Jack on the trail.
The temperature hasn’t dipped below freezing in a while. A thaw.
A gray, drizzly sort of day greeted dog and me when we stepped out first thing. Good-sized patches of brown grass had appeared on the lawn from somewhere. Also rain-slicked patches of ice. First bird I saw was a herring gull floating high above Route 1. Then crows. And I heard the call of a jay.
Birch.
It drizzled some, then let up, then drizzled some more. All around, the snow dwindled slowly, imperceptibly. No ice left on the parking lot. Crows shouted outside to each other. “Hey, over here!” I imagine all kinds of interesting stuff is emerging from under the snow after so long. Interesting to Jack, anyway.
We didn’t get out until late in the day. Temperatures in the 40s (F). I looked up into the crowns of the trees out back and noticed they were swaying a bit, so I brought my winter coat.
Glad I did, because it started raining fairly steadily as we climbed Beech Hill. I’d expected it to be more-or-less miserable—but it turned out to be kind of fun. Sure, every dozen steps or so, my foot would sink through, and I had snow up to my knee, but that just made me laugh. Jack kept sinking through, too, up to his chest.
Again we headed up into the wind and back down away from it. I marveled at how much snow had left the blueberry fields. A great wall of gray swept toward us from out in the bay. It began to rain heavier as we made our way back down.
Beech Nut.
(Good thing I brought extra poop bags, because the leavings of dogs emerged along with the grass. I grabbed up several that lay in the middle of the trail. Mystifying—but somehow also amusing.)
Tonight it’s raining steadily. I can tell just by looking out into the darkness that winter’s remnants are fading fast. Doesn’t mean it won’t snow again, but still.
Beech Hill List
Beginning at 4:45 p.m., I hiked the open trail.
No birds seen or heard on the hill today.
Elsewhere
1. Herring gull
2. American crow
3. Blue jay
4. Black-capped chickadee
Eastern slope.
Tags: American crow, black-capped chickadee, blue jay, herring gull
