Eagleville Bridge
This bridge is too small for Big Red to fit, but it was fun to check out.
Saturday March 16, 2024 — Washington County — Goose Egg State Forest 🗺
‘Dead Deer All Over the Place.’ Corn Spill on Minnesota Railroad Lures 100-Plus Whitetails to Their Deaths | Outdoor Life
“The deer get on the railroad tracks and eat the corn, and they think, ‘I can outrun the predator if I don’t go into the deep snow,” Porter explains in the video. “So they stay on the tracks, trying to outrun the train, and they just get pounded. There’s dead deer all over the place.”
Hills
Deposit – Cannonsdale 1924
Before the Cannonsdale Reservoir.
Early signs of spring 🐸
Early spring signs in Upstate NY include the shrill calls of peepers, drumming ruffed grouse, and migrating robins or red-winged blackbirds returning. On the forest floor, skunk cabbage emerges through snow, followed by bloodroot and trailing arbutus, while red maples show red buds.
Woodland Flora and Fauna
- Skunk Cabbage: One of the first signs in wet woods, producing its own heat to melt surrounding snow.
- Wildflowers: Early bloomers include Bloodroot (white petals) and Coltsfoot (yellow, dandy-lion like, along road ditches). Later, Red Trillium, Trout Lily, and Spring Beauties emerge.
- Amphibians: Spring peepers (tiny frogs) and salamanders move to vernal pools to breed.
- Trees: Red maple branches become visibly reddish due to budding, and willow catkins appear.
Auditory and Visual Cues
- Birdsong: Red-winged blackbirds, robins, and bluebirds are seen and heard, and woodpeckers begin drumming.
- Wildlife Activity: Ruffed grouse “drum” by beating their wings to create a vacuum noise.
- Environmental Changes: Streams and ponds thaw, snow melts around tree bases, and the smell of wet earth emerges.