We were back at Red Rock Park this week, and the snow was deeper than I’ve ever seen it. I could tell it was a symptom of a false spring. We saw pretty warm weather a few weeks ago before heavy snow hit us yesterday. Today, although there was heavy snow cover, the weather was warm and pleasant. However, because of all the snow, it was difficult to look for signs of spring.
The first thing I checked for was signs of swelling buds on the trees. The buds of this beech tree were easy to see, but I did not spot any signs of emerging life.
The next thing I checked for was tracks. Because the snow was very deep, it was difficult to make out tracks of heavier animals that would sink deeper into the snow bank. However, I did find many bird tracks going from tree to tree as birds hopped along the surface of the snow.
I wasn’t able to spot any birds, but I did hear them all around. Below is an audio clip of the bird calls. I can’t quite identify them, but I can tell that there are at least two or three distinct calls.