Interestingly, when I returned to my phenology spot in Centennial Woods it did not have a thick layer of snow. Instead, there were only thin patches of snow covering the ground. This is likely because of the thick over story that shields the ground from snowfall, and the heat exuded from decomposing organic material on the ground that melts patches of snow. The wetland clearing in my area had a much thicker layer of snow because it is open to precipitation.
Many more eastern white pine cones littered the forest floor in comparison to my last visit. These cones usually drop in fall to early winter so many must have dropped over winter break.
Another seasonal change I observed was that the small stream in the wetland clearing was almost completely frozen over with a thin layer of ice. At my last visit, the stream was still fully running with minimal ice chunks.
The vegetation was very similar to my last visit in December. The only living vegetation were partridge berries and marginal ferns under the snow. Some dried up leaves were still noticeable on tree limbs, and the evergreens were unchanged.
I observed very few bird calls in comparison to my last visit. Usually there are many black-capped chickadees at my site however this time the only call I picked up by Merlin Bird ID was one of an American robin.
I also observed some tracks in the snow. Some tracks I could identify as dog prints simply because of the paw shape and size, and because they were usually winding and looping, indicating an animal with limitless energy and access to food to burn.
I also found another pair of tracks that have a different shape with a longer back foot. I suspect that these may belong to a rabbit or hare because of their shape. They appear too large to belong to a simple squirrel.
I also found a path of tiny tracks that were extremely close together that I suspect could have belonged to some type of bird, perhaps a hopping black capped chickadee or American robin. I’m not extremely confident in this identification because the tracks were somewhat melted over.
