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Wild Times 2025 Spring Report

By Tom Estill

Two days after the first official day of spring (March 20th) in 2025, the flower Coltsfoot was observed to be the first flower to bloom at Pine Hill Park, as it always is. And after the flowers start to fade and wilt, its leaves only then appear. Most, though not all, of the ice at both Rocky and Muddy Ponds was mostly gone. A few Canada geese and common mergansers were observed at Muddy Pond. The only birds observed were the Song Sparrow, robin,

white-breasted nuthatch, crow, and black-capped chickadee.

On March 31st, the snow was finally gone at the park. More species of birds were observed including the Northern Cardinal, brown creeper, dark-eyed junco, Eastern bluebird, American goldfinch, Black-capped chickadee, crow, white-breasted nuthatch, downy woodpecker, blue jay, and tufted titmouse.

During the first week of April, a small flock of golden-crowned kinglets, red-bellied woodpecker and numerous yearly residents were seen in the forest, while one Canada goose was seen sitting on a nest near where the creek from Rocky Pond flows into Muddy Pond. A few Canada geese nest there every year. The first Eastern newt was observed at Rocky Pond and a robin and Cooper’s hawk were seen along lower Giorgetti. Oak trees were beginning to flower and Flowering Arbutus flowers were getting ready to bloom. Wood ducks were heard calling at the south side of Rocky Pond as they always do this time of year, and that wonderful earthly smell was prevalent throughout the whole park. The forest floor was awakening after months of being frozen under the snow cover.

On April 6th, small flying insects were becoming more numerous, gray squirrels were scurrying about, a mated pair of common mergansers were seen at Rocky Pond, and Eastern phoebes, and yellow-bellied sapsuckers had returned.  A northern flicker was also observed, a bird not commonly seen in the park.

By the middle of April, Canada geese were nesting at both Rocky and Muddy ponds, turkey vultures were seen flying over the rocks that overlook the west side of Rocky Pond, and one Osprey was seen next to its nest at Muddy Pond. Trailing arbutus was in flower, its scent truly heavenly. Spring peepers were calling at Rocky Pond, song sparrows were singing in the reeds at Rocky Pond, and a Cooper’s hawk was seen near its old nest near the first bridge on middle Giorgetti trail.

During the third week of April, trout lily leaves were starting to emerge from the forest floor, 2 osprey were chasing one another while a third looked on at Muddy Pond, a pair of brown creepers were seen making a nest behind loose bark on a tree near the edge of Muddy Pond, painted turtles were sunning themselves on logs at Muddy Pond, the first Hermit thrush of the season was heard singing in the forest, and a Cooper’s hawk was seen sitting on that nest on Middle Giorgetti trail, while another one was seen feeding on a tufted titmouse nearby.

On the last day of April I saw barren strawberry, common strawberry and bellwort all in flower. 2 osprey were seen at their nest on Muddy Pond and fern fiddleheads were finally emerging from the forest floor.

On May 4th, I saw many red efts walking along the forest floor after a few days of rain had recently fallen on the park.

After nearly two weeks of continuous rain, it finally let up enough for me to hike the park once again. And on May 10th, I was lucky enough to be in the park when our spring migrants were flying through the park. Never in my life had I observed 4 Scarlet Tanagers together on the same large shrub. Without a doubt, one of America’s most beautiful birds. And to see 4 on one shrub! I couldn’t believe it. One of the highlights of my 13 years hiking throughout the park. A house wren was seen building its nest in one of the bird houses near the trailhead. Birds seen included American goldfinch, rose-breasted grosbeak, black-and-white warbler, northern cardinal, crow, chestnut-sided warbler, yellow warbler, American redstart, black-capped chickadee, red-bellied woodpecker, gray catbird, song sparrow, least flycatcher, veery, wood thrush, yellow-rumped warbler, brown-headed cowbird, brown creeper, downy woodpecker,

red-winged blackbird, blue jay, tufted titmouse, Carolina wren, blackburnian warbler, ovenbird, hermit thrush, yellow-throated vireo, robin, Eastern towhee, northern flicker, red-eyed vireo,

blue-headed vireo, black-throated green warbler, and a white-throated sparrow. At Muddy Pond were seen Canada geese, common mergansers, osprey, dark-eyed junco, and a belted kingfisher. What a great day in the forest!

