Cold, cold, cold temperatures.

-8 degrees this morning!

Our resident winter birds are keeping us busy filling the feeders.

Starting to snow this afternoon! We received 5 inches of snow last night and more is drifting down now.

Cold temperatures!

Feeders are busy with our winter resident birds.

Animal tracking programs have found signs from deer, foxes, coyotes, mice, squirrels and rabbits.

Canada geese are flying past.

We scooted out onto Front Pond today to measure the ice. 7 inches!

January 2011

The new year has begun, with a significant lack of snow. The single snowfall that we've had here is already melting away in the sun. We've spotted a lot of tracks in the snow and mud - white tail deer, fox, coyote, squirrels and rabbits have all been busy around our campus.

The winter birds are busy at the feeders. We frequently see black-capped chickadees, white-breasted nuthatches, cardinals, juncos and blue jays.

ANIMALS!

In the swamps:

Painted turtles
Ribbon snakes
Red-spotted newts
Salamander eggs

In the ponds:

Northern water snakes
Red-spotted newts
Pickeral frogs

In the fields:

Turkeys
White-tail deer
Red-tailed hawks
Meadow voles

In the forest:

Red-shouldered hawks
Black bears

4/9 - Spring Plant Recap

The first to appear:

Dandelions
Chives
Garlic Mustard

First flowers:

Forsythia - bright yellow shrubs all over campus!
Maple trees - turned the hillsides red with their early flowers

Quince bushes - dark peach/red color
Shadbush - added white puffs throughout our forest with their recent flowering

Emerging leaves:

Honeysuckle shrubs - began in mid-March; leaves are now 1/2 inch long

Cherry trees - itty bitty with finely serrated edges
Maple trees - recently emerged in a flush of red and green

Tamarack needles - this unique conifer had emerging needles on 3/31, and they're now 1/4 inch long, in starburst clusters along the stem