Upland Forest Upland Forest “The Whistlin’ Highlanders”
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Transcript of Upland Forest Upland Forest “The Whistlin’ Highlanders”
Upland ForestUpland Forest “The Whistlin’ Highlanders”
Lookout Point
Woodpecker Hole:
As you walk the Hire’s trail, keep your eyes open
and you will encounter a rather unusual White Pine. It
contains a large rectangular hole about 4 by 8 inches and
about 8 feet above the ground, complements of a hungry
Pileated Woodpecker.
Intersection of Hires and Brook Trails:
As you approach the intersection of the Hire’s
and Brook trails, note that the two trails lead to two
distinctly different types of forest. The Brook Trail
enters a primarily coniferous region, while the Hires
Trail leads to a mainly deciduous region. The
coniferous region has a heavier canopy cover, which
means that the deciduous region is better-lit and more
conducive heavy ground foliage growth.
Flowers
The Lower Brook Trail:
After crossing the road, you will enter a
section of forest, which has no dominant tree type.
These trees aren’t primarily coniferous or deciduous,
but rather a mix of the two. The main trees you will
encounter are Maple (both sugar and red), Aspen,
Hemlock, Birch, and Ash. As you near the end of the
trail you will be met by a grove of beautiful
hemlocks, which provide perfect shade for a snack by
the river.
Lower Brook Trail
Working with RocksWorking with Rocks
This gully was cut through the land by the brook
An abandoned streambed and a waterfall along the Brook trail
Rocks in the brook and Laura standing by a tree
A curved tree shows that the land is moving and the tree is curving to keep up
with it
If you hear some bird calls, it could be any one of these birds:
• American Crow - Great Blue Heron
• Hermit Thrush - Red-Shouldered Hawk
• Black-Capped Chickadee - Northern Shrike
• Red-winged Blackbird - Tufted Titmouse
• Common Raven - Canada Warbler
• Mourning Dove - Bohemian Waxwing and many, many more…………..
Make sure you don’t step on these amphibians:
• Mud puppy
• Salamander
• Newt
• American toad
• Frogs (Green/Wood/Pickerel)
As you are walking along the trail, take notice of these various mammals:
• Deer
• Mice
• Squirrels (Grey/Red)
• Chipmunks
• Beavers
• Raccoons
• Skunks
We did a Biotic Index and found out that our brook is an exact 2.0!
The indicates that our Brook is very healthy!
Biotic Index Range
0 - 3.75 No Impairment3.76 - 6.5 Moderate Impairment> 6.5 Severe Impairment
MUSHROOMS
As you continue walking, take notice of the various fungi located alongside the trail…..
Scrambled Eggslime
Chroogomphus Tomentosus
Striptree Mushroom
They fear no Weevils!!!
Pete- a fine teacher, biologist, skull collector, and Mike Morwood’s mentor.
Pete has over 25 animal skulls. All took over 6 months to process from beginning to end.
Bill- don’t ever be on the team against Bill in ultimate frisbee. A wonderful teacher, funny guy, great van-rocker, and scrap materials scrounger.
Laura loves geology and loves teaching people about Vermont’s origins.
She enjoys snowboarding andloves to laugh with us.
She drove us everywhere and always made the trip fun and crazy!
Awesome Negative Pictures…..
Cont……