Wednesday, March 20, 2013

Williams Woods

Williams Woods

Our trip to Williams Woods, located in Charlotte, Vermont,  took place on a overcast day in mid-February with a temperature in the 30s. Upon entering the woods we came across a large swath of of forest that had been disturbed. For over three hundred feet there were trees down in various directions and of various ages. We determined the disturbance had been a microburst of wind which violently struck the trees and caused them to fall in such a disarrayed fashion. 
Area affected by microburst
Beyond the disturbance we came upon the edge of the woods which bordered a field. Judging by the placement of the older trees along the edge of the field we found that the property lines had shifted slightly over the past one hundred years. Many of the trees in this area were between fifty and one hundred years old.
Deeper into the woods we came upon a turkey that had been killed recently. Beneath the turkey we found corn that someone had either baited or fed to the turkey but the person who fed the turkey was not the one who killed it. The animal responsible for killing the turkey was probably a fisher cat or possibly a bobcat. The creature perched above the corn, waiting for the turkey to amble over and begin eating, then the cat jumped down from the tree and killed the turkey.




Old Growth White Oak
As we moved deeper into the woods we came across some older trees that may be over one hundred years old. They stood much taller than the other trees which tended to be hemlocks. Beyond the older trees is a stand of young white pines which were between twenty and thirty years old. Some of these trees were found to have been used by woodpeckers. 
Young White Pine Stand

Shelburne Pond

Shelburne Pond



Our trip to Shelburne Pond took place in the first week of February on a sunny yet cold and windy day.  The large pond was frozen solid in most places although a recent bout of warm weather has left some ice thin. One of the first things encountered was a white pine that was ripped from its roots on the shore of the pond. It had taken another tree with it and had a few trees around it that had fallen in the same manner. The reasoning for the trees to have fallen like that was linked to super storm Sandy which brought high winds to the area in the fall of 2012. 
Following the discovery of the tree, we examined the ice which had shifted due to the winds and fluctuations in temperature. The ice had separated and come back together with such force that it replicated the formation of mountains due to tectonic plates. As we moved north along the western side of the lake we encountered a hemlock grove that dominated the area and was found to be a great habitat for porcupines.
Beyond the hemlock grove was the marsh area of the pond which was quite a large area of the western portion of the pond. Although the marsh was frozen there were many cattails and grasses in the area. There were tufts of grass and shrubbery that poked up from the ice along with many dead trees. The area was a perfect habitat for water fowl as well as frogs, peepers and turtles when the spring arrived. While the ice still covered the pond many smaller animals could scurry across it and use the tall grass as cover from predators.