Upon returning to the Redstone Pines not much has changed that is widely visible. Since pines are evergreen, the sight has not changed much in terms of foliage.  The ground is covered in a 2-3in  thick layer of ice, making decent exploration in the area relatively treacherous without crampons. Since the normal squirrel population is resigned to their nests for winter, animal activity is at a minimum. This means the most common track found is, unfortunately, human. Other than human tracks, the most common were domestic dog, which makes sense considering Redstone Forest is used by the Burlington community for recreation year-round. Aside from the human and dog traffic around the pines, there was a large amount of bunny tracks, in and around the bases of the larger pines, indicating they’re clearly searching for food in the small amount of exposed undergrowth.

In terms of twigs and buds, the red oak has not made a comeback since it has had a bitterly cold winter. So for twigs and buds I just chose to sketch a branch of one of the Eastern White Pines within the plot. 

 

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