Month: February 2019

After some time away from this spot during winter break, it was lovely to go back and view the changes. Snow now covers almost all of the ground. The stream is covered in ice as well with a layer of snow on top. The buckthorn that grows in my spot had berries on it, a pleasant sight because I have yet to see them. Most trees have no leaves and the flowers are gone. All that remains are the berries of buckthorn and the white snow.

Despite the lack of vegetation, there were many tracks around the site. Since it recently snowed, there were no impressions of the prints left, but the indents in the snow still existed. Here are some photos:

These tracks are from a bounder. While there were no prints visible, my guess is that a squirrel came through, as these prints come down from a tree and lead to another tree.

Here are some more:

I’m not really sure what made these tracks, as the prints disappeared in the white snow, but they are clearly not human. They are small and are from a diagonal pacer. Their path leads across the ice into a more densely covered area. Their size indicates either a red fox or a dog, but without the prints, I can only guess at what this animal is.

Near those tracks were two tracks extremely familiar to the everyday person; those of humans and dogs.

While at my sight, I saw about six dogs and their owners pass through. Each added their own footprint to the main path. Previously to the winter, I only could guess at how frequently humans pass through this part of centennial woods. Now, these tracks indicate that humans are frequently seen moving through.

Though there were no tracks for it, I heard the call of the American Crow and saw it pass overhead. Its flight was a reminder that the woods was still full of life, even in the winter.

Deciduous trees/shrubs that I found using twigs are the following: boxelder, the ashes, black oak group, striped maple, and buckthorn (from the berries and twig).

Here are some photos of twigs: