Who doesn’t get excited for spring, especially in the northeast United States? When I finally emerged from winter torpor, I started hiking in the woods like it was my job. Along the way, I came across several signs of spring.
I holed up in the warmth of the living room for much of February and March 2021. But at the first sign of spring, I was off like a rocket to the woods in search of fresh air, perspiration, and some inspiration. This blog post is about what I saw in the woods when I came out of my winter torpor.
My wife Jess and I spent one Saturday morning hiking up Bald Mountain, located near Stamford, NY, to the old ski lift of the former Scotch Valley Ski Area.
At the base of the hill, we saw some ash trees growing up through old farming equipment.
We enjoyed the view from the old ski lift, which included the lakes and camp below with moody grey skies and the brown wooded hills beyond.
View down the ski slope from the top of the old chair lift on Bald Mountain in Stamford, New York.
On the way back down, we heard a commotion that sounded to me like turkeys being harassed by some sort of predator. We scrambled down the hill to find a vernal pool, but there were no turkeys in sight.
Of course! The noises we heard were from amphibians living in the vernal pool! I’m being vague here because we never confirmed what was making the ruckus. The animals hid and hushed up as we approached. I’m guessing the noisemakers were wood frogs based on this audio recording from MyWoodlot.com. I should return next year on the first warm and rainy night in March or April to witness the great amphibian migration some people call Big Night. This link takes you to a MyWoodlot blog about Big Night.
On another weekend, I did some deer scouting. Not far into the woods, I found a drone crash site. While woods garbage is obviously not good, it is neat to find today’s technology mixed in with older artifacts like pull tab beer cans.
I walked the edge of an abandoned agricultural field and noticed some encroaching aspen saplings, many of which had buck rubs on them.
Abandoned farm field transitioning to forest cover.
I followed a headwater stream to the back of the property, where I found a well-used wild game trail. On my way back to the truck, I spotted a vernal pool with some egg masses interspersed in the algae. This link takes you to a MyWoodlot blog about spotted salamander egg masses.
On another deer scouting session, I found my first red eft of the year. A red eft is a young Eastern Red-Spotted newt.
A young Eastern Red-Spotted newt, called a red eft, photographed at the base of a tree surrounded by woody debris, brown wet leaves, and small green ferns.
I came across several wild leek patches. Some people call them ramps. I plucked a few leaves to munch on while I walked. Mmm, so garlicky! This link takes you to a MyWoodlot activity called Learn About Ramps.
I even found a bit of what I was really after, which was deer sign. Look closely at the picture below and you can almost see the outline of a bedded deer pressed into the wet leaves, as well as some white belly hairs. Don’t be surprised if you find lots of deer hair in the woods in April. The deer are shedding their winter coats.
It feels good to be getting outside regularly again. I hope this spring is good to you. Thanks for reading.
