Thea's Phenology Project!

Today was my final visit to my phenology spot. I love my spot so much so this was really sad tbh. It was a beautiful journey today! It was a nice temperature (around 50 degrees) and I went right before it started raining, so the air was a little dewey and the woods felt really fresh. It was muddy because of raining the day before, but it also was so green again! Seeing the green sprouting everywhere is actually the most amazing thing bc the woods feel so alive and new.

Anyywayyyssss …. today really showed me how the woods have changed over time. My spot is back to being a little green and it feels so different than it did at the start of the year. For starters, the little trees that I first met in August are so much larger now. And the trees that fell have started to slowly decompose little by little. There is also so much more access to the soil than at the start, but I think that is because the poison ivy and ferns haven’t fully grown in yet. There has also been several fallen trees around my spot, but not directly in my spot because of how major windstorms grounded mostly dead trees.

The major landmarks that I have become accustomed to are the fallen log that I have to step over in order to go up the hill into my spot. And the twin trees that welcome you into the little circle like doorposts. As you move a little deeper there is another Eastern White Pine and two, little and a little older, American beech. Another landmark is the fallen log towards the back that acts like a stool for me to sit on if I ever need a break. The minor landmarks are the little cubbies that you can sit all cuddled up next to a tree on and the shelf mushrooms that grow on the trees on the outside of my spot. I also just love how the sun shines here. Finally, a minor detail is how the spot is up on the hill, but it feels so private and enclosed because of the circle of trees that make it up.

Nature and culture intertwine here because of how my spot is in Centennial Woods, which is a nature preserve located in a major urban area. We see nature because of how it is a forest that has a functioning ecosystem and we see culture because it is a place where people come to experience the woods and unwind, but also a place where students can go to learn about human-impacted natural environments.

I do consider myself a part of my place because I am the one that is visiting it every couple weeks or so and giving it appreciation. Sometimes woods can be appreciated, but the trees itself can be overlooked and I really love that I have a place in the woods that I can pour my love into when I go. My spot always shows me really cool things when I go, like birds and chipmunks (my all time fav) and I love to share parts of my day with it because I know that it will return with something cool in kind. I just have loved watching it change over the seasons and I feel like a proud parent now that spring is coming around because all my babies are flowering.

This weekend, I went back again to visit my American Beech tree. I’ve been visiting for a couple weeks now and I think this is the first week where I am seriously seeing some changes. Starting off, my visit to Centennial was so relaxing and amazing. The sun was shining, the birds were chirping, and the snow has finally melted from the forest. It reminded me of the first time I ever found my spot and I was so happy to be back to that feeling. On the way to my spot, the best possible thing in the world happened also. I saw.. drumroll please…. MY FIRST CHIPMUNK OF SPRING!!!!!! It was actually amazing and the best thing ever and I am so happy that they are back out again. It was also really muddy, but I had my hiking shoes on so it was fun to stomp through it.

LOOK AT HOW CUTE!!!! :))))

Below are some images of my tree:

I feel like today, especially because it has been warmer and the sun was shining, that there has actually been a little change. I feel like the buds are longer, more pronounced, and slightly more yellow. That was the largest change I observed. The bark is still as usual, and I think it is so funny that there are still dead leaves holding onto the branches.

And finally, there is my naturalist post 🙂 <3 ☆

HERE SHE IS!!!!!!!! looking as great as ever!

Her buds are looking a little longer than last time!

She also still has some old leaves attached to a couple of her branches

and her bark is looking the same as usual.

My revisiting experience was as treacherous as last time. It was SOOO icy again, which is really convincing me to get spikes like asap. Luckily this time I did not fall, and I was able to use some of the tricks I learned last time. I basically went off the beaten path to avoid any ice I saw. It was scary and I did slide around a lot, but I wasn’t alone so it was a lot more fun. There was some mud too! I never thought I would be so excited to see mud, but after all the ice, it was so amazing. I got to sing my mud song which really was a great experience (https://youtu.be/j3Lvw03q0pU). I found it on TikTok and I find them so hilarious, I want to be one of those worms. There were also a lot of birds and it was so lovely to hear them singing as we walked through the woods. I couldn’t identify any of them from their calls, so now I am going to start learning how to! It would rate this experience with the birds and the ice and the mud like a 7/10. I enjoyed myself a lot.

^^ my inautralist post!

This week, I set off to Centennial woods. It was extremely icy and treacherous, but I persevered. I did slip and fall, but it was honestly a miracle I only fell once.

This project was to find one of a couple types of trees near my spot. It was actually perfect because there is an American beech at my site.

I identified the American beech by how it still has some leaves on the tree. The leaves have a very distinct pattern to them, which is still easy to see even when they are a little withered up and dead. I also know that this is an American beech because of how I have identified it as one before. The bark is also very indicative of an American beech because of how it is smooth.

Above are a couple images that I took of the American beech at my site. It had no evidence of flowering yet.

This is my inaturalist post! As you can see based on the map, I tagged this at my spot in Centennial Woods! 🙂

For this weeks project, we were tasked with tracking animals around Burlington and seeing what different things we could find.

I went to Centennial, such a classic space for interacting with wildlife. In centennial, I saw a lot of animal activity. As soon as I went in, I saw two dogs. They were so cute! I went walking down the main path, and then veered to the right to explore a large fallen tree. At the back of the fallen tree is where I saw my first set of tracks! I used iNaturalist and my tracking guide to narrow this down to …… a Mink!

I decided on a mink for this track because of how it has 5 toes, already eliminating several other kinds of animals. I am still not fully sure exactly what animal it is though. The main thing that made me decide was the way that the heel pad was shaped and how the toes on the end sort of stick out. They almost look like thumbs. I was deciding between a mink and a weasel, but at the end I chose mink because of how the heel pad is more rounded. iNaturalist was really helpful and actually recommended mink as the first thing it could be.

