Winter Ecology

On this beautifully sunny, mild winter day, I am reflecting on a very special experience I recently had. This past winter break, I signed up for a course entitled Winter Ecology. Bernd Heinrich, renowned biologist, book author, and UVM professor emeritus teaches the course on his property in Western Maine. For one week, ten UVM students (a mixture of undergraduates and graduates) lived in a log cabin without electricity or running water, and only heated by a wood stove, which we took turns getting up to stoke every couple of hours throughout the night. Every morning, we would rise as the sun rose over the mountains and illuminated the frost-covered windows. Bundled in many, many layers, we visited with one another quietly as water boiled for oatmeal. After breakfast, we rambled through the woods with Bernd with several hours, each day visiting different areas. Bernd teaches in the same way he learns--from the land itself, without plans, letting his daily discoveries dictate his curiosities. He has been learning from this one particular piece of land for many, many years, and it made me think quite a bit about what an honor it would be to know one place so well. Some of the highlights included using an axe to chop through the thick ice of Alder Brook and sampling benthic macroinvertebrates (this also turned into my individual research project for the class); finding nests from the Red-eyed Vireo, Chestnut-sided Warbler, Cedar Waxwing, and Robin; watching Bernd chop down trees and climb trees; making homemade bread in the wood stove; listening to a visiting scientist discuss her research on chickadees; and hiking to a lookout over Webb Lake to enjoy the sunset. I loved learning from and also teaching the graduate students, and I thought it was really valuable to have people from so many different academic backgrounds in the course. After cooking a hearty meal for dinner, we sat around the large table and pored through Bernd's collection of field guides and reference books. It was refreshing to be in a group of people so motivated to get outside and learn, even in the face of -24 degree temperatures!

Check out these photos, which help illustrate the nature and structure of the course, and also how much fun we had! 

Bernd climbing a tree to retrieve a red-eyed vireo nest.

The resident barred owl waits for a snack offering.

Sunrise through the frosty cabin windows.

View looking up into the center cavity of an old yellow birch.

Balsam Fir vs. Spruce

Exploring every sense of winter--in this case, the aroma of a spruce tree.

Red-eyed vireo nest painstakingly procured by Bernd.

Moving a chopped ice chunk out of the water in or

Sampling for benthic macroinvertebrates along Alder Brook.

Stoneflies, mayflies, and dragonfly nymphs galore!

A single bit axe, sled, water jug, and hearty souls--all tools of the trade for water runs. 

A sunny, frozen crystalline view of Alder Brook, looking downstream.

The Art of Noticing

Happy autumn, everyone! Here is a piece of writing from the LANDS Field Semester that I'm currently in.

The first week of readings brought up both familiar and foreign concepts to me.  As I reflect on my incredible and fulfilling summer experiences working on a snorkel field crew in Idaho, I find myself thinking a lot about my group’s dynamics, and how magical it was to spend time living fully in the present, enjoying the outdoors. I am hopeful that my fall experience with LANDS will continue along that vein; I feel ready to absorb and engage, and gain as much as possible.

I really enjoyed rereading Aldo Leopold’s “The Land Ethic”. I think that I have read it for several different classes, but it’s amazing how quickly some ideas can fade or be forgotten in order to absorb new information. Leopold writes “One basic weakness in a conservation system based wholly on economic motives is that most members of the land community have no economic value” (6). I found this passage helpful in my efforts to mentally transition for summer work mode to school and to Burlington. My summer experiences taught me to appreciate the rivers, the time I shared with my crewmembers, and hard physical labor, the kind that made my eyes shut so easily and gratefully at the end of each day. I feel fortunate that I have had so many experiences to go outdoors and actually have the time and resources to notice stones, butterflies, bugs, riffles and pools, and flowers—I treasure my time outdoors with all of my heart, because it never fails to bring me pure tranquility and happiness. But it got me thinking about people who haven’t been in the circumstances to have such treasured memories outdoors—do they share the same appreciation for little details of nature as I do, or not? Can a person who has only ever known the concrete sidewalks and buildings of the inner city see the beauty and value in a single wildflower, the sight of open spaces and the joy it can bring to the human heart, or even the bittersweet changing of the seasons?  Do these people appreciate nature more, because they have such limited access to it, or less, because they simply haven’t had much exposure? These are questions that I’m currently grappling with, and an answer that I’ve come up (based on my current thoughts, which are of course subject to change and improvement) is that it really is based on each person’s individualized experience.  I can’t put a monetary value on seeing an adult Chinook salmon for the first time, or the taste of a ripe wild blackberry, or the feeling of mud dried on my legs after a hard day of hiking to snorkel sites. In “The Land Ethic”, Leopold articulates the importance of creating a land conservation system that incorporates these “priceless” values—values that do not have economic value but hold memories, peace, health benefits, and joy.

