On a snowy and COLD Saturday afternoon (2/25/23), 13 intrepid trackers headed into the Fitch Farm woods at the top of Dingleton Hill with environmental educator and soil scientist, Martha Mitchell for the CCC’s first field trip of 2023. For the next two hours, we found ourselves learning about why red pines do not flourish in NH soils (including a short and fascinating lesson on the continental plate tectonics that produced very different soils for NH and VT), that most trees in NH have no tap root, and that tree roots can develop calluses by the perpetual rocking movement from the wind in their crowns (a sudden hard wind coupled with wet soil conditions, and the cumulative stress on roots over time – and down it can go!).
The day’s cold and snowy conditions meant few tracks were to be seen that afternoon – non-hibernating animals hunker down and conserve energy by waiting for better travel/feeding conditions, but human curiosity and learning were to be found everywhere. February is the season of love for red foxes, look for a romping pair of fox tracks and a possible trampled circle in the snow, evidence of their joy in finding one another. Fresh hemlock branches/twigs on the snow and a trough-like track about 8” wide is evidence that a porcupine is, or was nearby. Their tails drag in deep snow, often covering the prints and making a perfect half pipe trail. Barred owls are already feeding their young owlets, and bear cubs have been born during their mother’s hibernation. Shredded bark/wood on the snow at the base of a tree signals a pileated woodpecker has been busy excavating insects with its massive bill.
Martha reminded us of the importance of land conservation, not only for the animals we love to observe in their natural habitat, and for tree and plant diversity, but also for the water/aquifer recharging that a protected forest with its seeps, pools, and streams can offer us, and those with whom we share the landscape.
Join us on future field trips, a great time and much learning is guaranteed! Keep your eye on Connect Cornish for details on our Wetlands exploration in mid-April. Thank you to the Fitch family for hosting this Conservation Commission event, and to Martha Mitchell for sharing her deep understanding of the forest and its inhabitants. Find her tracking guide, co-authored with Lynn Levine, Mammal Tracks and Scat Life-Size Tracking Guide (published by heartwood press), available on-line.