I love the way everything looks immediately after it snows. The freshly blanketed world becomes a blank sheet of white paper and the animals and birds get to write the first lines of that day’s story with their tracks. Unfortunately, the snow on Cape Cod is long gone after a couple 50-degree rainy days last week, but I was able to do a little bit of exploring while it lasted. I encountered tracks of numerous species just within my own…
The result of more than 24 hours of snow then rain then more snow was a disappointing 3 to 4 inches of snow on the ground yesterday morning (I had been hoping for a little more snow, and a lot less rain). It did make for a lovely walk wintery though. Although I more often walk in the forest, yesterday I visited the south portion of Crane Wildlife Management Area, which is dominated by open fields. I always find the…
Looking like less-colorful miniature versions of Dr. Seuss’ truffula trees, tawny cotton grass (Eriophorum virginicum) is an obligate wetland plant found in bogs, fens and wet meadows throughout New England. The fluffy “cotton” puff-ball tops of this plant are actually the modified sepals and petals of minute flowers. The tawny-colored silky hairs that give cotton grass its distinctive look continue to elongate as the seeds mature, aiding in wind dispersal of the seeds (similar to the parachute-like seeds of a…