by Tom Estill

We are so fortunate to have Tom checking on our wildlife through out the seasons and write up a great report for us.

During the week of the Winter Solstice of 2023, the forest was relatively quiet with Rocky Pond finally completely freezing over, though with thin ice, on Dec. 23rd. So quiet, that on that day of Dec.23rd, I didn’t hear or see a single bird on my walk to and from Rocky Pond, a very rare occurrence for me.

A few days later on a walk to Muddy Pond, I saw 4 flocks of about 12 Canada geese flying low towards Muddy Pond, white-breasted nuthatch, and black-capped chickadees.Both ponds were completely frozen over with thin ice, with the exception of a few small areas near the shores of both ponds Water was freely flowing into and out of Rocky Pond.

On Dec. 30th, David Jenne and Shelley Lutz participated in the annual Audubon Christmas Bird Count. The birds they saw and their numbers were:

Black-capped chickadees-23 White-breasted nuthatch-15 Tufted titmouse-8

Downy woodpecker-6 Canada geese-16 Dark-eyed junco-4 Raven-3

Crow-16

Hairy woodpecker-2 American goldfinch-2 Unidentified raptor-1 Pileated woodpecker-1 House sparrow-10 Cardinal-1

On Jan. 2, 2024, I saw a white-breasted nuthatch, downy woodpecker, pileated woodpecker and had the luck to be at the right place at the right time as I sat on the shore of Rocky Pond listening to 2 different flocks of wild turkeys calling back and forth to one another on opposite sides of the pond.

During those first few weeks of January, snow was starting to fall in appreciable amounts with a good dumping on the 20th, and bright sunny days, though rare, were so welcome. A small herd of deer could be regularly seen between trail markers 16 and 24, hairy woodpeckers were starting to be heard drumming back and forth to one another, tufted titmouse birds had changed their call to short, double “here, here” calls, and Carolina wrens were calling one another. On Jan. 22nd, I had the pleasure of hearing 2 pairs of Carolina wrens calling back and forth to one another over quite some distance. The Carolina wren seems to be a bird I am seeing more and more of as the years go by.

Feb. 5 was a gorgeous sunny day. Snow was mostly gone from the 3 lower Giorgetti trails, but still about 3” deep in the upper trails. The small stream feeding Rocky Pond was frozen over and the pond itself was covered in thick ice. Birds seen that day included cardinal,

white-breasted nuthatch, tufted titmouse, hairy and red-bellied woodpeckers. For the next week I saw pretty much the same birds along with pileated woodpeckers and black-capped chickadees.

On Feb. 11th, I was very surprised and delighted to see a Red Squirrel near the trailhead of the park. I see gray squirrels all the time, but rarely do I see a red squirrel. Since then, I’ve been seeing it on a regular basis in that same area, so I know it has a nest somewhere nearby.

By mid-February, gray squirrels were beginning to be seen along with yellow-crowned kinglets. There was one or two inches of snow on the ground. I collected a sample of debris from the bottom of one of the park streams, curious to see what might be alive in such icy cold streams. Through my microscope, I was able to observe a few ciliates, rotifers, a small annelid and a tiny Stonefly nymph.

The last week of February saw me regularly observing downy, hairy, pileated and red-bellied woodpeckers, tufted titmouse, white-breasted nuthatch, crow, brown creeper, and black-capped chickadees. The only open water observed was a small area surrounding the large beaver lodge on the east side of Muddy Pond, a few small spots of open water along the shores of Rocky pond, and the streams flowing into both ponds. Snow fleas(a sign for me that the worst part of winter is over) were seen on Feb. 21st, nuthatches and chickadees were chasing one another through the trees, hairy woodpeckers were drumming, and the lower trails were mostly bare ground.

On Feb. 25th, I observed a Cooper’s hawk flying near a Cooper’s hawk nest from last year, a barred owl near trail marker 16, where I see them every year, a rarely seen male red crossbill feeding on red pine seeds at Rocky Pond, and a black-capped chickadee feeding on both red and white pine seeds. While standing on the shore of Muddy Pond, I noticed a small area of open water in the distance, near where the main stream feeds into Muddy Pond. This seemed odd to me, in that the pond was pretty much completely covered in thick ice. As I approached the open area I could see the water churning.  I assumed it was fish coming up to gulp air due to the decreasing amount of oxygen in the ice covered pond this time of year. To my surprise, it wasn’t fish gulping air, it was dozens of Eastern newts just coming out of hibernation, coming up for air.

On Feb. 26th, I was surprised to see a large flock of robins flying northward through the forest. Never seen, this time of year, such a huge, compact flock of robins like that before. Both Rocky and Muddy have numerous puddles on their surface, and at both ponds you could hear what sounded like distant thunder, moans and groans as the water was moving about beneath the

ice.

On March 3rd, I saw a very impressive huge flock of hundreds of grackles flying through the park. A day later, Canada geese, mallards and hooded mergansers were seen at Rocky Pond. By this time, Rocky was now mostly open water, with only the far east side covered in ice. At Muddy Pond, the only birds seen were one female and three male common mergansers.

March 6th was the first time I saw turkey vultures flying overhead near Rocky Pond, the first of the season.  A few days later, both ponds were free of ice, Canada geese were seen on both ponds, many water insects could be seen in the shallows of Rocky Pond, along with many Eastern newts swimming about.

On March 11, 4 inches of snow covered the ground, but by the next day it was mostly gone.

By mid-March, oak tree buds were starting to open, and I couldn’t believe that I heard a few wood frogs calling at Muddy Pond. This time of year, the forest had also become surprisingly quiet. I thought southern migrants may have started to appear, but no such luck.

On March 17th, I spread hundreds of pitcher plant seeds along the shores of the Rocky Pond outlet in areas I felt would make ideal habitat for such plants. I was looking for areas similar to those found on the small islands on the west side of Muddy Pond which contain numerous pitcher plants.

On the last day of winter, I saw white-breasted nuthatch, tufted titmouse, carolina wren, cardinal, black-capped chickadee, hairy and red-bellied woodpecker, crow, and a few deer between trail markers 16 and 24.

That’s it for this issue. Please stay on the trails, and enjoy watching the wildlife of Pine Hill Park.