The First Day of Spring

22Mar07

March 21, 2007

Woodland Observation

I went for a walk at 1 p.m. and saw a beautiful red fox in the woods. The sunlight through the bare trees illuminated him well. It did not flee, but carefully looked back at me as it moved a few feet away at a time. I stood stock-still and was able to observe it retrieve something from its den or cache, and carry it in its mouth to a pile of brush a few feet closer to me. I watched it for about eight minutes. When I arrived home, I looked up “red fox” online and found a site that had vocalizations. Upon hearing the alarm call and the howl, I realized that this fox was the source of the alarming howls and noises that emanated from the woods across the road several nights ago. At that time I thought they were made by coyotes. I wonder how many other foxes are nearby.

Birds

I saw a hawk, several cardinals (male & female), a chickadee, juncos, and more, of our usual assortment of local birds.

Phenology

Our ancient maple is budding, as well as some south-facing daffodils. Great mullein is growing at the edge of the road.

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