A Little Snap In The Air This Morning !

What a nice morning snowshoeing. Snow totals fell considerably less than what was predicted for the area. None the less it felt good strapping on the snowshoes and hiking. The plan was to hike Soapstone Hill using the lower trail then climb from the gorge. Another snowshoer’ completed this loop sometime yesterday afternoon. This made it easy with following the trail. My conventional long-tail snowshoes made the climb with little issue. Wildlife did move last night seeing a half dozen or so deer tracks two porcupine tracks and my favorite, one bobcat track.

Bobcat followed the snowshoe trial made sometime yesterday afternoon before venturing off into the mountain laurel.

A half mile or so down the trail I could see where the bobcat  cut back into  the snowshoe trail.

Above you can see where a porcupine wandered around a short distance retreating to an out crop of boulders.

The trail back!

Jim

Calm Before The Storm

I did get out this morning for a chilly hike. Not much stirring for wildlife. I did see one pileated woodpecker. I worked my way down to the shoreline in hopes of maybe seeing an eagle, or a coyote crossing the ice. The area around Gate 43 is iced over. More apt to see eagles closer to the water ice line. Well, with the snow coming maybe Saturday will be a snowshoe hike Jim

Question Ones Sanity !!!!

I did just that this morning. It was DARN COLD! as I hid behind this boulder in anticipation of some action.
It wasn't too long before this got my interest.

 This single otter poked its head through an open hole in the ice . It looked like a periscope checking for danger.

 All clear ,safe to come out.

Oh.wait a minute. I will just lay here and watch the idiot with camera freeze to death.....
Goes to show you, the natural world moves on about its daily activity regardless of the cold.
Jim

Put Some Miles On The West Side

Having four days off has let me put nearly twenty five miles on my ole’ hiking boots bushwhacking and following the Quabbin west side roads. I focused in the areas from Gate 6 thru Gate 11. With the little bit of snow we had last Thursday, added to the enjoyment with finding and identify tracks. Clearly the most seen tracks were those of coyotes, and then deer tracks would come in second. I did see four different sets of bobcat tracks along with many moose tracks. The bonus this morning was a track of a red fox. In my total miles hiked I have only seen one fox. It was early dawn and distant view, not sure if it was a gray or red. I have a lot to learn with track identification, but with each outing I review track & scat field guides in effort to identify my days find. Today I walked in the house with a small bird nest I found on the ground. My wife just looks at me and smiles as to say, now what are you going to do with that. Jim

Beautiful Morning Tracking

I headed back to Gate 8 this morning. The dusting of snow made for  very eventful morning finding tracks. The first tracks were a bonus! I really enjoy finding bobcat tracks. Knowing I hiked this same area yesterday without seeing a cat track added to the excitement. The knife in the picture is 3-1/2" long. I'll remember to put a tape measure in my pack.

The bobcat had walked a considerable distance up the dirt road.
Continuing north on Ward Rd the anticipation of seeing a moose was high. I did cut one single fresh track made after the snow from yesterday afternoon. Continuing on a number of deer crossed the road. All were single tracks. I thought the deer would be traveling in groups this time of year. Maybe the recent thaw eased things.

Coyote tracks were plentiful. I could see where four where traveling together. Notice the toe nail indentations on the top track.

I did see a number these interesting scrapes on maple trees. I do know what made these and why. Would anybody care to comment?
Finally with finishing my hike a grouse flushed. Almost got him on my camera.

Jim

Hiked & Located All Quabbin Gates

This morning was an early start heading out to Gate 8 in Pelham. I was hoping for a glimpse of a moose and I wanted to see if I could find Gate 7 . An earlier attempt to find the gate a few weeks back driving in from Rte202 did not permit access. Private land  with no trespassing signs made for the effort this morning.
The hike  was cloudy with light snow,  which made for a nice walk. Not much moving, I did see several gray squirrels , one red squirrel and several chickadees.
I crossed several different moose tracks while heading up Juckett Hill. I did locate Gate 7 which completes my gate search . Over the last several years searching for the gates just added another purpose to go along with the hiking and photography.
Jim

Short But Interesting Hike

I had a little time to burn this morning, so I headed off to see if I could locate gate 48 using public access. Earlier in the fall I had hiked from gate 50 to 48, exiting Quabbin onto a network of dirt roads. I was not sure if the roads belonged to DCR or private. This morning’s hike validated the roads are private and that Gate 48 is not accessible from a public way. While poking around the area outside of Quabbin I did cut a moose track, numerous deer tracks and one coyote track. I also came upon this structure……. Jim