January 17th. Sixteen degrees after a dusting of pellet snow overnight.

 

 

 

Went searching for the Survey Marker near this sign. I found it years ago, but not today.

 

Hmm, frustrated duck hunter shoot the sign sometime?

 

Found my pictures from November 26, 2010. The buckshot goes back a long way.

 

Ha! The Survey Marker was in front of the sign. I probably stepped over it.

 

It's embedded in a large rock.

 

I went back to get a close up view of the Survey Marker.

 

Pretty morning light on the marsh.

 

 

 

Speckled Alder (Alnus rugosa) showing next Spring's male (long) and female (short) catkins.

 

My lucky day! A pair of Bobcats (Lynx rufus) down near Old Colchester Road. I was several hundred feet away. Shot taken at 1365mm telephoto, then cropped for screen display.

 

Only the third time I've seen Bobcats on the trail in over 23 years.

 

Digital "noise" due to high ISO in low light.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

January 18th. Clouds moving in. Rain expected later before snow and then extreme cold arrive in the next several days.

 

 

 

January 20th. About 4 inches of snow last night; first significant snow of the year. Parking lot on Route 85 in Amston/Hebron.

 

Fluffy enough that walking was easy.

 

With showers before the snow, the snow stuck to the branches.

 

 

 

 

 

Snow must have arrived on breezes from the north, coating tree trunks on the north side.

 

I liked the composition of this photo; the branches above framing the walker. Long telephoto version of the previous photo.

 

 

 

I'm leaning towards a Red-shouldered Hawk (Buteo lineatus), but my ID skills are lousy.

 

 

 

 

 

The bird came quite close to me but was badly backlit. I tried to correct for that but who knows how well I did.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

January 22nd. Early afternoon at Raymond Brook Marsh. Fourteen degrees, and not another person on the trail. Looking East...

 

...or looking West.

 

Raymond Brook looking East from Old Colchester Road.