Wildlife Activity:
When viewing my site for animal markings and tracks, they were few and far between. However, I did spot some squirrel tracks by the base of one of the trees. By looking at the straddle, track pattern, and shape of the paws, I guessed that this was a grey squirrel. First, the straddle fit the guidelines for a grey squirrel (10-14cm) at around 11 cm. Next, the track pattern followed the typical hopping pattern of most rodents. Lastly, the tracks clearly showed larger, elongated back feet, toes, and smaller, round front feet. From these observations, I was able to conclude the species of animal that made them. In regards to the urine I found, its highly plausible that it was a domestic dog. The walking trails at Centennial are frequented by owners and their pets. Furthermore, the urine was right off the main trail. If this where a wild animal, I don’t think it would have stopped to urinate so out in the open.
Winter Twig Identification
Finding twigs at my site was rather difficult…there were plenty of trees to identify, but not many had branches close enough to the ground for me to take pictures of. The other problem was that majority of the smaller trees were in the marsh area were there was unfrozen water and mud…However, I was able to get a close up image of an American beech tree and identify other species. Tree species at site: American beech, Sugar maple, Boxelder, Eastern white pine, and Red oak
Twig Drawing/Labels
Phenological Changes
When comparing my last visit to now, not much has changed. There was less snow due to the warm weather and rain, but the plants are still brown, the stream still has ice, and snow is still on the ground. However, not having much change makes sense. From mid November to early March (ish), Vermont is cold, wet, snow, and ice. You may have some weird weather days here and there, but overall, winter drags on for a long time.
