RavenStars
February 7th, 2008, 12:02 AM
The following is from the newsletter from The School of Seasons, and I ended up quoting it all because I thought it was so interesting! Enjoy!
Living in Season: Practice Phenology
(This is a reprint from January 2004, with some new comments)
For years, I've been inviting visitors to my web site to submit signs of the season without realizing that I was encouraging you to practice phenology. That's the science of tracking seasonal changes.
Phenologists note and record the date of unique seasonal events: first snow that stays on the ground, ice breaking upon a lake, sightings of migratory birds, the appearance of buds and then blooms on particular plants. Birders have lifetime lists of bird sighted. Phenologists maintain charts showing the dates of the same events, year after year, so they can identify patterns and say things like "the lilacs are blooming two weeks earlier this year."
Gardeners, of course, have been phenologists for centuries, carefully noting dates of first and last frost and that particular moment in early spring when a piece of dirt pried from the ground retains its shape when squeezed in the hand, indicating that the soil is ready for planting.
The trickiest part of being a phenologist is figuring out what's a unique sign of the season. For instance, I have a theory that the squirrels in my neighborhood are more active in autumn but if I simply record the number of squirrels seen per day I might only be capturing the positive effects of temperature or the results of a squirrel population explosion.
Here are some unique markers that phenologists have studied: First leaf, first bloom, ripe berries, first appearance of insects, birds, and frogspawn, and first cutting of lawns. Autumn markers for trees include first tint, full tint, leaf fall and bare. To help people making these observations, phenologists have created specific descriptions of these events, for instance, first leaf is defined as the date when the widest part of the newly emerging leaf has grown beyond the ends of its opening winter bud scales. First bloom (for most flowers) occurs when the petals are open enough so you can see the stamens. Berries are ripe when they are soft to the touch or beginning to drop.
Because of the wealth of natural phenomena, phenologists often focus on a particular place, which reminds me of the first assignment given in most wilderness awareness programs, where you're asked to locate a "secret spot," a place where you can sit quietly in nature for at least 15 minutes a day to watch what unfolds around you.
I decided to focus on my city block since I walk around it at least once a day with Pepe the Chihuahua (my daughter’s dog). I purchased a permanent Book of Days and started marking down my observations. My first observation in every year usually occurs on the day I first smell the first scent of spring. It’s a particular fragrance that I noted for years before I finally identified it, in 2004, as the flower of sarcococcus humilis, or sweet box. Since then I’ve caught my first whiff of the scent of spring on January 22nd in both 2004 and 2007, while it was January 30 in 2006 and February 1 this year.
As an easy way to incorporate phenology into your routine, you might simply note observations in your daily planner. It would be fun at the end of the year to find among your appointments, phone numbers and to-do lists, a note that says "ripe berries on the rowan tree." Since I started recording natural markers, I’ve noticed that June is prime time for the baby crows to leave their nests. Every June I record incidents of dive-bombing parents, young birds hunched over in inappropriate places (like on the railing of my balcony or the roof of a parked car) and much raucous crowing by parents trying to coax them into moving out of danger.
Phenology has many benefits, besides the simple pleasure of living more closely attuned to the natural world. Phenologists in Great Britain can demonstrate that spring is arriving earlier every year, probably the effect of global warming. Last year’s spring was one of the earliest on record.
Phenology helps birders, farmers, gardeners and others by correlating natural events. Farmers know to plant peas when the daffodils bloom or corn when the apple blossoms fall. Gregory Scott in his article on phenology, says morel mushroom hunters in north central Wisconsin know when developing oak leaves are the size of a squirrel's ear, they'll be able to find morels.
"Many of the events of the annual cycle recur year after year in a regular order. A year-to-year record of this order is a record of the rates at which solar energy flows to and through living things. They are the arteries of the land. By tracing their responses to the sun, phenology may eventually shed some light on that ultimate enigma, the land's inner workings."
- Aldo Leopold, A Phenological Record for Sauk and Dane Counties, Wisconsin, 1935-1945 (1947)
On the Web: Phenology Links
www.phenology.org.uk
A phenology network in Great Britain coordinated by the Woodland Trust and Centre for Ecology and Hydrology which encourages readers in the British Isles to sign up as recorders and send in their observations. The "live" maps show the pattern of current sightings. I notice that no snowdrops have bloomed as of 2/5/2008 while last year the first snowdrop appeared on January 18, 2007 in Wales. I guess, according to a true definition of bloom, my snowdrops have not yet bloomed either, since you can’t see the stamens of the flowers.
http://attra.ncat.org/attra-pub/phenology.html
A fabulous list of links compiled by Steve Diver for the Appropriate Technology Transfer for Rural Areas, National Sustainable Agriculture Information Service, including links to regional lists of plants in bloom, appearance of insects and birds, plus a link to all the other resources I've listed, including activities for kids and articles, columns and radio shows.
www.wnrmag.com/misc/pheno.htm
Scott, Gregory, "A Time For Every Purpose Under Heaven," originally published April 1995, in Wisconsin Natural Resources
http://arnoldia.arboretum.harvard.edu/pdf/articles/1893.pdf
A wonderful article about the records kept since the 11th century of the blossoming of cherry trees in Kyoto and how they helped scientists chart average temperatures, plus a charming sidebar on one family’s personal relationship to the blossoming of the cherry trees. The range of flowering has shifted over the centuries and ranges from late March to early May.
For more on cherry blossoms and festivals, read the comprehensive article on cherry blossoms at the World Kigo (Kigo are the seasonal words that appear in traditional Japanese haiku poems) web site:
http://worldkigodatabase.blogspot.com/2005/03/cherry-blossoms-sakura.html
http://www.windows.ucar.edu/citizen_science/budburst/
A project which collects information on the first leaves and blossoms of over 58 plant species. You can print a plant list for your area and submit your data. I will contribute this year.
