Welcome to Winter. With the Inaturalist app, I was able to track few signs of winter life while walking around our very own campus at the University of Vermont. While I have been pretty sick, finding these pieces of nature on my own definitely pumped some joy through my veins.
To begin, I encountered a deer which I was not exactly quick enough to capture. However, that was super cool and also sad. Seeing a deer this far away from a natural area made me think a lot about displacement of habitat and likelihood of survival. Recording my findings was fairly simple, but I found it hard to take good quality images.
Due to the nature of my sickness, I unfortunately was not able to stay out or go very far. But in deciding species, such as this European Starling, I took knowledge from a bird book that my parents gifted to me. I found that Starling’s often travel in very large packs. They enjoy this area of Northern America and they are similar in color to that of the bird pictured above. I did find that figuring out what was what is very difficult. Even when just following tracks and scat within NR1020 Labs, it always takes a few tries to deduce what is truly going on in nature. Often, if really torn, I will just lead with my gut instinct.
This song represents how once I overcome illness, I hope to become a TRACK STAR!
#ROLLSCAT&TRACKS