arriving at my spot, I felt a sense of relief flow over me. One of the many beauties about my location is that it is deep within Centennial Woods, so whenever I go there I truly feel disconnected from the outside world. The hemlock grove was green as ever and the lady ferns in the understory were stretching their leaves toward the sky. One distinct change I noticed that I’ve never seen before was remnants of a campfire. I am not sure what the policy of having a fire in Centennial Woods is (I’m assuming frowned upon) but if allowed my spot would be the perfect place due to its circular shape and proximity to the marshy land below. Oddly enough, I also know of two UVM students who got married this past spring at my phenology spot too. These human interactions at my spot have played a grand role in the relationship between nature and culture as it serves for a place not only place-based learning but recreation as well. This intersection of culture and nature help further develop humans’ involvement in socio-ecological systems, which breaks down the barriers that nature and man are unequal when they truly are. When both ecosystems and humans thrive in unison, it creates a sustainable balance allowing humans to use an area, like my phonology site, as a place dedicated to recreation, education, or spirituality without implicating the nature of the environment.

Throughout my journey these past semesters visiting my site, I have grown quite fond of the time I have spent with it, ultimately allowing me to feel a part of my place. When I first came to the spot, I felt like an outsider who was disturbing the natural peace of the environment. Yet, with time and learning about place-based education, I learn the beauty behind coexisting with my phenology spot. After making this realization, I felt the forest greet me every time I returned, no matter how long we had been apart. It may sound odd to say, but I did grow a love for my spot. It felt very sentimental visiting it for the last time because it looked similar to how I first viewed it, making me notice the journey my spot and I took together. I hope my spot doesn’t miss me too much over summer break, and I look forward to visiting it once again when I return to campus.

The weekend that Walt and Chris have both led the class feeling anticipated has finally arrived, the City Nature Challenge iNaturalist BioBlitz! Throughout the entirety of NR2, my class was constantly reminded about the challenge so when it came around I knew it was time to get out and explore. A disclaimer, however, is that I was having trouble with my iNaturalist app in transferring my data, so although I participated, I was sadly unable to upload my findings. Nevertheless, I joined my fellow citizen scientists in a weekend of identifying fun!

The area I explored the most heavily was the Centennial Woods. I have been to the Centennial Woods many The area I explored the most heavily was the Centennial Woods. I have been to the Centennial Woods many times since it holds my Phenology Site, but the understory has been changing constantly due to spring-awakenings so I wanted to see how the woods in a form I have not seen before. While walking through the Centennial Woods, I always feel a sense of relief flow over me as I escape my busy life and reconnect with nature. Many times, I walk through Centennial without taking the time to truly admire the flora and fauna below me, so the City Nature Challenge served as a great opportunity to reconnect and grow my sense of place even more. I observed many new green spring friends who have just begun peaking out from the humus below. There were plenty of lady ferns, Japanese barberries, mayflowers, and even a few unwanted Japanese knotweeds. I even made a new friend, a genus sylavenlater, more commonly known as a Click Beatle. Although I was able to capture a photo of them with my phone, I saw two American goldfinches fly amongst the old-growth pine stands and saw many robins hopping along the brook bank to find their lunch: the woods were truly alive. I also saw a mammal that was too large to be a squirrel but too small to be a beaver with light brown fur, so with inferences, I believe I stumbled upon either a mink or a porcupine, how exciting!

It is really fascinating to see the reports from other cities across the country flooding in. I was quite surprised by some urban cities, such as Dallas/Fort Worth, which had great success in observing a large number of species in highly urban areas. This made me realize that although cities do displace many organisms and disrupt ecosystems, biodiversity still exists, and this gave me much hope. I also found it interesting that the distribution of findings is quite global with no country/region doing substantially better than the other, also showing biodiversity is everywhere.

I look forward to next year’s City Nature Challenge iNaturalist BioBlitz and hope to see Burlingtons’ species count increase again with large support coming from the Rubenstein student-body, adventure is out there!

My phenology-lens has taken a global view for this months’ phenology post as I traveled to Paris to visit friends. On a bright sunny day, we walked around the Gardens of Versailles and it made for the perfect location to compare Burlingtons’ phenology to the French landscape.

The history of the gardens is quite rich, literally. The gardens were constructed back in 1624 by French landscape designer André Le Nôtre and consists of 50 fountains, 200,000 trees, and 210,000 flowers that are planted annually. Unlike Burlington, the feeling of spring is in the air within the Gardens of Versailles as the first flowers and trees buds are beginning to bloom. The tree species seemed to be more temperate as many were native French species that are used to not going below freezing. All of the trees were intentionally spread out along the paths, allowing them to grow to their full potential. This inevitably made a strong overstory throughout the garden’s wooded areas, unlike my phenology spot in Burlington that has a fine mix between the understory and the overstory. I found myself for the first time in awhile not bundled up with layer upon layer, allowing the sun to soak into my skin. Since the gardens are quite maintained and populated, there were very little signs of wild fauna. While walking around, I did hear a distinct bird call whistling through the trees above unlike any I have ever heard before, yet I was unable to locate the elusive birds. However, I was able to enjoy watching the White Swans that skimmed the nearby ponds.

