December 6th. Heavy, fast-moving clouds at the marsh this afternoon. That's the sun, not the moon.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A brief moment when the sun broke through. Warm colors and shadows.

 

Moss on a decaying log brought some welcome green to the scene.

 

 

 

December 7th. This tree always catches the earliest sun.

 

One of a small flock of Eastern Bluebirds (Sialia sialis).

 

 

 

Another one.

 

 

 

Mallard (Anas platyrhynchos).

 

 

 

Blue Jays (Cyanocitta cristata)...

 

...really like acorns.

 

December 8th. A few of over 20 Mallards (Anas platyrhynchos) at the marsh. The female looks particularly dark, likely a Black Duck (Anas rubripes), or a Black Duck cross somewhere in her ancestry. Such crosses are common.

 

One of several American Goldfinches (Carduelis tristis) I saw this dark morning.

 

December 9th. First measurable snow of Fall. Two inches or less.

 

Oak leaf was colder than the sheltered ground below so accumulated snow.

 

Eastern Gray Squirrels (Sciurus carolinensis) had been hopping along.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

December 10th. Tufted Titmouse (Baeolophus bicolor).

 

 

 

They seem to like acorns.

 

 

 

 

 

December 15th. Thirteen Cedar Waxwings (Bombycilla cedrorum)...

 

...and one Eastern Bluebird (Sialia sialis).

 

 

 

 

 

December 16th. On a warm afternoon (nearly 60 degrees in mid-December!), I walked east from Cook Hill Road in Lebanon.

 

Seed pod of Jimsonweed (Datura stramonium var. tatula).

 

 

 

Skunk Cabbage (Symplocarpus foetidus) will stay like this through the winter and bloom in early spring.

 

A great year for acorns, and the moss provides a welcome bit of green.

 

Reindeer Lichen (Cladina raqngifera) and Haircap Moss (Polytrichum juniperinum).

 

I turned back west at the power lines.

 

 

 

Eastern Gray Squirrel (Sciurus carolinensis) checking me out.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

December 20th. The last full day of Fall. Ice on the marsh at 15 degrees.