After a long winter break I finally returned to my phenology spot and looked at how the area has changed since last time. The biggest difference is the presence of snow cover. The snow is packed down on the trails but still has volume in more exposed areas such as the swampy area behind my location.
The presence of snow always means it is easier to see signs of animals clearly. Around my area the majority of tracks were gray squirrels scurrying to and fro, however there were also red fox and deer tracks. The squirrel tracks were much fresher and still had definition of foot morphology, while the fox and deer tracks have been aged slightly by snow, wind, and sun– Species ID was concluded by gait and size rather than foot morphology.
Aside form tracks, I saw sign of animals in the form of urine post-marking. I also heard a small variety of birds including White-breasted Nuthatch, Black-capped Chickadee, Brown Creeper (sighted!), Downy & Hairy Woodpeckers, and a Winter Wren (also sighted!!).