Google Map of the Redstone Quarry
Redstone Quarry is located southwest of the Redstone campus, nestled in a residential area you can access it by walking down South Prospect street where you make a left onto ledge road, then another left onto Shelburne street until you make a right and walk down Hoover street until you get to the quarry. I chose this as my Phenology spot since due to its closeness relative distance to Redstone Campus since its not super close but also not super far so I can get there but it’s also a new space I am not seeing everyday. This area of land used to be used by humans to harvest the Redstone there dates back to the early 1800s, hence the name Redstone quarry. The university of Vermont bought the quarry in 1958 and used the stone to build some of the building on Redstone Campus. The university would eventually convert the area into a natural area letting succession occur as the land was retaken by nature.
This is a photo of a small pond in the quarry. I found it to be a good example of the plant vegetation you can see throughout the entire quarry. It has the grasses that grow where the soil is deep enough for root systems but you can see the mosses that reside on the exposed rocks that make up a good chunk of this area. This scene also encapsulates the vegetation that can be found closer to the bodies of water that can be found in this quarry. In the rocky areas, the vegetations is mostly moss and lichen living on them with small patches of grass were soil has built up on the rocks. In the areas where soil has built up, woody plants and trees like silver maple, Norway maple, paper birch and at some of the higher areas coniferous trees like northern white pine. In clearings and in the understory of the wooded areas you could find ferns and also wild flowers like asters as well.