Connections

As I was going through my hundreds of pictures to pick out some of my favorites for my concluding blog post, I noticed a reoccurring theme; this beings almost ALL my pictures were of Lake Champlain in different stages of it's cycle, from frozen to open to flooded. I'm fine with this though, as 1) I picked my spot in order to be near the lake to observe it, and 2) Lake Champlain is the key factor in thinking about my place as a system.

Really, the different stages in Lake Champlain either influenced what happened in other parts of my place or was  in itself indicative of the changes in other parts. For example, when the lake was frozen, there was not a lot of wildlife, especially birds, to be seen. As the lake started opening up, birds started to appear also. Geese, ducks, turkey vultures, and even song birds appeared again. The lake both influenced this change by providing a habitat for the waterfowl, and at the same time was indicative of warmer temperatures when birds start coming back.

This interdependence of birds and the lake is also an example of where any changes in the system, especially changes from climate change, are going to have a drastic consequence. What will happen if the lake freezes longer in the winter and the birds migrate back while it is still closed? Additionally what happens if the lake never freezes and the birds can stay in large numbers all year round? How is that going to affect other parts of the system?

The lake also plays a huge role in human society. It may no longer be used as a major form of transport for industrial goods like it was in the past, but that doesn't mean it no longer impacts us. Right now the lake is three feet over flood stage which is definitely causing problems for people who have businesses and homes along the waterfront. It's causing a problem for me as part of the system since I can no longer get to my spot! Basically it's impossible to take one part of any system and separate it out from things that influence it and it's influences. The changes in my spot and the lake are a great example and visual of the connectedness of many different things and really demonstrate the the whole is more than the sum of the parts!

I've really enjoyed documenting my spot, I definitely plan to visit my spot some more, if the water ever goes down! I feel like I'm a small component in the system, I'm not a major player but I'm sure I have affected it in some small way. Maybe I've frightened a chipmunk causing him to not gather a seed that will later grow into a plant that provides food for yet another organism. Just my presence there is enough to cause changes and make me part of the system.

Finally, I thought I'd wrap up with some of my favorite pictures of my place that I had taken throughout the semester, but couldn't fit into my blog in any other place, since they didn't really go with the flow. Here they are from oldest to most recent, enjoy!

Thanks for reading! 

Foiled!

Unfortunately I was not able to get to my spot this week. I drove down to North Beach like usual, parked my car, and started to walk toward the entrance. However as I got closer, I noticed that there were wooden boards blocking the way and a sign that said the beach was closed. Undeterred, I continued to walk, but an elderly lady came out of the building and told me that I had to stop, that the beach was closed due to high water. I tried to reason with her, telling her that it was an assignment for class, but she held firm. Foiled, I retreated disappointed. 

Since I was already downtown I decided to head to the waterfront to take some pictures of buds anyway. The vegetation was very different from my spot's since it wasn't natural, but had been planted with a human's aesthetic preferences in mind. All the trees and shrubberies seemed to be of the same variety. It was nice, but, being biased, not as nice as my spot.

Rhododendron flowering 

Everything is the same and symmetrical 

I could see my spot in the distance, as the Lone Rock peninsula was visible. I guess I'll just have to be sneakier next week since I want to visit it for our last posting. Maybe if I attempt to bike in via the bike trail....

Lone Rock Point in the distance

Poetry

My spot had all but disappeared this morning due to the fog cover over the lake. It was like walking into a cloud; I could barely see twenty feet into the lake before the water and air blended together into an indistinct haze.

Fog over Lake Champlain

Looking to the right

Looking to the left

The fog gave an other-worldly, almost prehistoric feel to my spot. I almost expected to see a dinosaur charging out of the mist.

The lake wasn't the only feature in the usual landscape of my place that was missing. I was shocked to see that the beach had also all but disappeared. The water has been rising for weeks, ever since all the snow started to melt, but I guess I wasn't expecting the lake to get so high. In fact, it seems that this increase in level is abnormal, I've heard people commenting that the lake hasn't been this high in a long time. Even last year, I remember going to North Beach only a little bit after this date there being plenty of sand. Right now, I don't see the water level falling quickly enough to be going to the beach any time soon. The little bit of beach that is left is almost completely covered by driftwood; huge logs and branches.

This missing beach is what inspired my poem that we were supposed to write for this week.

The Rise

Where is the beach?

It is gone. 

Covered in lake,

And wood

Drifted in from far shores. 

Where is the beach?

Birds skitter 

Through the mess,

And call

In the silence. 

