Category: Uncategorized

As I write my last blog post, I think back to when I first chose my spot. I remember being concerned about how close it was to a solar panel field because I thought maybe it was not “naturey” enough. However, six months later, I have no concerns about this. In a city like Burlington, it is not uncommon to find little nooks of nature nestled between neighborhoods and urbanization. These spots are homes to gifts of nature. Finding them and spending time in them can ease the stress of daily life and reconnect us to the land.

At my place, I am able to enjoy the mysteries of nature while seeing the culture of my new home in Burlington. I see renewable energy and a greener future. I see families loving each other’s company strolling down the bike path. I see myself as a part of my place. Humans and the environment are not separate entities. If I do not see myself as part of my place, how can humans see ourselves as part of the environment as a whole? How can we care about something we are not a part of?

Visiting today was extremely therapeutic. It feels like spring is finally here with the warm rains and glistening sun. As I strolled around, I kept an eye out for new life sprouting through the soil. Among the wet leaves, I found a couple exciting things … no wildflowers, but some fiddleheads 🙂 There were SO many of them. I knew fiddleheads were a desirable commodity, so I was surprised to see them all around. When we visited the floodplain forest in lab, there were signs with restrictions about how many fiddleheads each household could harvest, and when we walked through, I did not see many. There’s a goldmine of them behind the Aiken Forestry Research Center, but I guess because of the lack of foot traffic there, they can live out their lives and become full-grown ferns.

Some others plants have begun to sprout up through the leaf litter as well, but I was not able to identify them as they did not have any flowers. The deciduous trees have not caught up to their coniferous friends yet – still as bare as they were in the dead of winter. I did spot mushrooms growing on nearly all of the Paper Birch though.

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.

Hi! Welcome back to my blog! It is exciting to be back here after a month of relaxing at home. It is weirdly very warm this week, but I am not complaining. I know Mother Nature is trying to trick us into thinking it is spring, but we are too smart to believe that this will last. It is February in Vermont, after all. In this balmy 40 degree weather, I decided to ride my bike to my spot. I found a couple of tracks that I think might be those of a cottontail rabbit, but it is difficult to tell because of the thawing snow. They seem to be tracks of a galloper, with a straddle of about 3 to 4 inches and a stride of 6 or 7. Although these were the only tracks I could find in the melting snow, I am sure other wildlife are taking advantage of this warm weather, too.

Identifying trees is much harder in the winter. The bare, leafless trees may seem impossible to identify, but with a closer look at their bark and twigs, I was able to draw some conclusions. As I have mentioned before, there are mostly maples and oaks here. More specifically, using our winter twig identification guide, I was able to identify a White Oak tree by its blunt buds and a Red Maple by its red buds. There are a lot of Paper Birch, and a couple Eastern White Pines are scattered around. I even recognized an invasive species, the Norway Maple by its green and red scaly buds.

Okay, that’s all for now. Let’s see how long this warm weather lasts.

Before winter break, I had to visit my phenology spot one more time. Admittedly, it was a struggle to get there on my broken, decade-old, cheap bike. I didn’t think to wear gloves so my fingers suffered in the freezing air. I passed the Aiken Forestry Research Lab, which was built on the open land in 1973. According to UVM’s website, it was originally a Sugar Maple Laboratory not owned by the university. It became a Forestry Laboratory in the 80s, and UVM didn’t acquire ownership of it until 2013. When I got there, though, after stopping to fix my bike’s chain, it was totally worth it. I was the only person in sight, and a soft silence filled the air. The once lush meadow is now deplete of any grasses or wildflowers, which gave me a much better look at the solar panels in the distance. The panels were installed in 2012 and are a source of renewable energy for the University. I walked down the path as light snow began to slowly fall.

 

Sources:

Spear Street Forest Service Lab Transferred to UVM. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.uvm.edu/rsenr/news/spear_street_forest_service_lab_transferred_uvm

Renewable Energy Projects. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.uvm.edu/arch/renewable-energy-projects

Weird But Fun Little Story

On my way back to my bike, I saw something frozen in the snow. Upon closer examination, I realized it was a vole.

