Final Reflection

Through this project I have had the opportunity to closely observe and reflect on the landscape around me and the changing of the seasons. I definitely think in a more ecological interconnected way now and see relationships between all different aspects of the natural (and human) world. The workings of natural systems are beginning to reveal themselves to me even if they only promise greater mystery.

My place is like a system because it is made up of many interconnected smaller elements interacting to form a whole. These smaller elements can be broken down nearly infinitely and they form nearly infinite relationships, which can ripple out affecting larger and larger areas of the system. As I learned more about the ecological relationships between elements of the system I realized that what I knew only opened new questions about what I didn’t. I see my place in the system as an observer and tried to limit my impacts on the spot. My spot was certainly impacted by humans however, and I’m sure my presence impacted it in unseen ways that I can’t even begin to understand.

The sense of attachment that I developed for my place was probably what surprised me most about this experience. I have never really appreciated centennial woods as much as I do now after spending so much time there and observing the natural systems that take place there. It’s good to be reminded that even in pockets of land between condos and an interstate there are ecological processes taking place and you can feel close to nature.

Just getting outside with a purpose every week made me really feel more in tune with the changing seasons. As spring progressed this project made me much more aware of the subtle signs and momentous changes taking place around me. I see the idea of seasons as much more fluid and variable now, whereas before I tended to think in terms of the clear divisions of winter and spring. I now realize those divisions are fairly arbitrary and you can’t know for certain when winter ends and spring begins. I think I am able to enjoy the current weather conditions more now that I’m not thinking in terms of a sharp division. Worries about global warming sometimes make this outlook complicated though and it’s tough to enjoy an early, warm, spring-like day when it might be a portent of changing climate and not just a happy coincidence of weather.

I hope to continue to visit my spot and stay connected to the seasons and natural processes around me.

Week #11

Week #10

I'm continually amazed each week by the new signs of spring I see walking to my spot. As I entered the woods black and white morning cloak butterfly fluttered across my path and disappeared in the tangle of new leaves. Burdocks were are starting to grow up along the sides of the trail and dandelions are flowering in the grass just outside the entrance. The raspberry bushes have new green leaves where last week there were only purple stalks. As well as the butterfly I saw a lot of other insects including a bumble bee that flew clumsily through the low grass looking for flowers that can't be far away. As I got deeper into the forest the new growth still stood out and there are leaves emerging everywhere now, not just in the sunniest open areas. At my spot the stream is still trickling along and small plant are pushing out of the damp sediment that was underwater during the peak of snowmelt. I hear a few birds but the forest seems quite, perhaps because my visit fell in the heat of early afternoon. As I sat beneath the large white pine I chewed a fresh blade of grass and thought about our assignment for the week. I have counted the whirls on the pines near my spot and many of them are around 50 years old so 50 years ago my spot must have looked very different. The larger white pines would still be there and many of the smaller ones would be very young but I don't know what the rest would look like. It may be that at that point the forest on this plot was still in the process of reclaiming an open field. If this was the case there would have been much lower scrubbier vegetation interrupted by the larger open grown white pines. The beech and red maple probably would not have been here yet and certainly not the shade seeding hemlock that is now beginning to develop in the understory waiting for an opportunity. It's also hard to know what the forest will look like 50 years in the future because so much depends on human interference, both directly from decisions on how to manage the park and whether it will continue to be preserved and indirectly through the influence of climate change which has the potential to profoundly alter the natural communities here. If the forest is allowed to continue successionally unimpeded by human activity in 50 years it will most likely be a more diverse mixed forest with the hardwoods that are currently in the understory growing up to take the place of the older white pines.

Week #9

It's been hot and dry for the last few days so the path through the forest today was hard packed with only a few damp remnants of mud. The yellow light of late afternoon seemed to illuminate a thin coating of golden dust on branches and trees trunks enhancing the dry feeling. I tried to be aware of patterns and immediately noticed the bleached white of maple leaves standing out in an almost checkerboard pattern from the browns and orange of pine needles and red oak leaves. I'm pretty sure this is because Oak leaves have more tannin in them and are therefore bitter tasting to decomposers who prefer the sweeter maple leaves. Oak leaves are also leathery and tougher than maple leaves. When I arrived at my spot I noticed another patterns. On the south bank of the small stream the white pine seemed evenly spaced and sized. Judging by the whirls they were around 40-60 years old and stand very tall and straight. On the opposite side of the ravine the pine are more variable in age and more twisted and gnarled, the canopy is also more open. There are some fallen trees that look like wind-throw lying across the ravine pointing south to north so perhaps wind from the south catches the trees on the north bank of the ravine with more force and opened the canopy preventing an even aged stand from developing. Or perhaps there are just different land use histories. My presence in the woods today may have disrupted another patten. I've found piles of pine cone shingles under the tree where I sit and as I sat there a red squirrel approached seeming very agitated. He darted around above my head chattering as though I had stolen his favorite dinner spot. I moved away to see if he would come down but he darted away and I didn't see him again so maybe he was just curious about this strange interloper.

