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This is the winter that was not winter here in upstate New York. We get a little tidge of snow off and on, and the weatherman claimed last night that we were up to 25 or so total inches – a record low for snowfall, I think. Today we do have some snow falling and maybe tomorrow the skis will come back out again – hopefully!

These pictures are from the end of January, another two days where we had enough snow for a couple of ski runs so I went out to Mendon Ponds Park again for some passes around Quaker Pond. It was lovely! The sun was out and this little rill was babbling mightily as I passed over the footbridge.

A long straight run through the woodsy part of the Quaker Pond trail.

Don’t these tufts of snow look like cotton puff balls?

Looking across Quaker Pond through the cattails.

And then in a flash, the snow was gone again – all of it! A few days ago there was just enough snow to get some reasonable animal track pictures. The first one is a deer track – notice the cloven hoof pattern.

Deer

This next one is a little house cat that has been wandering around. We have lots of little vole runways so I hope the kitty is taking care of them!

Cat

Ah yes, the dastardly squirrel! The squirrel has four toes on the front feet and five on the hind feet with the hind foot more elongated than the front foot. The front foot also has two pads at the rear – very clearly shown in the picture.

Squirrel

I’m not sure about this one. We have seen Mr. Bunny out there checking things out so it could be. Triangular shaped foot patterns with rather indistinct toe patterns.

Rabbit tracks?

Pretty sure this is Brer Fox. He tends to slink along the side of the garage where this was found – a five toe pad pattern all about the same size. A dog has a similar pattern, but the rear pad is larger. Plus, dogs are not allowed off leash in our area.

Fox

This is another pattern with four toes on the front foot and five toes on the back like the squirrel, but the hind foot does not seem to be elongated. Can this be Mr. Woodchuck peeping out to see if spring has arrived?

Woodchuck tracks?

If you are interested, a graphic of animal tracks is here or another post with animal track pictures from last year is here.

And a reminder that the Great Backyard Bird Count is coming up on Feb 17-20. Stay tuned!

Today we are back to 50 degree temperatures and the snow is gone – again! I’ve been out cross country skiing a total of three times, but I guess that is pretty good considering the weird weather patterns we are having. On one of my trips around the Quaker Pond loop in Mendon Ponds (more pictures of past visits here and here), my sister and I saw a whole flock of bluebirds zooming around. The blue was just striking. These birds are not known for hanging around these parts in the winter according to the Cornell Lab of Ornithology so it was totally unexpected and a marvelous sight to perk up one’s spirits at the end of a relatively long ski run.

© Beth Donald

In other news, the snowdrops are still blooming and the daffys are up even further. My amaryllis on the windowsill that I have had for a number of years has decided that it has slept enough and is starting to poke a little green point up. The Gartenmeister fuchsias that I brought inside at the end of the season are putting on growth and blooming like crazy. Nice!

I really would like a little more winter outside though as I am not ready to come out of hibernation yet!