3-season video of Wall’s Pond

3-season video of Clark Art West woods

3-season video of Mission Park

3-season video of Tyler House woods

3-season viedo of Syndicate Road woods

3-Season video of Stetson Hall Parking Lot Woods

3-season of video at the Eastlawn Cemetery site.

I’m sitting here with my blank journal on the western edge of Wall’s Pond at the Clark Art Institute in Williamstown, and it is a beautiful day. The morning is bright and clear with just a few high, wispy cirrus clouds that offer no obstacle to the sun which hits my face in full and dries the grassy embankment where I sit. There’s a faint breeze stirring the trees and tall grass around the pond, but otherwise the water is largely undisturbed and the place is generally quite still. The museum (which sits about 200 feet away from the southern edge of the pond) is quite empty and the only manmade sounds echo over the whole town from construction around the rotary about a half-mile away.
The pond itself (the area of which is, I estimate, about 50 yards north to south by about 30 yards east to west) is also flanked on the eastern side by two houses, on the northern edge by a small meadow, and on the western side, where I sit, by a strip of grass about 30 feet wide, behind which is a cow fence and a row of trees to separate it from the parking lot. There are a handful of picnic tables near the southwestern corner of the pond, and a bench on the north side. The pond is encircled by a ferns, grasses, and thick, low vegetation about 6-12 feet deep all the way around. Where the water is visible, it appears dark and murky. The glassy surface goes undisturbed save for tiny ripples as insects take off and land, however about 70% of the surface area is taken up by lily pads and other floating, flowering vegetation. The shadiest spots around the southwestern edge make up the bulk of the open water.
Plant life around the pond, also includes large deciduous and coniferous trees. Along the whole southern edge stand a mix of maple and pine trees that set it off from the art museum and conservation facility. The maples are in full green summer health (as all of the vegetation is – indeed there are very few dead leaves on the ground at the moment) and stand about 40-50 feet in height. The pines among them and to the southwest stand at a similar height.
After humans (who’ve left their indelible mark on this spot in the form of picnic tables, benches, fences, mower stripes on the surrounding lawn, and, of course, the museum) the most imposing animal life at Wall’s Pond are the half-dozen or so ducks who have just come out of the grasses at the edge and now prowl the northwestern corner for food. They are all a mottled brown color and range in size from 10-16 or so inches, lengthwise, some look much younger than the others and I venture to guess that they’re a family. I move closer to them, close enough to hear their feathers brush against the lily pads and their webbed feet move through the water. Occasionally, they dive, upending their bodies to get some morsel of food from below the surface. I move too close and the take off, flying about a foot above of the water to center of the pond.
Now that I’m closer to the water’s edge and the thick growth around the outside of the pond, I hear more clearly the constant din and buzz of crickets, the croak of an unseen frog, and the beating of small insect wings. Joining these hidden noisemakers are the birds; the cawing of crows in the trees, and several different chirps – all sounds that go visually unattributed for the moment. Mosquitoes, bumblebees, noseeums, and dragonflies now fly in and out of the grasses, occasionally alighting near me as I sit back down on the embankment. In this 40 minutes or so, the museum has come to life and the sounds of trucks and cars have come to drown out the insect noise. I’ll leave then, and come back in a week.

Syndicate Road Woods (Site #9)

Sunday, September 13^th, 2009

1:00 P.M.

Partly Cloudy/Rainy

I found the Syndicate Road Wood to be a small, serene forest tucked away between Syndicate Road and Cole Field.  The wood is centered around a trickling stream that runs parallel to the road.  At first I did not notice the stream, only the erosion and exposed roots it had left behind, but the constant presence of mosquitoes caused me to realize the running water.  Besides the miniature canyon that the stream has carved, the terrain is mostly flat with a slight hill leading up toward Cole Field.  There is much foliage: a mixture of short and tall trees, thin and thick trunks, and various types ranging from pine to maple.  A few of the leaves have changed to a brownish yellow color, but the majority creates a luscious green canopy over my head.  Some of the leaves I feel are smooth and fuzzy, while others are silky and bumpy.  There are also ferns covering the entire hill as well as a few interspersed around the stream.  There are no flowers in bloom, only a few white plants that appear to be Queen Anne’s Lace.  There are large, smooth rocks embedded in the stream, as well as many smaller stones that cause the few inches of water to trickle downhill.  I did not notice any life in the stream, but there was a bit of orange-colored foam collecting in a puddle of standing water.  The ground in the wood is dry mud, but closer to the stream it becomes moist gray clay.  The ground is also covered with a thin layer of old, brown, crunchy leaves and many fallen branches and trees that have begun to rot.  One large tree has lost all of its branches and is partially stripped of its bark that appears to be a result of lightning.  Many other trees have fallen to the ground; some with their leaves still attached which have now changed to a dark brown color.  I hear birds chirp and caw, but I only see a few; a blue jay, a crow, a chickadee and a large brown bird that bends weak branches with its weight.  I also see double-hoofed tracks in the mud that probably represent the presence of deer.  Looking downstream, the trees part in such a way so you can see the green mountains between their leaves.  There are a few traces of human interference in the wood.  A telephone line runs parallel to the stream and ruins the natural feeling of the roadside forest.  I also find an empty Gatorade bottle, a pair of men’s underwear soggy from the rain, an aluminum can and a cement pipe connecting to the stream.  Likewise, there is a tree that appears to have been cut down by human hands, as its cut is clean and straight. 

