For my exploration, I decided to go to the town of Winooski and explore the floodplain along the Winooski River.
On the river and rocks there were many sea gulls and Canadian Geese. It was fun watching them walk around on the ice. But, upon exploring the floodplain forest farther up the stream, there were many more birds to be identified. The collective list includes crows, robins, titmouse, chickadee, and red breasted nut hatch.
Above is a very interesting pattern of use I found. I tried to figure out the process that occurred to create this design, but it was challenging. My best hypothesis is that is was a combination of the ice both melting below near the floor of the forest and also on the surface from the sun. It was in the shape of a puddle, so that is my best guess. But overall, it is a very fascinating piece of ice.
I also looked for signs of other wildlife besides bird sightings and song. Above is evidence of beavers as they chip away at the base of trees. There were so many trees that were partly shredded or completely broken off the base of the trunk from these guys. This was awesome to see after learning about how important beavers are for ecosystems. Another sign of wildlife was an owl pellet found on the floor of the forest. I also was able to see some deer. But otherwise other nature I saw and identified included silver maple, basswood, white ash, buckthorn, and tons of ostrich fern which thrive in floodplains.
When it comes to human activity there was a lot because I was exploring a recreational park. This included many foot tracks and quite a bit of litter. It was a fairly nice day so many people were out in the park enjoying the beauty it has to offer.