On May 15th, spring born baby American toads could be seen hopping all about the park. Chipmunks were scurrying about, the gorgeous indigo bunting was seen at its usual spot beneath the power lines on the Carriage Trail on the way to Rocky Pond, and the park was filled with the songs of dozens of species of birds.

The next day, May 16th, I saw a number of American Giant Millipedes, Eastern Tiger and Sulfur Butterflies, a deer along the Carriage trail, and numerous species of birds once again.

On May 18th, a great blue heron was seen at Muddy Pond flying towards its nest in the wetland area that feeds into Muddy Pond on its north side.

On May 26th, I saw a bird I don’t see very often in the park, a Northern Oriole. And always at Rocky Pond for just a few days then not to be seen again. A few days later on the 29th, I saw a large garter snake slithering among the rocks that overlook Rocky Pond. Moccasin flower, bunchberry, Azalea, and starflower were all flowering.

During the first few weeks of June, I continued to see numerous birds, most of them already in their nests with males making known to other birds of the same species their territories by singing and chasing off intruders. What a wonderful time to be in the forest. Ox-eye daisies, red clover and king devils were all flowering. Of course, you had to start dealing with the

annoying biting insects this time of year. After coming down with Lyme Disease this time last year, I’ve been extra vigilant when it comes to using bug spray and checking myself for attached ticks when I get home. You, too, need to be very careful when hiking in the forest. Stay on the trails, avoid high grass areas, and don’t hesitate to use bug spray.

That’s it for this issue. Enjoy your time in the park, and please respect our gracious neighbors by staying on the trails.

Wild Times At Pine Hill Park


Winter, 2024-25 Season by Tom Estill


On the first day of Winter in Dec. of 2024, I was feeling bad for the birds and decided to purchase and put up 1 bird feeder and 2 suet feeders near the trailhead. Returned two days later to see what kinds of birds had been attracted to the feeders only to find all 3 feeders gone! No sign of them anywhere. Well, I’m not doing that again.

By Christmas Day, snow was about 6” deep, and temperatures were very cold. On Dec. 26th, the only bird I saw on my 2 hr. hike was a crow. Now that I think about it, I believe I’ve seen crows on just about every hike I’ve been on at Pine Hill Park since I first started hiking there in 2013.


On Dec. 27th, I observed tufted titmouse, crow, and white-breasted nuthatch. Many deer tracks could be seen throughout the forest, along with coyote and small rodent tracks. I was so delighted to once again see porcupine tracks leading up to its den in the rock outcrop near the intersection of the power lines and the Carriage Trail. In years past, I’ve set up a Trail Cam at the spot and have recorded porcupines walking in and out of the den. Coyotes have also denned there in the past.


On Dec. 28th, Dave, Shelley and I participated in the annual Audubon Society Bird Count. Our results are as follows: White-breasted nuthatch-16, Crow-24, Robin-1, Black-capped Chickadee-23, Tufted Titmouse-20, Mallard-3, Downy Woodpecker-10, Brown Creeper-3, Cardinal-1, American Goldfinch-137


By the first week of Jan., both ponds were completely frozen over, and there was about 1” of snow on the ground. The only birds seen those first 10 days of Jan. were crows, pileated woodpeckers, white-breasted nuthatches, ravens, and robins.


On Jan. 11th, I collected a sample of creek water and debris underneath the bridge near Rocky Pond just to see what microscopic organisms might be found in that habitat that time of year. In just one drop of water, I observed hundreds of diatoms and Midge Larvae. Midges are those flying insects you see flying about the forest in late winter, commonly mistaken for mosquitoes due to their similarity in appearance.


