Over the past week, I took a few visits to my phenology spot and observed the changes of winter. The leaf cover on the ground has continued to grow as the rest of the leaves have fallen and turned an orange-brown color. They are now covered in about an inch of snow in some places. I was able to note some human footprints on one of my visits and what I guessed to be dog footprints- which was proven to be true when I ended up spotting a lab walking around with a group of people on my way out. Not as many birds were visible given most have migrated south for the winter, but I was able to see a small garter snake that was moving around and underneath some of the leaf cover. I also noted some of the trees looked to be chewed by beavers, one of which is pictured below. The plants of the understory were mostly dead aside from the ferns and some berries on some barberry bushes. They were a beautiful bright red and green in contrast with the snow and brown predominantly maple, birch, and beech leaves. The ground itself was a mix of mud and ice on one of my trips as it had rained a bit during the morning, so it was a little slippery of a walk that day, but I was glad I made it out there to see the winter phenology changes!