Mass Audubon's Winter NNO's Journal

There are woods and a large adjacent field a few miles from my home. A coyote den was rumored to be in the area, I had seen an owl fly through it a week earlier, and I knew deer frequented the field. So on 2/4 at sunset, around 5:00pm, with anticipation of hearing an owl and seeing animal tracks of deer and coyote, I snowshoed through the woods staying close to the adjacent field. The sky was clear, winds calm, temperature 31 degrees. I did come upon a snowshoe or cottontail track in a shrub area between the woods and field but saw no other tracks in the area. As I started to venture further along in the wood line bordering the field, I heard a brief screech which I could not identify. Soon I settled under the splaying arms of a giant oak. Hearing nothing more for 30 minutes or more I was ready to return home. Then finally the hoot of a great horned owl floated across the field.
It was disappointing not to see more animal tracks here, as I had seen several deer track the day before at Wachusett Meadow Audubon Sanctuary. Were there fewer animals here because of the proximity of homes? Hunting seasons? Or was I just not in the right location. How much did the the heavy snowfall earlier in the week change the activity of the deer, coyote and other animals? Did the snow cover on the field eliminate the need for deer to search for food there? How much more difficult is it for owls to find food with a deep snow cover? Do they go into torpid states longer or more frequently as food becomes scarce? Was the screech I heard at the beginning of my observation that of the great horned owl I heard later? How do the deer and coyotes survive with scarcer availability of food? Do they go into states of torpor?

This week I have been busy at home and haven't had a chance to travel nearby or visit a local aubodon sanctuary. For my nature exploration I stuck close to home and went to the bike path in Watertown behind the arsenal mall. I walk here a few times a week with my beagle and we are familiar with the super diverse range of plant life.

It seems to be to be kind of a meadow/swamp environment with tall mostly deciduous trees about 10 feet out on each side from the bike path and brush/ weeds on either side leading up to the trees. There are a few stands of cedars on either end of the path, and one stand of some type of pine in the middle -- next time I'll investigate it further! Most of the small shrubs and herbs are covered in a few inches of hard-packed snow at this time.

I've been noticing small buds start to form on the trees/shrubs, and I took a closer look today and posted some photos on iNaturalist. I will continue to watch them as the season progresses and see what they do! Yesterday on this bike path I saw a squirrel carrying dried oak leaves up a tree and I stopped to watch her, but she seemed unnerved by my dog being nearby (or maybe by me staring at her). I've also seen tons of rabbits on this path especially at the end of summer and into fall, but not as many out lately. I've seen a woodchuck once or twice off the path, but now I know they are truly hibernating so it makes sense I haven't seen on this winter yet. It's cool to think of them having a little burrow out there behind the Target.

I have been watching the ducks on the Mystic River. Mallards, Buffleheads, Mergansers. I am wondering what they are eating when they bob under the water? Is there still plant life available? What happens to the water plants in the winter? Don't they die back like perennials on land?