January 20th. Several inches of snow last night changed the landscape dramatically.

 

 

 

Pre-dawn pastels developed as I walked.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Afternoon on January 20th.  Ferns...

 

...and icicles in the rock cuts west of Bull Hill Road near Lyman Viaduct.

 

 

 

 

 

January 22nd.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Just before sunrise.

 

 

 

And sun up.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

January 26th.  A short walk on a seldom visited section of the trail.

 

Nice beds of haircap moss and lichen.

 

 

 

Gray Birch (Betula populifolia).

 

 

 

 

 

Still January 26th.  A mid-day walk in from River Road to the Air Line Trail bridge over the Blackledge River.

 

 

 

 

 

Sumac (Rhus sp.) and Goldenrod (Solidago sp.).

 

 

 

Stem Galls on Goldenrod.  The gall is the plant's reaction to the presence of larvae of a fruit fly, Eurosta solidaginis (Tephritidae).  Learn more here.

 

Bright green moss and blue-green lichen on a well decayed fallen tree trunk.

 

January 28th.  Walking west of Route 149 towards the River Road brownstone bridge, I saw Skunk Cabbage (Symplocarpus foetidus).  It should remain dormant for awhile yet.

 

Mosses are lush with recent rain, and temps in the 40s.

 

Partridgeberry (Mitchella repens) is also in its prime.

 

Nice grain in railing boards on the Blackledge River bridge.