Discovering Nature

Winter reveals secrets: nests hidden in summer, wasp nests, holes in the ground no longer covered by long grass.

And tracks. Especially along frozen streams.

Today in this spot we saw what must have been muskrat tracks — small feet with a tail-dragging mark between. They came up over the edge of the bank, meandered in a circle on the grass, then dropped back over the bank. There was a little dirt slide that led right down into one of those slats between sheets of ice and the bank.

These tracks suggest a squirrel and a crow taking a walk together, but probably the crow came later.

I once watched a squirrel carefully bury a nut in our back yard. Just after he left a crow landed, dug it up, and carried it away. I think the crows watch for the squirrels and investigate.

We saw several of these spots today, where crows had landed and dug at something. There were some dried seed pods around, so maybe that’s what they were after.

Mouse trails show up well too. They must hop pretty high to leave such perfect imprints, complete with little tail marks.

Then there are the tracks left by juvenile homo sapiens — my kids, who like to write in the snow with sticks.

Winter crop circles. Or Nazca lines. We humans, unlike all these tough little barefoot animals, have the luxury of boots and can make gratuitous marks in the snow. Maybe next time we can draw something spectacular. Till then it’s the tried and true.

These pictures were actually taken back in December — I just haven’t gotten around to posting them. They capture a beauty unique to winter with its pristine paleness.

The frost seems to emphasize the outlines of things, from grass to dead leaves. And somehow, the reflections seem sharper.

Textures and colors stand out in a way that fails to attract attention in the green busyness of summer.

I know it was December, but what I think of is John Updike’s poem about November extolling “the beauty of the bone.” Winter lasts longer than I’d like where I live, but it does something for me.

We took a windy walk today. Most of the leaves were down, and the wind blew them up into numerous eddies. I wish I could capture wind and whirling leaves in photos, but…

The other factor was the light. I love the brightness of November sun, and it was truly squintworthy today.

The only leaves left are a few brown and red oak leaves, and these golden leaves.

At one point, I stepped off the trail to photograph an evergreen grove — and discovered a deer.

She saw us but kept foraging, close to the ground. Then, she decided to lie down for a midafternoon nap.

Hope she stays in the preserve for deer season. We said goodbye… then I took my tree picture.

We didn’t see many animals, but we had the woods to ourselves and enjoyed the unsettled feeling of the tossing trees and the sound of wind.

Our run of lovely weather seems to have ended for now. It was overcast today, and rain is in the forecast. But yesterday was a different story.

We entered a favorite trail by the boardwalk helpfully marked with a white stripe — but the leaves nearly obscured it altogether.

We walked to the bottom of what’s usually a small waterfall, but it’s been so dry we were able to do something we’ve never done before: we climbed the falls like stairs.

The stream bed made a nice trail and provided lots of opportunity to admire the leaves and reflections.

Acorns and other nuts were falling, and the chipmunks were scurrying everywhere on the steep banks gathering them. They blend in well with the leaves, but once in awhile one held still long enough for a picture.

Other than that, we didn’t see any wildlife, other than a few warblers up too high to identify. I consoled myself as we walked along this stretch of trail by remembering all the animals I’d seen here before…

…brown creepers in early spring, yellow-rumped warblers in fall, black and white warblers and oven birds in summer, deer, salamanders, even a tiny fawn just off to the left a few years ago. It was a joy to have these memories return as we walked the familiar path.

The trail ends at a meadow with a nice view of distant hills.

We weren’t the only ones enjoying the day. There were other people in the woods, all of us with the same idea of how best to appreciate October’s bright blue weather.