The first week of Feb., I once again set up my trailcam in an area near the fox den on Middle Giorgetti Trail. But unlike last time, the only animal recorded was a gray squirrel.


On Feb. 9th, I visited the park the day after a major snow storm had passed through the area. Over a foot of snow was on the ground. I was very surprised to see a large flock of Canada Geese in a V formation flying north overhead. Hairy woodpeckers, crows and robins were also seen. Now, about those robins. In all the some 35 years I have spent in VT and NH, I have never seen as many robins in the dead of winter as I have seen this winter. It’s as if they never flew south. They sure were enjoying the various berries around town.


In mid-Feb., I saw a pileated woodpecker, white-breasted nuthatch, large flock of crows and another large flock of robins in the park. I also had the luck to be in the right place at the right time to observe a FISHER walking through the forest near the old Crusher Rd. quarry. At first, because of its light brown color, I thought it was a marten, but upon closer inspection, I realized it was a fisher. I’ve only seen a wild fisher a handful of times in my life and they’ve always been a dark, almost black, color. And that’s what threw me off.
On Feb. 21st, while walking through the forest I heard numerous BANGS, BOOMS, and CRACKS. They’re called Frost Cracks and I hear them every year about this time. They involve the freezing of water in certain cells of the tree, causing the cells to explode with a loud bang. Always fun to hear the sounds on a cold winter day.
Two days later, I was surprised to see numerous cottontail tracks in the snow near the huge boulder at the end of the walkway near the trailhead. Along with the tracks were numerous piles of rabbit droppings. I’ve been seeing more and more of those rabbits in the park as the years have gone by.


On March 3rd, I came across bear tracks in the snow and decided to follow them for awhile. From the Carriage Trail near the intersection which leads to the golf course, I followed the tracks to Rocky Pond where they led across the frozen Rocky Pond outlet-the same place my trailcam had photographed a black bear a few months earlier.


A few days later, winter packed snow was beginning to disappear from the park. On March 8th, numerous flocks of Canada geese were seen flying north. Both ponds were still frozen over, and trails had become treacherous with recent rains turning the compacted snow to ice.
By March 10th, bare patches of snow were beginning to be seen throughout the park.Temps. were in the 40s. It felt like spring. White-breasted nuthatches, red-bellied woodpecker, pileated woodpecker, downy woodpecker, brown, creeper, crow, black-capped chickadee, northern cardinal, tufted titmouse were all seen along with a pair of Eastern bluebirds flying in and out of one of the nest boxes near the trailhead. A red-shouldered hawk was seen near the Rocky Pond outlet where it has been seen in the past, and I saw my first midge flying about.The next day, I saw my first turkey vulture flying overhead and temperatures were in the low 60s! The day after that I saw a red-tailed hawk flying overhead. Both ponds were still frozen over.


By Feb. 19th, both ponds were starting to show open water in a few perimeter spots. In one of those spots on Muddy Pond were seen a few Canadian geese and Common mergansers.


That’s it for this edition. Please stay on the trails and enjoy the wild wonders of Pine Hill Park.

Thank You Friends !

Our Community Work day on Saturday was a big success thanks to our dedicated volunteers. We helped the Master Gardner’s in mulching the front entrance gardens and made great progress on rebuilding the natural fence on Escalator.

Many hands made light work and we are very grateful.

If you couldn’t make it this time, we have another work project on June 21 to build a new bike skills feature area just off Birches trail. Save the date and stay tuned for more details.

Carriage Trail is closed

Due to logging on the Proctor Library lands, the Carriage Trail is closed from Resting Brook to Proctor. Please respect this trail closure by staying off the trail.

Loggers are using heavy mechanized equipment and we do not need to hinder their progress.

Thank you.

Community Work Day

Community Work day, Saturday, May 3rd from 9am-12pm. We have several projects we will be working on. Helping Master Gardner’s in the front entrance and the natural fence on Escalator. The natural fence posts have been installed by GE Aerospace volunteers. GE also cut some saplings for us to weave on Saturday, May 3rd.

Many hands make light work hope to see you there.

