What A Wonderful Sunday

Today was an exciting day in centennial. There was a treacherous walk in, with a section of the path going up a hill to my spot being solid ice, which i had to circumvent. On my way out i took a spill going down that area unfortunately. There is still snow on the ground, in some spots its just a slight cover, in others drifts of a few feet still exist. The brook has swelled to about twice the capacity, and the marshy area towards the south of my spot has started to collect water.

The forest was truly alive today, with a constant chatter from my neighbor birds. I heard twelve distinct and different calls, the most i've heard to date. I tried to identify some by their calls using the cornell ornithology website, to no avail. I need to get into the tree canopy, as thats where all the action is. My hemlock grove provides such a great place for food and protection, but because of the thickness of the canopy, the birds are very hard to see or even catch a glimpse for that matter. There were plenty of black capped chickadees in the trees, and when i was watching them it seemed as if they were checking under the bark on the dead trees for grubs and whatever else they could find. I identified a red breasted nuthatch, a new species to my spot. I have a resident gray squirrel whose nest i found in a nearby tree. The banks of the brook are muddy, and in this mud i found some mammal tracks. While i did not have my camera with me, i did have my mammal identification sheet, and am 98% sure they were mink tracks. It was a five toed print with claw marks, around an inch in size, and a track pattern exclusive to otter, fisher, mink and weasel. Very cool. I am excited for the coming weeks and the start of spring tomorrow. Life is springing back into action.

Mystery Tree

The Trunk

The branch, notice the alternate branching

More Pictures!

I wanted to go chronologically with the pictures but i could only get the formatting to work for so many at a time so here are some more, taken later in the day. There were more tracks than posted, but they were not as neat as the ones up, and were much smaller, i figure squirrels or rabbits. You can click on the pictures for a full size view.

Spider resident

Another resident at some point

Lone Pine Cone

 Tracks!! Cannot identify them though, any thoughts?

Precarious Tree and a White Pine

Little Dam

A look Upwards

Downy Woodpecker Visits Me

Another View of Downy Woodpecker

The Heart of the Spot

Centennial Brook

Patterns in the Sand

Bridges

Log 

More Bridges

On my way out, looking back

Pictures!!

Off in the Distance

Patterns in the Ice

The Sun Shines on my spot

A look towards the sky

Birds! and more

Spotted were: American Crow, Black Capped Chickadee, Rock Dove, Mourning Dove, Red tailed Hawk, Song Sparrow,Swamp Sparrow, Turkey, Canadian Geese, American Kestrel, European Starling, Northern Cardinal a few species i couldn't identify and a few species i only caught a glimpse of. Saw thousands of Canadian geese, lots of crows and chickadees and sparrows,  i live in a city so many species i don't see often. Chickadees were calling with their spring song, as well as the normal chick a dee dee dee dee. Saw two red tailed hawks driving back up to school which was sweet. Saw a flock of turkeys driving to Binghamton one weekend, also on that trip, and i kid you not, i counted over 450 whitetail deer who had come to the side slopes of the road to feed on the finally uncovered grasses. (I wasn't driving) The binoculars definitely came in handy, as well the bird book i borrowed.

Tree Species Around My Place

So, the main species of tree at my spot is Hemlock, i seem to be smack dab in the middle of a grove. Hemlock is usually found in ravines, steep hillsides, and rocky ridges, with relatively high levels of humidity. It prefers partial shade and can grow in full shade. On the edge of the forest towards the brook are a couple of White Pine.
 The White Pine is known the the Haudenosaunee Native Americans as the tree of peace, during a peace treaty signing weapons would be buried under a white pine as part of the treaty. Its five needles also represented the five nations joined together as one.They prefer well drained soil and cool humid climates, but also grow in highlands and boggy areas (right near centennial brook) It is the dominant tree in mixed forests, growing taller than even hardwoods. It provides food and shelter for such species as squirrels and common crossbills. These trees were commonly used as masts for ships during the "age of sail". Underneath and around the few white pines are some Sugar Maples coming in, a lot looked like two to three year growth.
Sugar maples are extremely important in the northeast, not only for their use in maple sugar production, but also as a highly valued wood, bowling allies, pins, basketball court flooring are all made from sugar maple. It is one of the densest and hardest of the maple family. Some trees exhibit wavy wood grain, known as "birdseye maple", which are highly valued.
To the west there are red maple. This species is the state tree of Rhode Island, and displays brilliant deep red foliage in the fall. It is often used as a shade tree for landscaping. Its lumber is medium to high quality, but is considered a soft wood amongst maples. It can survive in a wide range of habitats from swampy land to poor dry soils. It can survive long floods and also droughts.
To the east is a species i couldn't identify, its posted in a picture (trunk and branch). Ten schrute bucks for whoever can figure it out.