This was my favorite visit to my spot in Centennial Woods. Though it was wasn’t the easiest hike, I almost slipped on the snow-covered log into the brook. The eastern white pines and the hemlocks keep their leaves year round, making the understory noticeably darker as seen above.
The only trace of wildlife that I saw were these rabbit tracks. Though, these tracks must have been very recent since the snow was still falling when I was there.
One thing that I saw that I didn’t notice before were these ghost plants. They’re always a favorite of mine when they bloom in late summer but I must have missed them. I think their blackened stems provide an interesting contrast to the white snow.
I saw many examples of plants keeping their foliage. I was surprised to see that these common buckthorns still kept their leaves well after the frost. The intermediate wood ferns still kept their leaves, which I read about in Naturally Curious.