Bring water, gloves, sunscreen and bug dope.

Cold Roll Rutland

Conditions were perfect for riding fat bikes on Sunday, March 2nd. It was clear, bright sunny blue skies, no wind so temps were great for riding. Fire pits going at the aid station along with peanut butter chocolate treats, Kate’s Real food, Cabot cheese, Fiddlehead beer and a cool Insane firepit. The parking lot had the fire pit, beer and burritos!

Huge shout out to our sponsors: MTBVT and Ranch Camp. The event would not happen without their energy. Rutland Recreation for their help in all the knick knacks-like picnic tables, plowing the parking lot-it’s the endless the support Pine Hill Partnership receives from them. Kate’s Real Foods, Cabot Cheese and Fiddlehead beer!

Pictures from event can be found here: https://photography.davidjenne.com/Galleries/Rutland-Cold-Rolled-2025

Dave asks ‘My only ask would  that if they feel so inclined, a donation to Pine Hill Partnership in return would be really welcome. A 📸 credit to @davidjenne would also be nice.’ Donation page is here: https://pinehillpartnership.org/donate-2/

We were featured on WCAX too! https://www.wcax.com/2025/03/02/marble-city-gears-up-cold-roll/

Stay tuned for our 2026 fat bike event!

Wild Times in Pine Hill Park

Tom Estill has a great fall report!

The first day of Fall 2024, was a very quiet day in Pine Hill Park. Very rarely have I taken a hike through the forest and not seen or heard a single bird. Sept. 20th was one of those days. Not only was the forest very quiet, but the only living things I saw were grey squirrels scurrying about.

That all changed a few days later when, on Sept. 22nd, numerous migrating passerines could  be seen throughout the forest flying south in front of an approaching cold front from the north. Birds seen included red-eyed vireo, cape may warbler, black and white warbler, black-capped chickadee, white-breasted nuthatch, hairy woodpecker, crow, and tufted titmouse, and at Muddy Pond, a few Canada geese, a few wood ducks, and a great blue heron.

On Sept. 27th, Shelley texted to tell me she found 2 chestnut burs on the Svelte Tiger trail near where the 1st wild American Chestnut tree was discovered a few years ago. I immediately headed up to the park, found the burs lying where Shelley had found them, and spent the next couple hours searching the area for the tree that may have produced the burs which contained fertile seeds. To my great disappointment, no such tree was found. So, the mystery as to where those 2 fertile burs came from remains a mystery to this day. By the way, the mature American Chestnut found on Svelte Tiger could not have produced those burs. First, you need two trees to produce FERTILE seeds, and secondly, that tree has been dying the last few years, due to it not only being infected with the blight, but also irreparably damaged by that hard frost in May of 2022, and the infestation of the spongy moth.

On Sept. 29th, both grey squirrels and Eastern chipmunks were out and about collecting various seeds for winter storage. There were only a few plants still in flower including silverrod, blue wood aster, and New England aster being pollinated by a bumblebee. At Muddy Pond I observed about two dozen Canada geese, and a dozen wood ducks, while throughout the forest were seen white-throated sparrows, hairy woodpecker, white-breasted nuthatch, tufted titmouse, blue jay, black-capped chickadee, Carolina Wren, crow, and a brown creeper.

On an Oct. 2nd late afternoon hike, I found, once again, a very quiet forest with the fall foliage nearing its peak. I was surprised to see a yellow-breasted sapsucker so late in the season, drilling another hole in a white birch already covered with hundreds of sapsucker holes.

Black-capped chickadees and hairy woodpeckers were the only other birds seen in the forest, but over a hundred Canada geese were seen at Muddy Pond.

On Oct. 11th, a huge flock of common grackles was seen flying through the forest, Canada geese now numbers in the low hundreds at Muddy Pond along with a few mallards, wood ducks, and an Eastern Kingfisher, and the beaver pond at the West end of Muddy Pond showed signs of recent activity. It’s been getting bigger for the last few months. But what surprised me most that day was the sound of green frogs still calling from both ponds. I collected button bush

seeds from shoreline plants at Rocky Pond and later placed them in a refrigerator for planting in the spring. Beechdrops were in flower along the 2nd Giorgetti trail.

