So Peg said "Let's go for a walk" this morning - when it was 19 out. I'm pretty much of a wimp, plus I'd only had one cup of coffee - but I need the exercise, so off we went.
The lake is frozen, but on our out trip we walked the roads. The wind was in our faces, and it sure was chilly! We decided to walk back into the woods. Lots of animal tracks, and it was fun to try and decipher what had happened. We walked back into the prairie, and there we had a real surprise - an Eastern Bluebird! The earliest I've seen them before was March - or possibly late February. There were lots of Mourning Doves around, and a flock of American Goldfinches, still in winter plumage.
A little further on we spotted a pheasant trail in the snow - tracks with a line showing where the tail had dragged in the snow. Then we saw a yearling White-tailed Deer and just behind about 5 adults.
As we walked back through the woods, we examined the tracks in the snow more closely. A number of deer trails showed they were running - lines in the snow where their hooves dragged. There seemed to be a number of Red fox trails, and some mice trails. The latter were quite interesting; they'd pop out of the snow, go on for about 2 - 3 feet and then disappear under the snow again. There's undoubtedly a bunch of mouse highways under that snow cover.
We walked back across the lake to home. A number of ice fisherman were out. The ice has been blown clear in a couple of places - and one could see that it was pretty thick given how cold it's been (below 0 for the past few days). The snow drifts showed the action of the wind - quite pretty.
I need to remind myself that it's always a good idea to walk around the lake, no matter the weather!