I thoroughly enjoyed my stroll throughout the Gardens of Versailles, it felt like an out of this world experience. I hope to someday visit them once more again.

I thought I was done using my hand warmers, yet the Vermont winter continues to test my strength. For this week’s Phenology assignment, I buddied up with my NR002 friend Emilia and we explored the Intervale area. We have both been to the Intervale natural area in our Intro to Environmental Studies class, so we followed a path down the Winooski river we once explored back in October.

While on the walk, we had our eyes peeled on both the ground and sky to see any sightings of winter life. Using the iNaturalist application to look at different flora species, we identified two fungal species growing alongside a black cherry tree: violet-toothed polypore and enoki, both of which are native to the greater Vermont area. We also encountered many lady ferns that were poking their way through the melting snow in hopes of spring.

It was not far from the lady fern in the gallery below that we spotted a faint trail left behind in the snow. After gathering context clues of the speed, size of foot, and spacing between each step, we proposed that we encountered the markings left behind from a cotton-tail rabbit. We tried to follow the trail to see if it would lead us to any cotton-tail rabbit scat, but we were unfortunately out of luck. However, we did find bird feces camouflaged within the snowy landscape. We spotted a group of robins nearby so we predicted it was left by s robin, yet we were unable to officially identify what bird species the scat was tied to.

All in all, it was a very pleasant trip to the Intervale, and both Emilia and I agreed that the walk in the fresh away and away from life’s distractions was what was needed for our mental health at the time. I hope she and I can go out to the Intervale again, but maybe a time when we don’t need a ridiculous amount of layers.

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Winter has officially dawned upon my phenology site. While walking into the Centennial Woods to my site, I found myself in calm, still woods that were readying up for the big snow storm on the way. I followed the footprints what seemed to be a human accompanied by their dog straight to the Eastern White Pines that surround my spot. All vegetation in the understory is in complete hibernation, with the only green in the vicinity coming from coniferous trees. As I was walking around my spot to find any trace of active wildlife, I stumbled upon a path made by a small mammal. After careful examination, I concluded that I found a Cottontail Rabbit track due to foot size and the bounding path it created in the snow. The trail rabbit trail started around the actual trail through the woods and made its way towards the marsh down below. I expect my sight to sleepy and calm for quite some time, yet the smell of spring is ever so slightly there!

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As I was walking down to my phenology spot, I could sense a change in the air before I began to reach it. I was nestled up with my hat and gloves, nose bright red. I could, for the first time, see my spot from far away because almost all of the foliage within the Centennial Woods has fallen, exposing the naked trees that look like sticks poking out of the ground. When I visited my phenology spot earlier this week, there was no snow on the ground so finding any evidence of animal activity has a scavenger hunt. After searching for some time, I stumbled upon a marking in the soil. Although there is no significant factor that leads me to believe it is a certain animal, I believe it could be any small mammal such as the eastern gray squirrel or the meadow jumping mouse. As for the fauna surrounding my phenology spot, most of the understory is in hibernation with the exception of the occasional lady fern still holding on to the last moments before the harsh Vermont winter. I am excited to come back to my spot when blankets of snow will be covered on the forest floor.

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For my Event Map, I decided to document my journey I take from my dorm to Centennial Woods! Along my way, I saw both native coniferous and deciduous trees on my path towards the woods. Even in an urbanized area, I was surprised by the amount and diversity of trees near the road. I will now have a greater appreciation for the trees as I walk down to Centennial Woods for my future phenology posts. Until next time!

Hello again! Even during the past two weeks I have not visited my phenology spot, many changes suggest fall is officially in the air. When I walked to my sitting rock (as shown in the map), the path was littered with leaves of hues of yellow and red. The picturesque views my spot has were truly phenomenal. The large eastern white pine that is near my sitting rock has started to shed its needles and the sugar maples along the main trail have as well. The marsh’s grasses have become yellow as they wither away into dormancy for the cold winter ahead. While sitting in my spot enjoying a breath of fresh air, I was greeted by a pair of chickadees as well as a very curious squirrel. The squirrel had seem to have its mouth full of goodies, probably beginning the foraging process before the first snowfall. I hope I can see my nature friends again on my next visit!

Hello and welcome to my NR1 phenology blog! I am very excited to share my findings surrounding my beloved phenology spot in the heart of Centennial Woods throughout this coming year. In order to get to my spot in the Centennial Woods, it would be easiest to take the trailhead our class regularly uses on Catamount Drive. Once you follow the trail to the hemlock grove, you take a sharp left and go across the Centennial Brook and follow a trail towards my spot. I have attached a photo of my walk I recorded to help visualize this spot more. What drew me to this spot was its’ orientation to the marsh and a hemlock grove. With this spot, I will be able to see phenology changes in both forested and aquatic ecosystems, which truly excites me. The overstory of my spot has an abundant amount of Eastern Hemlocks with some varieties of birches and maples nearby. In the understory, there are many shrubs, such as the LadyFern, and other deciduous trees that are still growing. The photos attached show two different panoramic views that complete a whole 360 degrees view of my phenology spot. I cannot wait to see how this spot changes overtime and I hope to update soon!

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