Author: Brooks Carroll

This morning, I was pleasantly surprised by the sounds 0f birds chirping.  I had a feeling that today would be the day that I got to observe animal activity, but my feeling was unfortunately wrong.  I did, however, spot several interesting signs of animal activity.

I walked on a path just off of Middlebury’s campus and I chose to stop when I spotted two birds nests high up in two nearby trees.  I scanned the sky looking for birds, but although I could hear them, I could not see them.  I turned my attention closer to eye level, and I noticed that the forest was dense with trees that grew in many different shapes.  Some branched out immediately and barely rose above six feet, while some grew tall well above forty feet.  There was one similarity between them though.  Almost every one of the trees was slanted slightly left, and there were also several smaller trees on the ground that were pointing to the left.  I believe that this is from wind, possibly a microburst of wind, and I wonder how the birds nests were affected if at all.  As it turns out, birds and their nests are rarely effected by storms unless they are in a tree that falls.  It is interesting that wind that has the power to push a tree down cannot destroy a birds nest made of twigs, leaves, and mud.

As I was about to leave, I glanced behind me and I realized that I had walked right by a tree with clear evidence of a woodpecker.  The holes are pretty large and well-crafted, which are both characteristics of a Pileated Woodpecker  (Dryocopus pileatus).  There were four holes, but my intuition is that they were all the doing of a single woodpecker.  

I left the location feeling more satisfied than I did in the previous weeks, as I had seen very little evidence of animal activity.  Although I did not actually see the woodpecker or the birds responsible for the nests, I knew that they had been there and will return eventually.

As we embarked on our walk through the Green Mountain National Forest, the amount of green that was present surprised me.  Tall Hemlocks (Tsuga canadensis) surrounded us and their canopy limited the natural sunlight underneath.  The ice that covered the Hemlock trees’ contributed to the satisfying aesthetic beauty of the forest.  During our walk, I stood in awe before a massive tree that had fallen and lifted its roots from the ground.   There were several other trees that were positioned similarly, mostly pointing in the same direction.  Evidence suggests that this was caused by a microburst of wind, though it is hard to believe that wind is capable of uprooting massive trees.  Further research tells me that microbursts aren’t common in the Northeast, and they take place more in the South and Midwest, so the mystery remains unsolved.

Our walk begins to parallel a river and I decided to sit on a rock on the riverbank.  The soothing sound of small waterfalls and trickling water fill the air.  As I sat, I admired the natural spontaneity that occurs on the surface of the river.  The water flows swiftly through tiny cracks and crevices created in the rocks and ice.  Closer to the center of the river, the water is calmer and is crystal clear, revealing the numerous rocks and fallen branches.  The trees on each side of the river are slanted slightly, hanging over the water.  I suspect that this is simply because they are growing on a slanted surface but I wonder if it is more complex than that.

I am intrigued by the shining icicles and I ponder the process in which they were created.  Icicles are created when the temperature is subfreezing, but sunshine causes snow or ice to melt slowly.  An icicle begins with a few water droplets and grows as water trickles down and freezes at the bottom.  Similar to last time, I am unsuccessful in my search for animals.  I hoped to see at least animal tracks in the snow, but it appears that my location was not a popular spot on the river.  

During my walk on the Middlebury nature trail, I listened closely to hear distant crows and the occasional rustle of American Beech tree leaves.  It was cloudy and very much a gloomy day.  I decided to veer off towards a river where I hoped to see signs of animal activity.  The river was almost completely frozen over but the recent warm weather allowed for some water to flow down the river.  I thought about where that water has been, and where it will go.  I also thought about how the water that I drink everyday comes from nature and how valuable of a resource it is to us.

On this 40 degree day, I picked a spot right on the riverbank to sit.  To my left was a dying, or possibly already dead, tree that was positioned at about a 30 degree angle over the water.  As I admired nature’s spontaneity, I noticed that part of the tree was hollowed out.  There was a nearly perfect rectangle that was most likely the doing of a Pileated Woodpecker (Hylatomus pileatus).   I admired the craftsmanship of the woodpecker and it’s ability to carve a neat, rectangular hole.   Next, I turned my attention more towards the trees to my right.  I used my handy twig identification book to identify the trees, and I believe that they were European Alders (Alnus glutinous).  As I studied the twigs, I noticed a tiny spider (Araneae) crawling up one of the twigs.  The spider was barely visible and it made me think about what other tiny creatures were around me.

As my time on the riverbank was winding down, I watched the crows (Corvus) in the distance as they flew from tree to tree.  I hoped to see more species of birds, preferably a woodpecker, but they did not reveal themselves.  As I left the riverbank, the sound of the constant flow of water faded as the sound of cars and people returned.

I began my walk through the woods on the nature trail that surrounds Middlebury.  The sounds of cars and voices disappeared as I made my way deeper into the forest, where signs of human interaction were scarce and signs of animal life became more evident.  As I approached the location that I chose to observe, the sunlight was waning and the temperature was dropping quickly.

I chose to sit on a small rock that was positioned directly in front of a white pine (Pinus Strobus).  The sun’s light was limited due to the thick forest landscape.  Directly underneath the white pine was quite a bit of an unknown bird’s feces.  I searched the branches and the sky for looking for birds, and I spotted a large bird’s nest way up in a red oak.  The white pine was the only of its kind in the small area in front of me as it was surrounded by tall, thin read oaks (Quercus Rubra).  The twigs of the red oaks showed that the leaves were arranged alternately, and most of the fallen leaves on the ground appeared to belong to a red oak.  Most of these oaks had either double or multiple trunks, most likely due to being killed while the root system remained intact.  I wondered how the tree might be different had the original trunk lived.  My attention shifted closer to the ground level, and I noticed that there was not any brush.  The area was filled with trees, but it lacked bushes and small vegetation.

As I sat and observed the area, strong bursts of wind would come every minute or so.  As the wind blew, I noticed some dead trees that appeared to have snapped in half, leaving half of the tree standing while the other half decayed on the forest floor.  These disturbances were most likely due to violent storms and strong winds.  I left this location as the sun was setting and the disappearance of light was evident with the sudden drop in temperature.  I wondered what animals might venture venture through my chosen location through the night, and how they might alter it even in the slightest way.