In my mind, attempting to understand values that do not have a specific label is also connected to group dynamics. The introduction of the “This American Life” piece spurred me to think about making sure that I put effort into connecting with my LANDS peers and professors. During my summer work, I found that the best way to connect with my crew leader and fellow crewmembers was to do two things: listen, and practice empathy. When I listened to their stories and their ideas, I began to realize that it was not always necessary to completely understand as much as it was to put effort into trying. As I look ahead to the LANDS semester, I think it will be important to maintain a positive, supportive attitude so that our team can accomplish our work with excellence and efficiency, and we can fuel ourselves with a cheerful momentum. In creating a land ethic and in group dynamics, it seems more important to recognize and value the process and value in both the individual and the system in the detail: having an end result is meaningful, but the journey or the process should not be overlooked.

Skeleton found while snorkeling

Near the main Salmon River and Riggins

Warm Lake Creek

"The Plunge"--South Fork Salmon River

Trout fry vs Chinook zero

East Fork South Fork Salmon River

Collared bighorn sheep

Summer on the Salmon

The summer is going so fast--I can hardly believe that June is ending! I wanted to post some photos of my summer experiences thus far. Right now, I am helping monitor a Chinook salmon sport fishery on the South Fork Salmon River. I am camping in a beautiful area close to the river, and in my free time, I'm swimming, biking, and learning to fish. Work has been pretty busy and basically entails driving up and down the road near the river, counting vehicles and anglers, and interviewing anglers to see how long they've fished, and check their fish if they've caught any. All of the data we collect goes into an equation that helps estimate how many total fish have been harvested, so that we can work towards our harvest goal quota. The work is a little tedious, but the scenery is beautiful, and I find myself snapping photos of flowers, birds, and the river. It has been interesting learning about salmon fishing and all of the statistics that go into managing a sport fishery. I'm looking forward to finishing up fishery monitoring and getting back to snorkeling the rivers of Idaho for the rest of the summer! 

I want to write more soon, but my internet time at the library is almost up, and the sunshine is calling to me...enjoy the summer!

Pretty sky at camp

Warm Lake

On Rice Peak Lookout trail

Rice Peak Lookout trail

Tule Lake

View of Warm Lake from area near Landmark

Bald eagles along the South Fork Salmon

Avocet

South Fork Salmon River

Confluence of the the South Fork Salmon and East Fork South Fork Salmon rivers

Grand Teton National Park

Here are photos from Grand Teton National Park. I thought this park was much quieter and approachable than Yellowstone, and everyone was so friendly. We hiked around Jenny Lake, which was beautiful and only had a few patches of snow left. The hikes up the canyons that would provide great views are still snowed in, so I know that I will have to return sometime to explore! I would also love to come back and ride the bike trail that goes from Jackson Hole to Jenny Lake Lodge--although it runs along the side of the Tetons and have incredible views, the trail is entirely flat, due to the lake of foothills.

The Tetons from Jackson Lake Lodge. 

The Tetons! The peak in the middle is Mount Moran.

Jenny Lake

Hiking along Jenny Lake. We saw an osprey, tree swallows, and lots of curious and friendly marmots!

Jenny Lake

Beartooth Pass & Yellowstone National Park

My family and I took a road trip as I traveled to my summer job, and we stopped at Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks. Yellowstone was extremely busy with visitors, but once we started hiking, it was much quieter and enjoyable. And we saw lots of wildlife and wildflowers!
These photos start as we entered the Beartooth Pass highway in Red Lodge, MT.

