On Sunday February 1, temperatures soared into the balmy range near 40F. What a great day for a Tracking Hike in Arlington's Great Meadows. The event was organized by Don Miller and David White of the Friends of Arlington's Great Meadows . We split into two groups, one led by Lydia Rogers and one by Fran Ludwig. Although we didn't have the dusty covering of new snow that would make conditions optimal for spotting tracks, we did see some. We learned about the X pattern that all dogs make when they leave a track. We saw squirrel tracks, identifiable by the larger tracks in front (made by the back feet) with smaller tracks in back (from the front feet). I was embarrassed to realize that I didn't really know how squirrels ambulate around, despite having a bird feeder in my yard that is a major squirrel attraction every day. A nice picture of squirrel tracks and a drawing of how they move is here. As usual, you may click on photos to see them enlarged.
The snow was textured by cycles of warm/cold and the rocks, branches and other objects lying underneath.
The Friends of Arlington's Great Meadows group have made many improvements that enhance enjoyment and accessibility.
We saw these beautiful ball-shaped oak galls, and also another type more elongated and integrated into the branches of a bear oak. Although these make interesting additions to my "natural collections", I am always conservative about collecting these galls because they provide such visual interest and are part of a fascinating natural system.
Thanks Lydia, Fran, Don and David for organizing this!
1 comment:
Hi, great blog. I'm about 200 yards away from the Middlesex Fells and have been fortunate enough to have seen fisher cat, deer, coyote, painted turtle, snapping turtle, and many other creatures and birds over the years there. I too have collected things and displayed them in different places in my home-- old birds' nests, seed heads, etc. My current project is to free a lovely stand of native junipers from the tangles of oriental bittersweet. It's important I think to give back to what gives so much pleasure and beauty. I have a blog at www.thisthingcalledcourage.blogspot.com where I write about nature (as well as politics-- be warned!) which you might enjoy. In the meantime I'm awaiting the arrival in the Fells of the American Woodcock and the wonderful 'Sky Dance' the male performs-- we have at least three places in the Fells where they are found, and this spring I'm determined to scout out two other places where I think they might live as well.
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