Living in Season: Practice Phenology
(This is a reprint from January 2004, with some new comments)
For years, I've been inviting visitors to my web site to submit signs of the season without realizing that I was encouraging you to practice phenology. That's the science of tracking seasonal changes.
Phenologists note and record the date of unique seasonal events: first snow that stays on the ground, ice breaking upon a lake, sightings of migratory birds, the appearance of buds and then blooms on particular plants. Birders have lifetime lists of bird sighted. Phenologists maintain charts showing the dates of the same events, year after year, so they can identify patterns and say things like "the lilacs are blooming two weeks earlier this year."
Gardeners, of course, have been phenologists for centuries, carefully noting dates of first and last frost and that particular moment in early spring when a piece of dirt pried from the ground retains its shape when squeezed in the hand, indicating that the soil is ready for planting.
The trickiest part of being a phenologist is figuring out what's a unique sign of the season. For instance, I have a theory that the squirrels in my neighborhood are more active in autumn but if I simply record the number of squirrels seen per day I might only be capturing the positive effects of temperature or the results of a squirrel population explosion.
Here are some unique markers that phenologists have studied: First leaf, first bloom, ripe berries, first appearance of insects, birds, and frogspawn, and first cutting of lawns. Autumn markers for trees include first tint, full tint, leaf fall and bare. To help people making these observations, phenologists have created specific descriptions of these events, for instance, first leaf is defined as the date when the widest part of the newly emerging leaf has grown beyond the ends of its opening winter bud scales. First bloom (for most flowers) occurs when the petals are open enough so you can see the stamens. Berries are ripe when they are soft to the touch or beginning to drop.
Because of the wealth of natural phenomena, phenologists often focus on a particular place, which reminds me of the first assignment given in most wilderness awareness programs, where you're asked to locate a "secret spot," a place where you can sit quietly in nature for at least 15 minutes a day to watch what unfolds around you.
I decided to focus on my city block since I walk around it at least once a day with Pepe the Chihuahua (my daughter’s dog). I purchased a permanent Book of Days and started marking down my observations. My first observation in every year usually occurs on the day I first smell the first scent of spring. It’s a particular fragrance that I noted for years before I finally identified it, in 2004, as the flower of sarcococcus humilis, or sweet box. Since then I’ve caught my first whiff of the scent of spring on January 22nd in both 2004 and 2007, while it was January 30 in 2006 and February 1 this year.
As an easy way to incorporate phenology into your routine, you might simply note observations in your daily planner. It would be fun at the end of the year to find among your appointments, phone numbers and to-do lists, a note that says "ripe berries on the rowan tree." Since I started recording natural markers, I’ve noticed that June is prime time for the baby crows to leave their nests. Every June I record incidents of dive-bombing parents, young birds hunched over in inappropriate places (like on the railing of my balcony or the roof of a parked car) and much raucous crowing by parents trying to coax them into moving out of danger.
Phenology has many benefits, besides the simple pleasure of living more closely attuned to the natural world. Phenologists in Great Britain can demonstrate that spring is arriving earlier every year, probably the effect of global warming. Last year’s spring was one of the earliest on record.
Phenology helps birders, farmers, gardeners and others by correlating natural events. Farmers know to plant peas when the daffodils bloom or corn when the apple blossoms fall. Gregory Scott in his article on phenology, says morel mushroom hunters in north central Wisconsin know when developing oak leaves are the size of a squirrel's ear, they'll be able to find morels.
"Many of the events of the annual cycle recur year after year in a regular order. A year-to-year record of this order is a record of the rates at which solar energy flows to and through living things. They are the arteries of the land. By tracing their responses to the sun, phenology may eventually shed some light on that ultimate enigma, the land's inner workings."
- Aldo Leopold, A Phenological Record for Sauk and Dane Counties, Wisconsin, 1935-1945 (1947)
On the Web: Phenology Links
www.phenology.org.uk
A phenology network in Great Britain coordinated by the Woodland Trust and Centre for Ecology and Hydrology which encourages readers in the British Isles to sign up as recorders and send in their observations. The "live" maps show the pattern of current sightings. I notice that no snowdrops have bloomed as of 2/5/2008 while last year the first snowdrop appeared on January 18, 2007 in Wales. I guess, according to a true definition of bloom, my snowdrops have not yet bloomed either, since you can’t see the stamens of the flowers.
http://attra.ncat.org/attra-pub/phenology.html
A fabulous list of links compiled by Steve Diver for the Appropriate Technology Transfer for Rural Areas, National Sustainable Agriculture Information Service, including links to regional lists of plants in bloom, appearance of insects and birds, plus a link to all the other resources I've listed, including activities for kids and articles, columns and radio shows.
www.wnrmag.com/misc/pheno.htm
Scott, Gregory, "A Time For Every Purpose Under Heaven," originally published April 1995, in Wisconsin Natural Resources
http://arnoldia.arboretum.harvard.edu/pdf/articles/1893.pdf
A wonderful article about the records kept since the 11th century of the blossoming of cherry trees in Kyoto and how they helped scientists chart average temperatures, plus a charming sidebar on one family’s personal relationship to the blossoming of the cherry trees. The range of flowering has shifted over the centuries and ranges from late March to early May.
For more on cherry blossoms and festivals, read the comprehensive article on cherry blossoms at the World Kigo (Kigo are the seasonal words that appear in traditional Japanese haiku poems) web site:
http://worldkigodatabase.blogspot.com/2005/03/cherry-blossoms-sakura.html
http://www.windows.ucar.edu/citizen_science/budburst/
A project which collects information on the first leaves and blossoms of over 58 plant species. You can print a plant list for your area and submit your data. I will contribute this year.