A UVM blog Phenology Project

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Phenology Blog #5!!

By zguida

Having the same site for the past two semesters, I have seen it change in so many different ways. From being full of life and green in the beginning of my first semester, to very bare and going through the Winter phenology in the end of last semester, and now it’s finally starting to go through the vegetative growth stage. As of right now the trees are beginning to bud and bloom, and the grass is getting a lot greener than it previously was. The major landmarks that I have become very familiar with at my spot are the old University buildings, including Old Mill and Williams, and even the water fountain, since that exists directly next to my spot. One of the minor landmarks that I have noticed since observing here thats most “important” to me would have to be the crabapple tree thats planted in-between the two walkways leading towards the University buildings. For some reason this tree stands out to me and I just feel like it stands out next to all the hardwood and conifers that exist in this area.

I think that nature and culture intertwine in extreme amounts in my spot. With the college students moving around in this area at all times of the day, it can become a space of familiarity, and belonging to the natural world. Beginning at UVM, this is where convocation is held, and usually graduation is held here as well. This shows a full circle moment in all students time at UVM and using this space shows how the natural world and culture combines. I also like to hammock here too with friends, and utilizing the space in this way is a good example of the UVM culture intertwining with the nature. If I had to pick any place on campus to say grasps the idea of culture and nature being together, I would definitely pick this place. On this, I believe that I am definitely a part of my place. I’ve spent so much time there, and so much energy that I feel like I really understand the depth of it. I also think that every time I have to go through this space, I will automatically think of 1010 & 1020, and the phenology blog that I got to create.

One of my favorite pictures at my spot!!

Phenology Blog 4!!

By zguida

The areas that I explored during the urban Bio-blitz happening in the Greater Burlington area was parts of Central Campus and downtown Burlington. I found that my experience using INaturalist throughout my first two semesters has been good, and I believe that this app is very user friendly and helpful in identifying/uploading species. I had encountered a few different species. These species were sugar maple, Japanese holly shrubs, a paper birch and a species oak that I couldn’t determine. Something I found really interesting about the other reports was how different the species differenced in the change of their phonology. I saw for example a certain species of shrub that hasn’t been identified yet, but it was in full bloom and contained flowers and buds. I also think it’s really cool how many cities are participating in this challenge.

Tree & shrub species I found on Central Campus !!

Phenology Blog 3!!

By zguida

For my phenology walk/blog assignment, I had gone out on April 18th around 3 p.m.! It was a relatively nice day, with a strong breeze and a lot of clouds.

While observing the tagged trees, I had noticed that mostly every single tree had breaking buds and looked like they were about to be producing leaves. There was no sign of pollen directly on the buds that I could see with my eyes, but that could possibly be because it was really windy out and had rained/snowed in days prior. The trees that seemed the most ready to bloom and have leaves in upcoming weeks would have to be the red maple and sugar maple. Their buds produced a certain color and looked more “alive” compared to the others. I believe that all five trees were in the same phenophase, with the maples trailing a few steps ahead, since their buds were generally bigger and had more color.

Something that I had learned from NPN’s website that interested me would have to be “Pheno Forecasts” page, thats all about invasive pests and species invading certain regions of the country. I found out that in the Burlington area the Emerald Ash Borer forecast is likely to be showing up in 2 months or more. This is important knowledge because it helps us take control and manage our habitats better than we are now. This can be helpful to the greater Burlington area because it can help ecologists everywhere learn how to prepare for potential damage to the trees around.

Phenology Assignment #2!!

By zguida

During my search wildlife and tracking, I had found the best pair of clear tracks during our lab at Intervale. While walking through the cross country ski trails, me and some of my lab partners had found multiple pairs of tracks in the deep snow. We believe for them to be either shrew or vole tracks, because of the size, speed and direction of travel. We had also found a Pileated Woodpecker, chipping away at a tree and making calls to another close by, sadly we couldn’t find any tracks in the snow of the Pileated, but it was enjoyable to watch. In the case of INaturalist, while I have previously used it before, I believe that every experience I’ve had with the app has been smooth and clear.

Tracks through the snow at Intervale !
Pileated Woodpecker right off of the Cross Country Ski trails !

We saw around 3-4 pairs of these tracks dragging through the snow and from our narrative, we believe it could’ve been a little pack, or family of shrews running through the fresh snow, and diving into a pack of old junkyard farm machines. We figured this is where they take cover in the Winter, since it protects from wind and predators in the sky. We narrowed our identification by recalling from previous tracks we had seen on lab, and with some help from Professor Walt we had figured out it was a shrew. We chose these tracks over all the other ones we think we had found, because they were the clearest and easiest to define, also nobody else had found them before we had, so they were original findings.