Mid-Oct. saw numerous V-shaped flocks of Canadian geese flying south and the forest was covered in a thick layer of multi-colored leaves. And as late as the third week of October, a Hermit Thrush was seen in the forest along with the usual winter inhabitants, black-capped chickadees and white-breasted nuthatches. Most trees had lost their leaves with the exception of oaks and beech trees, and at Muddy Pond, Canada geese numbered in the hundreds.

The first week of November found a large number of robins flying through the forest, seemingly associated with a passing cold front from the north, most oak trees had lost their leaves after a stormy and windy November 1st, and a couple hundred Canadian geese were still seen at Muddy Pond.

A hike during the second week of November found the forest very quiet with no snow on the forest floor and wood ferns, Christmas ferns and lycopodium providing a green color to the ground.

On November 15th, ice first started to appear on some edges of Rocky Pond, with a few hundred Canada geese at Muddy Pond, and a single winter moth(Operophtera brumata) flying about. Two days later, to my surprise, I saw dragonflies mating at Rocky Pond, along with a single Eastern newt swimming along the shore, and now, hundreds of winter moths flying about.

On November 20th, after a long hike, I was beginning to wonder where all the winter resident birds were. Not a single bird was sighted.

On Nov.24th, for the first time at Pine Hill Park, I saw a snow goose, along with about 50 Canada geese and a single bufflehead duck at Muddy Pond. The next day, the only bird I saw was a pileated woodpecker.

Dec. 13th was a very cold day. Rocky Pond was now completely frozen while Muddy Pond was frozen over with the exception of a small area in the middle of the pond. No snow on the ground, but did have a snow storm the week before. The only birds seen were a white-breasted nuthatch and a murder of crows( that’s what they call a flock of crows!) harassing a red-tailed hawk.

Two days later, both ponds were now completely frozen over, and a loose association of

black-capped chickadees, tufted titmouse, downy woodpecker and white-breasted nuthatches could be seen near the trailhead. Bare ground in the park.

That’s it for this issue. Please stay on the trails and enjoy your wildlife sightings at Pine Hill Park.

Matching Grant

We received two $5,000 checks from two families asking us to match the total. We are on our way to reaching that extra $10,000. Can you help? Any size donation is great. Donate here

Why this contribution match is important is for the deferred trail maintenance we put on the back burner building Maximum Capacity and Milk Run. These two trails took us almost 6 years to build. We did not do any maintenance to speak of during that time frame.

Our trails are showing their age with rolling grade dips diminished so water is running down the trail tread which is not sustainable. It’s not as glorious like a new trail but it’s necessary with the heavier rains and increase number of users the park is experiencing. If we don’t control the water now we won’t have trails 20 years from now.

Our goal for next summer is to work on drainage’s on the pedestrian trails that have been neglected for many years. Svelte Tiger between Seeping Ledge bridge and Watkins Wood Rd will get some serious attention as it’s one of the main trails for mountain bikers of all abilities to reach other parts of the park. Other trails will receive spot treatments to improve the drainage’s.

We hope to build some progression jumps in the park next year. This is in the early planning stages now so stay tuned.

Long term project is a universal accessible trail around the Lower Giorgetti trail. We have a design/concept plan. We are moving through the wetland permitting now. Rutland Recreation and Pine Hill Partnership are collaborating on a grant to pay for this trail. This is all in the very early stages of planning. If you see blue and some orange flagging that will be the new trail that will have a crushed 3/8th’s minus surface.

Busy Summer

Pine Hill Partnership had a busy summer in the park with trail refurbishing.

Spring started off with KSA Built reworking Rosey’s Rollover now has nice built in features. Rosey’s Rollover now connects over to Bone Spur and Freefall. KSA Built also reworked Lower Jersey Turnpike that was in dire need of trail tread work. Annex and Sore Elbow both have rock gardens that people were expanding the width of the trail to avoid the rocks. We now have two ride arounds so folks can avoid the rocks if they prefer that option. The rock gardens are still there on both trails.

