On February 23rd, members met at the Lone Pine Marsh – Braham tract for a winter walk. It was sunny and not too cold so it made for an excellent day for a walk.

We heard bluebirds and cardinals from the parking lot while waiting for everyone to arrive.

The snow was very crunchy on top due to a thaw the previous day, followed by cool overnight temperatures. This made discerning tracks challenging. We saw caanid tracks (a fox or a local dog?), rabbit, and grouse tracks. We first went north and visited the dam at the northeast side of the property.

On the north side of the dam, we saw an interesting fuzzy blob attached to a sapling nearby which was later identified as a cecropia moth pupa. The beavers appeared to be constructing a dam a few metres north of the human dam.

We then walked south, into the small birch forest. There, beavers have been cutting many trees and a number have fallen over the path. We also saw grouse tracks in the snow.

The sun came out for our walk and we all enjoyed getting out and visiting the Lone Pine Marsh this morning!