Redstone Woods Phenology

Hi! It is the start to the spring semester, and I am back at the Redstone woods! before I left, they cut down trees and brush around here and it looked pretty bleak. Well, it still does for the most part. Being that it is winter in Vermont there aren’t many trees with foliage save for the evergreens. However, there are still some weird things to look at around these woods.

As you can see here, they have this pile of felled trees that I have no idea what they plan to do with. By the looks of things, they chopped down the trees and just left them there.

Something I found interesting is despite the heavy human land use and abuse in this area, there is still a population of animals that live in and move around this area. These tracks are not consistent or really descriptive in any way, so it is hard to know what made them.

7, Dec 2025

It’s sad that it has to end this way… I returned expecting a winter forest with that same energy that it started with in the beginning of the year. Instead, I come to find out that they have cut down a very large amount of its trees! My phenology site is basically stripped, and I am not thrilled that this was done now.

Now I can totally see why this was done. It could be to prevent disease or overcrowding, but this timing really isn’t convenient considering the sticks are basically the extent of foliage out here. The stark contrast between my Framingham location and even these woods earlier this year is drastic. I hope the woods regrow even more pretty than how they started and return to what they are meant to be.

There are no animal tracks out here and it looks almost depressingly desolate. I’m not going to sugarcoat it, as far as things going on back here there really isn’t much.

Time to take a small break from the Redstone woods and take a look at what is going on in my hometown in Framingham. My location is a small rail trail behind my house. The trees back here are primarily Red and White Oak with a scattered population of white pine. Both locations have very little foliage going into the winter months. It is located 42.32352783978021, -71.4351145343241 Framingham, Ma.

This time at Redstone I wanted to sit there and really experience the woods. For 15 minutes I sat on a log and looked around and listened. Listend to the rustling of the leaves and the sound of my breathing. It was a grounding experience (I’d recommend). This place is different than when I last came. The foliage is more vibrant, and the air is definitely colder.

With winter approaching, the woods will soon lose their vibrant foliage. As unfortunate as that is, I like to think the impermanence of something beautiful is what makes it special. So, when next year rolls around, the colors will return and the cycle repeats. (Ill draw another picture of the woods for winter and spring).

In the woods there are a plethora of different trees, vegetative growth, and other natural flora. On the ground there is a surprising amount of undergrowth consisting primarily of grass and tree saplings. Moving up through the woods there is a nice blend of Eastern White pine mixed with a variety of hardwood trees. Some of the more prevalent hardwood trees in here are the Sugar maple and Northern Red oak. Here are some specific examples of the plants I observed in the woods.

Observations · iNaturalist

The Redstone woods is located in Burlington Vermont at UVM on Redstone campus. The coordinates are approximately 44.466616, -73.106636.

Nestled in the back of Redstone campus at The University of Vermont, there is a small patch of woods. Easily missed and clearly overlooked. It’s a 2-minute walk from the parking lot at the back of wing on top of a grass platform separating 2 drainage reservoirs. Take a right turn into a small path that opens up to a deceptively pretty patch of woods. I would be lying if I said I chose this place for a reason besides convenience, but over time I realized its value. This area is a small sanctuary of nature in an otherwise urbanized area much like centennial woods is. However, this area is littered with debris and is clearly neglected. Yet despite its rough edges it’s still a cute and secluded spot in the woods that offers so much so close to campus.