I went down to the Salmon Hole on one of the first truly warm spring days of the year. However, when I got to my site, there were not very many signs of spring to observe. There were no wildflowers or flowering trees yet. Still, I could hear birds calling down the path, so I went on a little walk to see what signs of spring I could find along the way. (In hindsight, I did not choose a great site for my phenology site. There is not an abundance of vegetation and it is closer to the road, so animals don’t generally come there. I did not realize these things before, but the lesson has been learned.)
First, I saw a few birds that I was able to identify as female cardinals. Then, I saw what I believe to be a female Garganey duck and a Canada goose. Finally, I stumbled upon a small patch of sand with several different animal tracks on it. One set I was able to identify as dog tracks. Another I believe to be turkey tracks. The third set of tracks is very difficult for me to classify. It looks like the animal is a bounder, but I’m not too confident in that. It looks like the animal almost has hands because the fingers are so defined. It has five fingers and claws, and it looks like the back feet and front feet are very similar to each other. I honestly have no idea what it could be.
Leaving my site, I was very excited to hear a pileated woodpecker. I searched for it and found it in a nearby tree for a few seconds before it flew away.
