Over spring break, I stayed with a friend who lives in Northfield, Vermont. Only a short walk from her house is a river (Dog River) that runs through a field on one side and a small tract of forested land on the other. We do not know how long ago the river has formed, however, it has gone through periods of flooding while also going through periods where the water level was much lower. On the wooded side of the river, there are large, old-growth coniferous trees and some hardwoods. There are also much younger trees on the other side, close to the rivers edge. On the same side, there were bunches of dead hardwood bushes. We did not see or hear any birds, which was most likely due to the combination of the freshly fallen snow and the sound of the river masking the sound of any birds.