Killington Mountain School came in one morning and helped move a lot of dirt on Overlook. The turnpiking was raised about a foot, Lichen Rock and the turn just west of Lichen Rock was refurbished so it would drain better.

Yes plan hiking group worked on the lower part of Voldemort to raise the trail tread to prevent the sogginess in the spring and late fall.

Yes plan from Grove St. campus came in and hiked up to near the suspension bridge to help turnpike a section of trail that was too low and holding water.

In May the local community volunteers built a pretty cool feature on Furlough. Thanks to KSA Built for finishing the ride off ramp and rock rider over Nugget!

VYCC came in for 3 days in early July to help start refurbishing the trail tread on PA4J. With their help for 3 days and 4 volunteers for the next bunch of weeks we repaired 1686′ of trail tread. A lot of dirt was moved by Nemo. We spent 815 volunteer hours to improve rolling grade dips, banked corners and generally getting water off the trail tread quickly.

PA4J was built in 2007 and has no trail tread work done in the 17 years. As you can see from this picture how much trail degradation has happened in last 17 years. We have lost about 10″ of mineral soil due to traffic and more frequent heavy rains. We rebuilt the base layer with flat rocks, then moved many loads of Nemo dirt over the top.

It took 4 volunteers most of the summer to finish the last section of PA4J. We managed about 120′ of trail tread work per day. Blew a tire on Nemo and popped a clutch cable that we were able to fix up in the woods. Thanks to GT Power being open the Friday after the 4th of July to fix our tire!

Lost pulaski in 2011 found this year in the dirt pit we were digging in, with part of it’s handle.

Full loads of Nemo dirt on PA4J and pulling the flat tire off Nemo.

Our goal this summer was to install 3 more of our big benches. We were able to get one on Lunch Rock at the top of Broken Handlebar, Rocky Pond and Main St/Meadow Way on Redfield trails. These benches were pre-cut back in July on one of the hottest days and we were ready to move out the 6×6 timbers of the lumber trailer. Thank you maintenance staff at Rutland Rec for helping us level a spot and gather a large rock for the bench at Rocky Pond.

Late August brought an Eagle Scout teeter totter project to fruition. Colton Lapham reached out winter of 2023 about an Eagle Scout project. Nate Netsch drew up the CAD drawing. Colton went and procured all the pieces and parts. Sunday, August 18th Colton’s Scout troop built and installed the new teeter totter. We couldn’t have done it on a wetter day either. It started out dry but by the time we left it was raining quite hard.

Early September brought us a Pro crew from VYCC. These are college age folks who are into working outdoors. They were happy to be digging dirt vs crushing rock like their previous 3 weeks of working on stone stairs in NH.

With the pro crew’s help we rebuilt Underdog from Centrifuge bridge to Rocky Pond. It was in dire need removing water off the trail tread quickly. In the course of week we repaired 917′ of trail with 2 volunteers working with the crew every day. Keith Wight joined us for a day which was great as it was time to shore up a banked corner. The old log stump that was in the ‘S’ turn was rotted enough that we were able to remove it.

Underdog was built in 2006 and has very little trail tread work done to it over the years.

These pictures show how the rocks kept people from riding the original line. We popped the rocks, reclaimed the original trail tread, moved mineral soil to improve out-slope and covered with leaves to keep the new mineral soil on the trail.

Your membership dollars are very important to Pine Hill Park. Pine Hill Partnership who maintains the trails receives very little financial assistance from Rutland City taxpayers. The more financial support we receive from the community the more we can improve trails and features in the park. Please go to our donate page. Any size donations are welcome.

We are looking to hire 3 part time folks to help us in the park next summer. Working with Pine Hill Partnership and Rutland Recreation maintenance team. If you have anyone interested please send us an email at pinehillpartnership@gmail.com.

Thank you for reading and hope to see you on the trails.