I continued walking up the path. I went past the creek bridge and up the hill to the flat area, where the creek continues down the slope. I walked over there and found more tracks! They were leading in a trail all around the area and were all over a log leading across the creek. It was so cute! I used my tracking book to confirm this, but I knew basically immediately. It has a hopping pattern where the back feet land in the front.

I identified this as a red squirrel, because of how the tracks are really small. The toes are also very clumped together, unlike a gray squirrel. Gray squirrel tracks are larger and their toes are way more spread out. They also have toes that look almost like thumbs on the side. I really did not think that this animal had that, so I went with red squirrel. iNaturalist seemed to agree with me. These tracks were actually one of the cutest things I’ve ever seen.

The final set of tracks I saw were when I was walking back to the dorm. They were right next to the Magnolia tree by Jeffords hall.

These tracks were so fun to find because I had really been wanting to see them. I am not fully sure as to what these are, but I decided at the time that they were Cottontail rabbit tracks. I decided this, with the help of my tracking booklet, because of how they are very long and thin. The other animal I was considering was a snowshoe hare, but their tracks are much larger and wider-looking. iNaturalist agreed with my idea. It also knew that this was a rabbit/hare of some sort, but it didn’t know exactly which one.

All together, I had a great time exploring Burlington and finding wildlife! I really love seeing the evidence of their existence and how cute their tracks are.

My spot was so different from the last time I visited. There was no snow last time, and this time it was completely covered! Some of the changes that I’ve noticed in the forest was that a lot of trees have fallen on the path I take to my spot. There was at least 4 on the path, which makes me wonder why they fell and if any more have as well. I also noticed that any leaves that were left on deciduous trees had lessened. A lot of them fell off of the American Beech at my spot. I did not see a lot of tracks, only one set right when I entered Centennial, but I did see a murder of crows fly over the woods while I was at my spot. It was really interesting because they were not stopping, they seemed to have a destination in mind. One crow would fly by, then another, and then the rest of the group came. All together, it was really nice to be back!

Returning to my spot, the leaves are basically off the trees. The Coniferous trees’ needles seem to also be falling off a little bit too. The two American Beech trees at my spot both have some dead, orange leaves hanging onto the trees. The leaf litter is very different from the last time I was here! It is far grayer and seems to be decomposing quickly. I did not view any decomposers at my spot, but it is obvious they are there because of how the leaves seem to be breaking down and falling apart. For animals, I saw a squirrel as I was walking into Centennial and I could hear birds chirping as I walked to my spot. The only evidence of animals that I saw was some bird poop that was on the leaves on the floor. The animal activity has rapidly decreased overall. In the fall I used to go and be able to see chipmunks, birds, squirrels everywhere and now I am lucky to have seen even one squirrel.

The aspects of my phenology spot that I enjoyed the most was the way that it makes such a cute little circle. It really feels like it is inviting you in when you step into the area, and it has a cute log further inside that you can sit on if you wish. My spot is also a little ways of the main path, which makes it feel more private and allows for a lot more animal activity than a spot right on the main path area. I really like seeing the animals when I go and feeling like I am experiencing the natural area as it should be. All together, my spot is really special to me because it is really pretty to get there and because it just always has something so fun to show me when I go.

Map of my place!

https://www.google.com/maps?client=safari&rls=en&q=38.970611,+-77.278148&oe=UTF-8&dlnr=1&um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjP2qiA3s77AhWWFVkFHX0FCTwQ_AUoAnoECAEQBA

Photos of my new place:

Comparison to Burlington

Compared to my spot in Centennial Woods in Burlington, my spot in Virginia was much more open and on the main trail. The woods in Virginia were so interesting to walk through because of how different they were from Vermont. I felt that there were far less pines than Burlington’s Eastern White Pines and that they had a lot of different species I had never seen. The biggest difference I saw was how the trees in Virginia had a lot of vines on them. It was really cool to see, but my cousin told me that the vines on the trees kill them eventually. I saw deer, birds, and squirrels while walking around. This is a lot more wildlife than I have seen in Vermont recently. Something that I found really cool was that I saw a ton of Black Cherry trees, like in Vermont! It was so fun to see an iconic species that I know very well. All together, it was really cool to see how the woods in Virginia differed from the usual woods I see in Vermont.

Gift I left for my new spot:

The gift I left was a leaf that I folded into a heart shape. I thought that it was really cute and it reflects how I feel about the nature that I am able to explore. I left it at the base of a Black Cherry!

Birds-Eye Map of my place! In general, my place is on a hill and the majority of the trees are Eastern White Pines

My experience sitting in the woods for 15 minutes was so delightful. It was raining slightly which made really good vibes because the woods were quiet and misty. The trees also had little water drops on the needles which was so pretty! I really did not see much wildlife while I was sitting there and I did not hear many birds. The only one I saw was a Great Blue Heron, which was a little surprising but very cool! I did not see any larger animals while I was sitting, but I saw a couple really fat squirrels on my way out. The weather was really nice because it was warm, the sky was blue with the exception of some fast-moving white fluffy clouds.

Below is images that highlight the change in vegetation!

The largest changes are that the Poison Ivy seems to have died off because there is none left as opposed to my last visit, and that the forest floor is covered in a layer of pine needles and leaves. I also noticed that the undergrowth, but the ferns this time, seem to have retreated and many of them have died. There is far less ferns than last time. The deciduous trees in the area: The American Beech and the American Hophornbeam have lost their leaves! The lack of wildlife is also a huge difference in the happenings of my spot. Last time, I saw birds, chipmunks, and squirrels. This time, I noticed a large lack of the usual inhabitants of this area. It really showed how the forest is changing in response to the changing seasons.