March 20th. Spring! A male Bufflehead (Bucephala albeola) at Raymond Brook Marsh.

 

Plus a female.

 

A female watches another female dive.

 

 

 

Back up.

 

A single male Ring-necked Duck (Aythya collaris)...

 

...and its mate.

 

Female flower of American Hazelnut (Corylus americanus). Learn more about it here: https://www.friendsofthewildflowergarden.org/pages/plants/amhazelnut.html

 

Male flowers in catkins.

 

Heading east from Depot Hill Road in Cobalt towards and through the rock cut.

 

 

 

 

 

Ferns and mosses provide a touch of green.

 

 

 

Coltsfoot (Tussilago farfara) starting to bloom.

 

Flower stalks come first. Leaves mature after the flowers have gone to seed.

 

A couple of flowers were open.

 

 

 

 

 

Just past the Coltsfoot, a tree was down across the trail.

 

A bit further east, the trail effectively ends where a stream flows along the old trail bed...

 

...complete with waterfall. To continue east, you have to use Route 44 and Route 16 to pick the trail back up. Money for closing this gap in the trail was allocated a year or more ago. No idea why work hasn't started.

 

Turning back west, the Coltsfoot is about 150 feet along on the right.

 

March 21st. Cold and breezy. I even saw a few flakes of snow despite the mostly blue sky. One of the pair of male American Robins (Turdus migratorius) that hang out together and show little fear of humans.

 

The lone male Ring-necked Duck (Aythya collaris) that I saw yesterday...

 

...and its mate.

 

I do enjoy these wind-rippled water reflections.

 

Ever changing.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I'm sure this is the pair of Mallards (Anas platyrhynchos) I see on the trail or atop the Wood Duck house frequently.

 

A distant male Wood Duck (Aix sponsa).

 

 

 

A male Green-winged Teale (Anas crecca carolinensis)...

 

...and, presumably his mate. (Lousy noisy picture but you can see a bit of green on her wing.)

 

Hmm, two males and at least one female.

 

March 22nd. First Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias) I've seen at the marsh this year. Far, far away.

 

Same photo, cropped closer.

 

Second Great Blue Heron of the year, maybe 30 feet away from the first one.

 

Early afternoon east of Route 207. A pair of Ring-necked Ducks (Aythya collaris).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Common Clubmoss (Lycopodium clavatum). Descended with little change from the earliest land plants.

 

Tree Clubmoss or Ground Pine (Lycopodium obscurum).

 

Round-leaved Pyrola (Pyrola rotundifolia).

 

 

 

As usual, I turned around at the powerlines.