Six on Saturday – Footprints in the Snow, mainly

Chris Mousseau

We had a few inches of heavy snow Thursday night – with temperatures above zero in the foreseeable future  it’ll likely be gone within a few days but this morning it’s still there.  You can see lots of small footprints in the snow – many more than in previous weeks, so I’m thinking a lot of critters have come out of hibernation and are looking for food (aka spring bulbs…) to munch on.  The woodpeckers are hard at it as well, we can hear them all day, and there seems to be plenty of bugs in the dead or dying trees around us.

I asked an experienced nature photographer, Bill Johnson, if he had any tips on shooting in the winter, when all is snow covered and rather bleak looking.  He said try black and white, so I have.

Here’s my Six on Saturday, with thanks to The Propagator for this theme idea.

6 on 6 animal prints in the snow March 3 2018 b small
I started a new composter compartment yesterday afternoon by dumping a bucket of kitchen waste on top of the snow.  This morning there were tracks all around it – I’m assuming from the rabbits that we see back there, going in and out of the burn pile where they’ve spent the winter.
6 on 6 animal prints in the snow March 3 2018 small
I have no idea what these tracks are from — they look alien to me — but they were near the road, just out from under the buckthorn hedge.  Shileau and I are always disturbing a large bird from that area, a grouse or partridge I think –  perhaps it’s scratching away here?
6 on 6 chipmunk prints 2 March 3 2018 small
A family of chipmunks have lived in this stone wall for a few years.  Today is the first I’ve seen of them this year and they’ve been busy, emerging from several holes in the wall to quickly scurry across the yard to another pile of stone…
6 on 6 chipmunk prints 1 March 3 2018 small
…here.  I’m already worried about the perennials and bulbs that are planted here.
6 on 6 dead tree leaning March 3 2018 small
One of several leaning dead trees along the fence line.  Luckily most are far enough from the driveway that, even if they topple, I won’t have to do any major cutting up.  I like to leave fallen trees as they are for the most part, to provide food and habitat for bugs and critters.
6 on 6 Sedum and Snow March 3 2018
I’ve added this Sedum just because.

 

20 Comments

  1. great Six, with some arty looking photos! does your WP Theme put the white outline around your photos, or do you do that before you load them up?

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  2. The black and white photos work well, especially the Sedum, with its repeated curves of flower heads alternating with snow humps. The snow does create a lot of anxiety for the gardener, especially when it’s not expected, in places where it is rare, and when spring growth has already started.

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  6. Love your footprint pics. My six has some less glamourous ones. Do you get pheasant there? I saw some very similar tracks in my local woods (Buckihnghamshire, England) and my assumption was pheasant as I could hear them calling nearby and could see their footprints and where they’d disturbed the leaf litter looking for food.

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  9. I’m late to the party, but had the same thought, those are feathers hitting the snow once, either taking off or landing. So perfectly etched in the snow. Gorgeous. A really lovely six.

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    1. Thanks. Folks in this area are saying bird feather prints as well. One person had an amazing shot of snowy owl prints after it snatched a small rabbit from a field. Lots of snowy owls this year!

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  10. A good idea using black and white. On the rare occasion we have snow, I am amazed to see what a busy animal highroad the garden is when I’m not looking.

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    1. I’ve never noticed as many tracks as I’ve seen this spring. A lucky combination of the right type of snow, critters emerging at the right time and me being out and about at the right time I guess.

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