            After leaving the wood and beginning my journey back to campus, I begin to ponder the history of this site.  The stream has carved out a much larger rift from the terrain than it currently possesses, and despite the record-breaking rains in New England this summer, the water level remains very low.  The presence of the concrete pipe also points to a conclusion that the stream used to be much bigger, and the pipe was needed for the stream to pass under the road.  However, I found no evidence of any water on the opposite side of Syndicate Road.  How did the stream come into existence? Why is the water so depleted now? Is there or did there used to be animal life in the stream, or did the ecosystem of the small wood form due to a different cause?  It will definitely be interesting to continue study of this site over the course more seasons and weather conditions.

Into the Woods of Ford Glen Brook          By: Claudia Corona       9/14/09

The great thing about having chosen such an isolated site, such as Hopkins Forest, is not the fact that it is a 30 minute walk from Mission hall, or that any vehicles that pass do it with as much consistency as Williams losing to Amherst; but that it has such minimal human impact, and one can see that shortly after walking on the path towards Ford Glen Brook. As you walk down the path towards Ford Glen Brook, something out of the ordinary immediately catches one’s attention. There is a 6 foot long horizontal bright-white metal bar, about 2 feet above the ground, in front of your path. Unlike many other sites, this location already has its first line of defense against any vagabonds on motorcycles or hunters looking for a kill. This metal bar places a mild restriction on who can pass over it (or under it), and whether intentionally or not, it keeps the path towards Ford Glen Brook and all the surrounding vegetation and forestry out of touch of the human hand.

Finally, you go over the metal bar and walk down the path and one can’t hep but notice that there are few rocks, certainly no boulders, and small pebbles on the path, but less by the surrounding vegetation. You crouch down and dig a small hole with your hands near the surrounding plants and you notice that the soil covered by the fallen foliage is dark brown and a bit damp, a cause of it being rich and fertile soil.

You look up towards the sky, but you can’t see a thing. That’s when you notice that the trees are towering over you, at heights of over 36 feet, if not more. There isn’t much sunlight getting through the trees, making it look later in the day than it really is. You can tell that these are deciduous trees, especially since deciduous tend to be more shade tolerant than other types of biomes. But whether they are old-growth or second-growth forests one can’t really tell from just looking. And although trees are all that you see when you look up, they aren’t all different species. In fact, there are very few tree species in this part of the Hopkins Forest, most of them being Birch trees, Oak trees and Eastern White Pines. The trees all still have the majority of their leaves, but some are beginning to fall, indicating the soon arrival of autumn.

Under the trees are many low-lying plants and very few grasses. Unlike the tree species, there is certainly more variety among the types of plants. Various ferns, artist’s fungus, and many other leafy green plants grow on the edge of the nature path, and become denser as you walk deeper into the forest.

Eventually you keep walking and as you do, you notice that there are various fallen logs, most of which are rotting and helping the spread of fungus, but it increases the nutritional value of the wood to other organisms. The forest floor is uneven, where pits and mounds show evidence of toppled over.  As you continue to walk, you begin to hear buzzing by your ears and see mosquitoes congregating all over your face. One thinks that these mosquitoes are a big nuisance, and they are, but they are a necessary part to the nutrient cycling that goes on in temperate deciduous forests. At first sight, mosquitoes seem like the only fauna around, but if you listen closely, you can hear woodpeckers at work. Stop walking and look around, and you will most likely see Eastern chipmunks scurrying around the fallen trees if you stop.

Unlike other sites, one rarely sees any wildflowers, grass, or coniferous flora on this part of Hopkins Forest. During my trip to the Ford Glen Brook , I encountered a decent amount of poison ivy and poison oak, as well as some ticks. Hence, the word of caution, Ford Glen Brook is an amazing place, but being cautious makes the experience all that more magnificent.