His body was in tact, but half of his body was frozen to the ground. I thought of my younger self, burying dead mice I would sometimes find in my yard, against the discretion of my mother. I reverted back to my childhood ways and placed her on a leaf. I then placed her inside a fallen down tree and covered the entrance with the leaf. I know an animal will probably still come along and eat the dead vole, but my 10-year-old self would be proud.

First to Last Visit Comparisons

 

A Description of the Landscape in the Style of Leopold

Dense clouds crowd together above my head, blocking the sun’s nourishing light. I step from the pavement into the arms of nature, taking in the wildlife around me. My feet squish into the wet soil saturated from the previous night’s rainfall. Puddles form mini pools. Fallen red and orange and yellow leaves swim across the puddles, slowly accumulating at the bottom. A mushy pile of leaves getting ready to return to the Earth. I move towards the water and admire the serenity of the ducks. Seeming to float on the surface, their beauty inspires awe deep within me. They drift unhurriedly with their webbed feet pushing them along like little hidden propellers overshadowed by a plump dark body covered in feathers. When I turn my head, among the natural grace of the tall, flowing grasses and the magnificent mighty trees, sits a handmade wooden swing for two. Although the seat is empty, the sentiment of the reciprocal relationship between beings and their landscape warms the air. I wonder who built the swing and placed it here and how many neighbors have sat upon it taking in the exquisite complexity of their surroundings. Here, all of Earth’s creations can come together in harmony and quiet appreciation of one another.

 

A Comparison of Weymouth and Burlington in the Style of Mary Holland

Seasons have begun to change. From the river shores of Great Esker Park in Weymouth, MA to the hidden alcoves behind the Aiken Forestry Research Center off the bike path in Burlington, VT, leaves change color and float to the ground. In Weymouth, ducks enjoy the water’s surface before it freezes over.

Many of them find their way here on their journey away from the approaching winter and others spend the whole year amid the tall browning grasses, including the Mallard. The landscape is alive with Red Oak trees whose leaves scatter across the Earth’s floor. Their acorns, however, are nowhere to be found. The squirrels have already begun their preparations for winter. In Burlington, snow has already fallen, hiding the fallen leaves and dying grasses. The only visible birds are the crows flying together over the landscape. Squirrels scurry across the snowy surface and up into the trees. The Oak trees are bare, but the Paper Birch retain a few yellowing leaves. This landscape’s richness has dwindled for the beginning of the winter season. A slight difference in temperature has grand implications for the features of these landscapes. One enjoys its last moments of color and warmth while the other settles into the coldest season of the year.

 

Phenology Place at Home

https://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?hl=en&hl=en&mid=1pOAKsfGSfhLtdxrV0GhGeItmPEC_EWN4&ll=42.230028831586125%2C-70.92759102316177&z=18

 

Event Map

Happy Fall!! It is truly autumn here at my phenology spot. The trees above me boast leaves of bright reds, oranges, and yellows. Some leaves have already found their way to the ground. The green life and energy of summer is long gone – fall has taken over. The air is brisk and the sky is grey. I can still hear birds above me, but none of them show me their wings.

Right around the Corner: A Haiku

A path off the path

Reveals a piece of nature

Seek and ye shall find

          From a bird’s point of view, my phenology spot isn’t isolated in nature. From the ground however, nature surrounds me. My feet on the grassy dirt, my back to an array of trees and shrubs and grasses, and my eyes on a meadow full of purple and yellow wildflowers – it is easy to forget that there is development all around me. It can be difficult to find the serenity of nature in an urban area, and little close-by spots like this one still have the power to put my mind at ease. The only animals I have seen are chipmunks and squirrels – lots of them. As the weather cools, things are starting to change. Most visibly, the area has just begun to lose its vibrancy. The grey sky softens the energy of the meadow. Leaves have changed to yellows and oranges. What will happen as the temperature continues to drop and snow begins to fall?

https://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?hl=en&mid=1W4zp3wfQtS8GlHP9hESTekE30JoG53kk&ll=44.45238520797692%2C-73.19411460706482&z=20