Phenology Blog – Animal Tracks!

By zguida

Returning back to my phenology spot in this new semester, I can notice lots of changes since the last time I was there in early December. The leaves on the trees are very much gone and the crabapples hold no more berries. There was very little snow, and lots of grass peaking out from under the thin white layer. Luckily, there was just enough snow to house some animal tracks. There isn’t a lot of happening going on around the University Green in terms of animals – or at least from when I went this specific time – only the occasional squirrel or rabbit, but I was fortunate enough to see these tracks which I believe belong to a dog.

I am excited to document and see the big changes that happen within my spot between now and the next time I visit for my blog!!

Phenology Blog 5!!

By zguida

When visiting my phenology place over the weekend during the snowstorm, I saw a huge difference in the overall look of my place. The leaves have mostly all disappeared in the past week, some still being left behind (surprisingly), only the needles on the coniferous trees remained intact and stable in the snow. The crabapple trees look to have no lingering berries left, and the bushes and flowers are all gone. While I was there visiting and taking notes I was lucky to see a bunny and two squirrels running through the snow on the green, I usually seem to see a lot more squirrels during my visit, but not this time which to my guess would be because of the falling snow.

Although time felt like it flew by so fast in my first semester at UVM, I’m so glad that I got to form such a special bond with my phenology spot. I feel like as my spot changed throughout the year, I did too. I enjoyed being able to call this place my “spot” and take time out of my days to come to a place on campus and indulge in everything that it had to give to me. I’m so excited to come back from winter break and to visit my spot again to see if it looks the same, or even different, and I’m even more excited to see it at the end of my first year at UVM!

My super cool & supportive friends who came with me to my spot during the super cold weather

Phenology Blog #4

By zguida

The new phenology place that I chose was somewhere in my hometown that is very special to me. Living in Northern New Jersey, and having some of the same tree species, I noticed that the ecology of my place looked very similar to my place here at UVM. The trees were mostly bare, with some straggling leaves leftover, and comparing that to Burlington where mostly all of the leaves on the trees are gone this week. The weather also had a big difference that I felt when I got back home, it wasn’t as windy as it is in Vermont, and it was even a few degrees warmer outside. I recognize that I was in a different environment with different landscape history, but a lot of it felt really similar to me.

Google Maps Image of my place
My hometown place!!

Phenology Blog #3!

By zguida

While going back and spending time in my spot and observing all the different changes that have happened in what seems like so fast, I can see that the area looks a lot different from when I first arrived on campus. The trees have all changed their colors and grow pretty vibrant in the crisp fall air. As I sat on the water fountains edge in the middle of the University Green, I observed the humans that interact with this area on the daily basis, and how heavily human this area is. Rarely can you spot wildlife in this environment, but I got lucky and saw a few squirrels roaming around. I closed my eyes and was surrounded by the noise of Main St, the gulls swarming overhead and people continuously walking by. I was overwhelmed with the smell the grass, which I think had just been freshly cut.

My birds-eye map of my place!

The most obvious changes that I could see was the way that the trees dropped most, or all of their leaves. Most of the maple trees were bare with some stagger of red still lingering, the crabapple trees seemed to look the same, still holding berries and small leaves. I saw that the conifers had the same coverage as before not really dropping any needles, the color only looked slightly different from the last time I was there observing. I’m excited to see how my area will look for the next part of my phenology project!

Phenology Assignment!

By zguida

While I first heard about the NR1010 Phenology Project, I wanted to pick a place that really amazes me, and shows the aspects between nature and human impact. There are lots of places around Vermont that really capture this idea, but the one that stuck out to me the most was the University Green, facing University pl. road and seeing the old buildings. I really love the old infrastructure, and the “Vermont look” that the buildings give, it was one of the things that really attracted me to UVM. As well as the various and multiple species (especially focal) that live on the grounds of the green.

Getting to this place is fairly easy for anyone who lives on campus, and a place that one may visit a lot. For me, getting to this place is only around a 5 minute walk from my dorm. It’s a place a visit a lot, even unintentionally and somewhere that I can already see changes in the nature due to the change of season.

Google Maps view of my Phenology Spot!

The vegetation in this area includes up kept grass and planted flowers, but not much more. In the developed part of vegetation, there is a big water fountain, paved walkways and benches. It seems like not much natural occurrences happen in this area, but even with all the human impact, the trees, bushes and vegetation still grow and thrive in this human-heavy area.

The most common woody plants that exist in this area are various types of native focal species to Vermont, bushes, shrubs and even flowers. Some of the most notable happen to be sugar maples, red maples, pin oak, silver maples, crabapple trees, eastern white pines, American elms and green ash. This area is mostly covered with a mix of hardwoods and coniferous trees.

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