I decided to go back to Derway Nature Trail for this post. I was interested to see if the Winooski River had finally frozen over. This trip was especially exciting because my grandparents came with me! They were visiting me for the weekend so I thought I would bring them along.
It was snowing today which made the trail look extra magical. However, it did make it hard to find tracks. The trail has obviously been heavily populated recently because there were lots of dog and human tracks. My thought is that not a lot of animals reside in the area because it is a very trafficked trail, and there is a dense residential area surrounding the entrance of the park. The plant also must ward off lots of wildlife. So, unfortunately the amount of tracks were very limited. Even the tracks that were present, were covered by a fresh blanket of snow and hard to decipher.
There is a chance that the tracks above could be fox tracks. I wasn’t able to count the amount of toes due to the snow, but the size and placement of the tracks leads me to believe it could be from a fox. Unless it is just another set of dog tracks.
Further down the trail we came across a teepee that had not been there my last visit.
The walk to the river was so beautiful with the freshly fallen snow, and the trees gave us shelter from the wind, making it not too cold.
Once we rounded the corner to the river’s edge we were surprised by both the gust of wind that hit us, and the fact that the Winooski River was completely frozen over. I was doubtful that the river would be frozen at this location considering it’s size. We did not stay by the river for too long because of how windy it was. But it was really cool to see the river completely white.
Another change I noticed was the ferns that originally used to blanket the ground had been reduced to small brown stalks. At first I was sad to see them like this, but then I began to think it was cool that even through the harsh winter, they could still be seen.
My Nana was very proud that she found this woodpecker hole! Unfortunately, that was as close as we got to a wildlife spotting.
Hopefully, as the snow begins to melt I will be able to go back to Derway for some more exciting tracking!