Phenology – the study of when things happen in a particular season – is endlessly interesting, but especially so after a long winter, when we’re starved for change. We know the snow will melt and the leaves will come out eventually, but knowing when, knowing exactly when, scratches an itch this time of year.
Knowing this, and knowing we’re starved for green images in mid-March, we decided to pull together a phenologically-themed blog that shows the transition from winter to summer last year in southwestern Vermont. Of course this year’s dates won’t match last year’s exactly, and will vary with latitude across the region. But the windows between snowmelt and leaf-out will likely be roughly the same throughout the Northeast. And there’s something hopeful and satisfying about putting a budbreak with a date, wherever it is.
This camera lives on a wood road and records the comings and goings throughout the year. You’ll see in this first picture that on Saint Patrick’s Day last year, things were still pretty socked in with snow.