Lots of snow still on the road leading up to Beartooth Pass!

First time in Wyoming

Looking at the Beartooth Range

Moss campion

The Beartooth

Arrowleaf balsamroot

Calypso orchid or fairyslipper

Duncecap Larkspur

Lost Lake

Solomon's Seal

Bison in the trail

Young grizzly

Elk

Avalanche lily

Prairiesmoke

Salsify

One of Yellowstone's many bubbling warm springs

Old Faithful

Two black collared male wolves that are part of the Junction Butte pack eating a bison carcass. Seen through a scope in the Lamar Valley of Yellowstone. 

Mammoth Hot Springs

Birdwatching

Seen today at Chippewa Run Natural Area (list compiled by LCR):
> Mallard X
> Blue-winged Teal X
> Green Heron X
> Turkey Vulture X
> Bald Eagle X
> Solitary Sandpiper X
> Mourning Dove X
> Red-bellied Woodpecker X
> Downy Woodpecker X
> Northern Flicker X
> Pileated Woodpecker X
> Eastern Phoebe X
> Great Crested Flycatcher X
> Eastern Kingbird X
> Blue Jay X
> American Crow X
> Black-capped Chickadee X
> Red-breasted Nuthatch X
> White-breasted Nuthatch X
> House Wren X
> Eastern Bluebird X
> Gray-cheeked Thrush X
> American Robin X
> Gray Catbird X
> Brown Thrasher X
> European Starling X
> Black-and-white Warbler X
> Common Yellowthroat X
> American Redstart X
> Yellow Warbler X
> Chestnut-sided Warbler X
> Palm Warbler X
> Pine Warbler X
> Yellow-rumped Warbler X
> Chipping Sparrow X
> Song Sparrow X
> Rose-breasted Grosbeak X
> Red-winged Blackbird X
> Eastern Meadowlark X
> Common Grackle X
> Baltimore Oriole X
> Purple Finch X
> American Goldfinch X

Rain fall, spring ephemerals, and morels

School has ended and it is spring in Michigan--well, sort of. After a long winter here, even a glimpse of the sunlight is cause for celebration. Yesterday's chilly rain didn't stop my dad and me from venturing outside to seek spring ephemerals. We walked along a wooded trail, pausing often to look at different ephemerals. The Dutchman's breeches seem to be winding down, and the squirrel corn has taken its place. Hepatica and bloodroot have come and gone, and the Jack in the Pulpit is unfurling. It's amazing how much I've learned about spring ephemerals over the past few years, and I remember when I had trouble distinguishing certain flowers from one another. I feel like I still have a lot to learn, but it's exciting to be able to walk through a landscape and understand different species and natural processes.
As we wandered along the trail, I spotted a mysterious crumb in the dirt. Upon closer inspection, I realized that it was the remains of a morel mushroom, a local, edible delicacy that is known for its taste, elusiveness, and price. I immediately spotted a full mushroom next to the trail, and shortly after found one more. My collecting eye tuned sharply into the layer of leaf litter and sticks, but I did not find any other mushrooms. Slightly disappointed, we continued down the trail, coming closer to Lake Michigan. On a whim, I decided to cut off trail into a pretty wooded area along a bluff that was brilliantly green with trillium and Solomon's Seal. I spotted a small morel, its cap still covered with dead leaves after pushing its way up through the earth, and then I saw another and another. My dad and I called to one another, and soon we had collected about half a pound. Although I cannot disclose the location (every good mushroom forager knows this), I should mention that I was surprised how sandy the soil was. We may return to this area soon to look for more mushrooms, and I'm also planning on digging up some ramps from the woods to combine with the morels for a local dish.
Spring is also a wonderful time to do some bird watching because the leaves are not out yet, making these winged creatures easier to spot. Baltimore Orioles, Indigo Buntings, and Scarlet Tanagers have been a few of the excited sightings around the house, along with several varieties of woodpeckers.
All photos by LCR

Morel! 

Jack in the Pulpit

Trillium. Normally the entire flower petal is white, but the green color is caused by a mycoplasma infection.

Trout lily

Our morel harvest (the location is top secret).