Month: March 2019

For spring break, I visited my sister who lives in Naples, Florida with her husband and two kids. They just moved to a new neighborhood, and there is a relatively large woodland area behind her house. In the beautiful 80 degree weather, I stepped outside to investigate with my brother-in-law. The trees were very different from those I would see in Vermont. Instead of maples and oaks, there were palm trees and Jamaica Dogwood. Unfortunately, I did not see any live wildlife in this spot. I did, however, see a Great Blue Heron while driving one day.

Anyway, my brother, Matt, led me through the brush and thorns to something very interesting… a skeleton. Like a full skeleton. Head, body, extremities, everything. It was pretty large, too – maybe the size of a raccoon. Its head had huge teeth and long, sharp canines.

Its body was pretty typical, but at the end of its legs was something strange. Instead of normal feet, there seemed to be paddles of some sort. I still am not sure what they were or what the animal was, but the mystery of it is pretty exciting.

Although there is a meadow of sorts surrounding the solar panels adjacent to this site, I would classify it as a woodland. The area I focus on is dominated by trees, especially oaks and maples, and has a dense canopy. In all the times I have been there, even after rainfall, it has never once been flooded or even saturated at all, so it is definitely not a wetland. Vegetation is able to thrive here, as demonstrated by the surplus of trees and the fast-growing meadow grass.

As the vernal equinox approaches, I am thinking a lot about the changes that are occurring (and will occur) here at my phenology spot. We may have gotten a taste of warm spring weather, but the freezing temperature and snow-covered ground remind me that winter will persist for as long as she wants. Small plants poke their way through the snow, begging for spring. The path I follow is very slushy, and while the ground is still frozen, I cannot help but get excited for mud season.