I saw geese returning for the first time this season early this morning, in a group of 20-30. Seems early, but with recent weather they should find plenty of open water.

After a morning of freezing rain, the blue skies in the afternoon were a great incentive to get out. This was the first time taking my dog out to the trails at Stone Valley, and she enjoyed exploring the east side of the river. She even found a porcupine - luckily safely tucked away in his den! Trail conditions were very icy, I was glad to have crampons with me and would recommend them to anyone who goes out.

On this day we went to Lampson falls to observe animal tracks and other evidence of life left behind in the snow. Lampson falls is a forest trail that follows along the Grasse River, and this photo was taken next to the shore of the river in almost a wetland based habitat from water overflow. Mind you, in February, there is still supposed to be a decent amount of snow coverage. Today it was very humid, and rained heavily for many hours, exposing many tunnels in the snow that had once been covered. This is called a subnivian zone, the place between the top of a snow bank and the ground.

This icy trip to Lampson Falls turned into a memorable first snowshoeing experience for these two young women in the international student program at St. Lawrence - one from Sweden and the other from Finland. Both did an incredible job staying on their feet. Snowshoes or crampons highly recommended to anyone looking to visit the falls, the recent thaw/freeze cycle has made for slippery conditions!

Taking Hebron Yam on his first kayak excursion and we came upon this loons nest with 2 very large eggs of which only one loon survived. I suspect a snapping turtle or predatory bird had the other.

This little frog, less that 1.5" long was hiding on top of a Raspberry leaf.