My final visit to Centennial Woods was cold and snowy. I am not the biggest fan of the snow, nor do I often come prepared, so my best piece of advice for visiting this site in December is to wear a good coat, a warm hat, high quality gloves, and double layered socks.
These woods looked a lot different than my first encounter with them earlier in the semester. What was once an ecosystem bustling with color and life is now monochrome and quiet. Snow had just fallen the night before, so it was fresh and covered most of the land and remaining vegetation. The hemlocks and white pines maintained their needles, but the hardwoods were already bare. Some trees and shrubs still displayed berries, such as the Baberry, and I noticed some ferns still alive and healthy despite the snow. I noticed the water partially frozen in some areas as well.
I had a difficult time finding animals in the woods. There were a lot of human footprints along the trails and some pawprints of dogs, but, besides that, I could not spot any other tracks. I could not hear very many birds chirping as many of them have migrated, I did not see many insects as they often migrate or go dormant, and the squirrels I did see were quick and mobile, possibly dealing with their stashes of acorns.