This chilly January day, we headed off to the Town Forest, binoculars in hand, on a quest to find birds. And while we certainly heard more birds than we saw, there was still a lot to discover in the woods today.
Tall standing dead trees (snags) were scarred with large holes from pileated woodpeckers. In one picture, you can see the displaced wood bits that were excavated in the search for insects to eat. These birds are the largest of the woodpeckers and have a lot of power behind their beaks for drilling holes. Luckily, they have a protective gap between their skulls and their brains so that no damage is caused in all that fast hammering!
We looked around the bases of large pine trees for owl pellets from the many, yet elusive, great horned owls who make their homes in these woods and nest at this time of year. While we did not find any such parcels of regurgitated fur and bones, we did find the scat of many other creatures in the forest. There were piles of deer scat in a clearing that a group of deer had been using as a yard. There was a bundle of bee wings and bodies in the old scat of a skunk who enjoy these stinging insects for a snack. And there was even a fox scat on a cut log - twisted in shape and full of fur from a previous meal. Right next to this were the shell leavings of a squirrel who'd been enjoying an acorn.
Evidence of insect damage was revealed under the bark of fallen branches. Their curving trails left interesting designs in the wood beneath. The delicate shell of a puffball that had already spread its spores was found in the meadow. And the "chasms" of erosion were seen where running water has carved a deep path through the forest floor.
Enjoy the pictures below of our intrepid explorers! Ask your child what their favorite part of the walk was today.