Where are you beach?

Come back. 

Soon it will be time to swim

And laze

In the sun. 

Come back beach. 

For now, you are gone. 

Layers

The old maps of  Burlington do not reveal much about my spot. It is too far out of the city limits to have been included in the older maps, and even in the 1906 map, it appears much as it does now, a forest. This is because this land is the property of the Episcopalian Diocese and has been since 1841.

 Similarly the census data does not reveal much about my spot. The parcel the census divided my spot into shows that nobody lives exactly where my spot is. However our friend Chuck and the students do live on Lone Rock Point, just on a different census plot.

Event Map

I had my camera out when the three turkey vultures flew by and managed to catch them on video which was really exciting. They are flying over the water, but are almost right at eye level at me since I'm standing on the cliffs. It's pretty neat. 

Visiting

This week Fed and I teamed up to tour some the phenology spots of our classmates. The day was sunny and warm, great for adventuring. We started off at Fed's place, right in Centennial Woods as it was closest. 

Fed at her spot

Fed's spot, even though also in Burlington, was quite different than mine. For starters the trees were different; the majority of trees at Fed's spot were White Pines, while the majority of mine are Northern White Cedars. I'm guessing this is due to both the nutrients in the soil, and also the different land use histories of our spots. I also noticed a significant difference in the type of birds present. The woodland of Fed's spot lent itself to a higher prevalence of songbirds than my spot, which mostly runs to different types of waterfowl. All in all the spot was lovely and quite peaceful. 

From Centennial Woods, we drove down to my spot on Lone Rock Point. Changes were readily observable from last week when I had come down. The lake is starting to recede a little from where it had expanded due to melt-off. If you look at the picture below, you can see the line of driftwood and pebbles from where the edge of the lake had been, and the clean sand where it has receded. 

Receding water

Due to the warm day, there were more signs of animals than usual. I actually saw some squirrels running through the woods, a sight that I hadn't seen yet. However, the majority of animal encounters were bird encounters, and they were quite spectacular. 

We watched the bird in the picture above through binoculars for a few minutes as it sang. The picture doesn't really do it justice as it was a lovely pale grey color with some orange tints, and a little tuft of feathers on its head. I believe it was a Tufted Titmouse (Baeolophus bicolor). It was nice to see some songbirds, something I usually don't see at my spot. 

The most exciting bird encounter however, was with what I believe was a Turkey Vulture. My spot is right at the edge of the point, overlooking the water. It's high enough that birds flying over the water are sometimes at eye-level. This Turkey Vulture flew by several times right near us. I managed to snap this picture, which doesn't quite show how close it was to us. It was pretty awesome! 

It was a really lovely day to be at my spot, but we had others places to visit so we continued on. 

View from my spot

Our third and final spot to visit was Erica's spot! We're not sure whether we were quite at her spot, but we were probably in the same general vicinity. Even though her place is on the waterfront like mine, it had its own feel to it. For one it was still extremely iced in! The ice in my spot has been gone for a few weeks now, so it was a little startling. Additionally, the lake appeared to be rougher in this portion; the wind seemed to be whipping up the waves more, compared to the gentler lapping at my spot. 

Ice at Erica's spot

Visiting other people's spot was fun. It was really neat to experience the variety of landscapes that are in one political boundary. It was also cool to see just how far the city limits stretched since we visited spots on all the edges. It's definitely nice to get to know where you live a bit better.

Senses

My attempt to use all five senses to observe my site started off quickly as the first thing I noticed as I walked toward my spot this weekend was a sound I hadn't heard for a long time: the sound of waves. The ice had finally totally disappeared, leaving the wind free to blow the water onto the shore.

No more ice!

Continuing on the theme of other senses, the water felt extremely cold! It may no longer be iced over, but it sure doesn't feel very far above freezing. I don't know whether the cold dampened the smells, or I'm just not very good at smelling things, but I couldn't pick out the characteristic smell of sand and water that is stereotypical of beaches everywhere. Perhaps the sun needs to come out and warm the ground up before I'll be able to smell anything.

The air was also filled with the sounds of water fowl of all sorts this weekend. Swimming together in the lake were a pair of Canadian Geese, a pair of Mallard Ducks, and a pair of some other type of duck that I wasn't quite sure of, Buffleheads maybe? I thought it was neat that the different species were all swimming around together.

The pair of Canadian Geese

The two pairs of ducks

There wasn't really anything for me to use my sense of taste on; I'm not sure of the edible properties of any of the plants near my site and I don't really want to risk it!