April 20

Saturday was a good day at Forest Hill for a hike with my dog, Remi. The early morning weather was partly sunny with a temperature of 28 degrees and a stiff wind out of the west. Standing on the hill, I looked west at a landscape where there was little evidence of spring. Descending the hill, I stopped at Mallard Marsh and looked around for my Redwings. Max and Mark both went from perching on cattails in their respective territories to chasing after two female Redwings that flew in and out of their territories. Mike was perched in a leafless ash tree north of the trail with another female perched nearby. Redwing Bob was nowhere to be found. Continuing through Bobolink Meadow, the dog and I waded through large puddles after another week of heavy rain kept the ground saturated. At the entrance to North Woods, a solitary swan flew overhead heading northeast. Turning north, I headed toward Willow Wallow where I caught a glimpse of an ant mound out in the field sprouting new shoots of green grass topped with a dusting of snow. Approaching the pond, I was alerted by the sound of Sand Hill Cranes and turned around in time to see three of them flying low over the neighbor’s cornfield. I paused at the pond where I was unable to find Will. However, the furry catkins of a pussy willow caught my eye. I circled Succession Field and entered South Woods where I walked quietly by the mother goose that laid still on her nest as she did last week. Exiting the woods, I came to Artist Overlook where I stopped to observe Sora Swale where the pond had expanded to twice its size due to all the rain. Following south trail, I recalled earlier in the week seeing a colorful, male Rufous-sided Towhee. Continuing east, I approached Frog Fen where I was surprised to see a half-frozen Mud Minnow on the trail. I paused briefly and thought I spotted Fred, but this male flew away and perched in another territory. I continued south to Brady Cemetery, turned north and entered Native Grassland. Continuing north, I arrived at the south end of Grebe Pond to check out the Redwings. Gus and Gabe both flew to their perches from across the pond. One female Redwing was perched on a cattail about halfway between them. At Gill’s territory there was lots of commotion as he was watching over two females as well as chasing out a small group of bachelor males. Approaching the barn, Gordy was perched on a cattail in his territory with a female bird close by. Also, two drake Mallards swam nearby. I passed the barn and classroom to walk down the north driveway almost to Rich Rd. where I spotted the dead deer that had been killed by a passing car earlier in the week. A few puncture holes in the carcass were probably from the two Turkey Vultures I saw flying nearby a few days ago. Finally, we got in the car and headed out.

Out of the womb of winter
In the season of rebirth
Mother Nature’s offspring
Emerge from the earth
Out of softening soil
Come insects of the ground
Under a decaying log
Worms and slugs are found
Out of a swelling pond
Mallard ducks appear
Out of a burgeoning forest
Come the hungry deer

D. DeGraaf