As the week was coming to a close and I still had to visit my phenology spot, Redstone Quarry, I was dreading having to leave my cozy bed to go walk two miles in the cold. But as I started my journey I realized that the walk to the quarry and visiting it on my own was such a valuable time to me and I do have a strong connection to this place that I didn’t realize I had. Obviously as two months have passed, there are lots of changes to the spot starting with the snow covering. I had never seen the quarry with close to a foot of snow covering it, luckily there was a path through the snow already established.
There was very little green left in the landscape which was a big change from the scene I remember from fall, the only tree that appeared to keep a little bit of color was the cedar.
It was fun to spend most of my time looking for animal tracks in the snow because that was something I hadn’t gotten a chance to do in the fall. I found a variety of tracks and using my Mammal Tracks and Scat Pocket Guide I tried to identify them but struggled to come to a conclusion. I’m excited to start learning more about how to identify tracks in class and lab!
McDougall, A. (February 7, 2021) 
McDougall, A. (February 7, 2021) 
McDougall, A. (February 7, 2021)