February 16, 2010

February 16, 2010

Today, by my personal standards, was an almost balmy day. My nose and ears were not turned burning red and my fingers did not begin to feel stiff, although the slight wind that has begun to pick up carries an arctic chill with it. It has been overcast all day today, with the threat of snow both in the clouds and in my barometrically tuned knees. I sat on my stump, staring up into the trees for a while, hoping to see more than the family of squirrels who I shared company with last week, but, sadly, not much action was going on. I witnessed the occasional chickadee, picking at the needles and flying away in dissatisfaction, and I felt the judging glances of the squirrels who continued to peer at me from above. The sounds I heard were mostly crows, “caw”ing their greetings and taunts, mingling in an olfactory setting with the chickadee chirps and some sparrows (I think they were sparrows, but don’t hold me to that just yet). There was a lot of rustling happening in the pines today, as the squirrels moved a little faster than last week – maybe it’s because of the relative warmth of today. There are no tracks that I can witness, although I am sure that the pine needles that carpet the floor of the Redstone woods have felt many a footstep upon them today. In coming weeks, I think I may begin to see more birds, but larger wildlife (aside from humans) is questionable based on my location. Maybe a raccoon or possum will wind its way through, on a winter adventure gone awry through some misdirection, or maybe I will continue to startle unsuspecting students. Right now I think I will focus on the birds, and wait to see what kinds of migrations begin or end here.