Week #8

It was an overcast afternoon after a light rain this morning. The Sky is a luminous white as the sun tried to break through thin but persistent clouds. As I walked into the woods I could immediately see a change from my last visit only a few days ago. In place of opening buds there were now tiny crumpled bright green leaves unfolding at the end of branches. I also saw new growth beneath my feet as grasses and other herbaceous plants pushed through the leaf litter. There is a subdued atmosphere in the woods today with only a few birds singing. I can now add the Phoebe to chickadees and seagulls on the list of birds I recognize by their call. I saw a red squirrel run across a log as I walked in and I can now here them chattering in the trees. The small stream near my spot is still trickling away perhaps slightly swollen from the rain. A couple of water-striders skim across the surface of a pool in front of me and seem to be interested in a patch of foam which they repeatedly run up against popping tiny bubbles. An interesting development this week is that the trees (I think they're Ash) and shrub directly across the small stream from where I sit are not as dead as I had thought. New buds are opening on them, I don't know if I didn't notice it last week or if they emerged that quickly. There's still no sign of the buds opening on the beech saplings that make up much of the much of the understory near my spot.

week #7

It feels almost oppressively hot and dry in the forest today after being so used to mud and rain. As I walked into the woods I saw a Robin foraging in the dry leaf litter, it seemed to ignore me even as I passed within a few feet. The buds of the box elder saplings near the entrance had burst and i could see the tiny folded leaves beginning to emerge. As I walked to my spot I noticed that I couldn't hear the main stream and when I crossed over the bridge I saw that the water level was much much lower than the last time I was there. All the last remnants of snow and ice had already been carried away. Without the roar of the stream I heard traffic but also birds singing everywhere. I didn't recognize any of the songs except for the chickadee and they were all to high in the canopy to distinguish by sight. When I reached my spot I noticed that the smaller stream was only trickling along, I wonder how long it will continue to run. The crack in the white pine seems to be filling in with new growth but I don't know if it will be able to fully heal the deepest parts of the split. Looking up I see red maple buds standing out against the blue sky, they seem to be the first to have opened.

Week #6

Things Have changed a lot in the two weeks since I last visited my spot in Centennial Woods. While the warm weather then only hinted at spring it now seems to have arrived in earnest. As I walked into the woods I noticed the buds on the box elder saplings at the entrance were soft and looking ready to burst open at any moment. I made my weekly visit in the cool overcast afternoon after a rainy morning. The trees were dark with water and branches dripped on my coat as I tried to walk down the path that was more muddy stream then walkable trail. I will have to find a new way to get to my spot since the meadow I walk through has reveled itself to be marsh saturated with water that seeped into my not-quite waterproof boots. The main stream was roaring and the water level was at least a foot higher than the last time I'd seem it. Only tiny pockets of snow still remain, marking where the deepest shadows must be under the hemlocks on the south side of the stream. As I made my way to my spot another thing that stood out to me was the new vibrancy of colors in the forest, chalky purple raspberry stalks and brilliant green moss stood out clearly from the brown background. When I got to my spot I put my hand on the wet rough bark of the large double trunked white pine I sit beneath and drew my hand away covered in sticky pitch I realized was seeping from a large vertical crack in the tree, I thought it was perhaps a sign of growth but when I got up and looked around more I noted an even deeper crack on the opposite side of the tree that seemed to split the wood almost to the core in some places and oozed pitch, could it be frost damage from warm days and cold nights? I find myself concerned for the health of the tree that I've gotten to know over the past weeks. Focusing my attention on the stream that runs through the ravine I noted that it was almost completely thawed above my spot but below ice still covered the surface in the protected recesses of an oxbow. The water rushing down from above disappeared under this covering of ice as it rushed towards the marsh and eventually the torrent of the main stream. The buds on saplings near my spot didn't seem as tender as those near the entrance where the sun doesn't have to cut through a canopy of pine.

