We have added a new feature to our Wildlife Sightings pages. It is a journal of plant phenology where anyone can record the date when plants in Salisbury emerge, bloom, set fruit, and senesce. This addition has important consequences because, for the first time, it introduces plants to the Wildlife Sightings pages. We therefore have changed the name of this group of pages to Wild Sightings. We also now invite observations of plants on the old Wildlife Sightings blog page, whose name has consequently changed to Wildlife and Plant Observations.
The Plant Phenology page was inspired by a book shown to me by Peter Langrock. “We found a farm” was published in 1936 and written by Charles Speare who lived in the house at 392 Beaver Pond Road in Salisbury. Mr. Langrock bought that house and farm in 1951, and then bought his current house just a couple of years later. The book includes excerpts from Speare’s journal and attaches dates to the development of plants and behaviors of animals near the house in the 1930s. I wondered whether the timing of such events had changed since the 1930s, and thought it would be valuable to have a precise modern record of the seasonal development of plants. We will be able to compare this record to the 1930s journal, and it might eventually reveal whether regional changes in climate cause shifts in the phenological development of plants during the next decades. I was pleased to find a copy of this book for sale and it is now included in our online auction.
Here is an excerpt from the book.
April 28. The ground this morning was covered with snow.
April 29. White frost this morning. Buds are appearing on many of the small bushes. The rhubarb is sprouting.
April 30. Two purple finches were in the orchard today. The swallows are back and circling around the old barn. The call of the cock pheasant comes from the north woods.
You can see a few pages of the book at the auction page.
Everyone is welcome to contribute to the new plant phenology journal.