Zach has finally returned to his Phenology site after a brief absence and much has changed. The maple trees previously colorful with autumn leaves are now bare. The dense leafy forest now just a tangled web of branches and bristles. But even with this pre-winter display Zach still aimed to make it to his spot. And that’s exactly what he did, trudging through that mess of twigs to arrive at his secluded spot at the cliff.
Though Red Rock as a whole had changed, his spot had not as much. This is by far due to the generally coniferous makeup of his location. So he quickly was able to recognize his mossy clearing and enjoy what it had to offer. As he sat there he noticed many things, from the blue jays calling to the wind present coming over the cliff. He quite enjoyed his stay in one location and was able to pinpoint an outline of his location.
However, Zach does not just sit idly in one spot for very long. After 15 minutes he got up and got to work. He recalled something about a bird’s eye view and stayed true to that by climbing up a tree, so perhaps more of a squirrel eye view. He made sure to be cautious and careful while in the tree and not to hurt either himself or it. But once he made it up there he got a nice look down at his spot and a fairly nice view of the lake as well.
Afterwards he got down and looked at the species he previously looked at. He was now able to identify that the ferns which grew throughout his site were deer ferns, and saw that that the eastern red cedar now had flowering blue cedar seeds which were sprawled all on the cedar trees.
Eastern Red Cedar
Deer Fern
Yet to be discerned
Overall his trip back to his site was interesting, but not much different than before. Perhaps in the colder times to come they will change even more. But as for when he last life his site, it’s still just as gorgeous as his first time there.