Week #5 (spring break)

My phenology spot this week was different because I was home in Monkton for spring break. Just being in a more rural setting made me feel like I had a greater connection to the changing seasons. The weather was sunny and beautiful for the first half of the week and my driveway and the dirt road I live on both announced the coming of mud season. Before clouds and rain rolled in around thursday I took advantage of the sun and warmth by making a daily hike up Hogback Mountain which lies just across the road. I followed old logging trails observing how the forest changed and trying to read the landscape. In the hollows between the low ridges that run north to south along the mountain the snow was still deep but I could usually walk on top of it without falling through unless I hit a pocket formed by downed branches or the jumbled rocks of a talus slope. On one walk I saw deer signs and remnants of beds, they looked old but the quickly melting snow must have deceived me because over the next ridge I startled several deer who quickly turned up their tails and fled down the treacherous slope faster then I could hope to follow. I could hear birds and occasionally would startle at the sound of snow sloughing off of rocks above me. The rain towards the end of the week kept me inside and melted the remaining ice on my driveway making packing for my return to school easier since I didn't have to park my car at the top. The last thing I did before leaving home was to take what was probably the last sled run of the season with my mom. There was just enough snow left to get a good ride in before hitting the bare grass and abruptly skidding to a stop.

Week #4

It was a warm day today and most of the snow from last week had melted into a layer of grainy ice with mud and slush beneath. From my spot I could hear the stream in full flow and as I walked into the woods a squirrel yelled angrily at me. I could also hear the occasional creak of a branch and people and dogs passing by on the trails but not much else above the roar of jets above. The stream that runs down the ravine where my spot is located remains frozen over but bootprints revealed a layer of wet gray slush below the snow. The ground was cold and moist except in the hollow beneath the large white pine where I sat on the sandy soil. A few ferns and grass were revealed in pockets where the dirty snow had melted around trees. Even though they were sodden and limp they seemed to promise new growth soon. I heard a lot of people out walking their dogs on the trail across the main stream, also lured out by the warm sun. A month ago it would have been starting to get dark now but now the day seems to be stretching into the late afternoon quite that lasts longer and longer through the spring into the summer. The snow tasted like soil and acidic pine and spring.

Week #3

The "Dead Ash" is Actually an Elm and north may be further to the right

Week #2

For this weeks phrenology visit, I went at night to get a sense of what my place was like at a different time of day. Being in the woods at night is always a really amazing experience and the contrast of stepping off the well light street and onto the dark path was intense. Since it was so dark I didn’t really focus on specific things I could see at my spot but instead just tried to be aware of the different mood of the forest at night. Being deprived of your main sense makes you acutely aware that you are out of your element in the forest, especially knowing that for many of the unseen creatures around you are more comfortable in the dark. It is unnerving but I also find it thrilling, a sort of return to a more primal condition, when there were things out there to be afraid of in the dark. Walking to my spot I found myself stepping carefully and as silently as possible and straining to listen to the sounds around me. In the rustle of the trees in the light wind I imagined unseen movement in the shadows around and startled at the sudden creak of a branch. My spot is in a fairly open area and as I stepped out from the tree line I saw how much my eyes had adjusted, as the snow gleamed white under the stars that seemed so much brighter than they had under the streetlights. I stood for a while at looked for constellations but I don’t really know any and only recognized Orion above the jagged tops of hemlock and pine swaying in the wind.

Week #1

My spot is in centennial woods on the west side of the stream to the north of the bend. I like this spot because it has a view up and down the wide swampy meadow that surrounds the stream course. On the day I went on a day when it was very sunny in the afternoon after a dusting of snow in the morning. I could see the new snow still sticking to the dark green hemlocks on the opposite bank of the stream, but on the stream in the direct sun, the snow was melting and forming a layer of water on top of the ice. As I watched this pool of water spread, melting more snow as it flowed around oxbows into more shaded parts stream. I saw a few fresh rabbit and squirrel/chipmunk(?) tracks but the only boot prints I saw near my spot were older. It was nice to know I was the first person to be out in that particular place enjoying the way the sun sparkled on new snow. I explored a little around my spot and found an interesting ravine that cuts through the main stream valley. There was a tiny frozen stream in the center that cut around rocks and fallen white pines. I am excited to watch as this stream changes and grows with melt water as the spring progresses.