Reflections from Crumbly Acres: turkey tracks

frozen trees weep ice
boughs heavily laden
juncos sing i
n anticipation

this thaw won't last
sadly they don't know
ol' Jack Frost
hoary winds will blow

crusty ice melts
drops to the ground
birds are all atwitter
yet soon it will be bitter

The path the deer, turkeys and coyotes have trod across the wetland to the island. Today, it's too wet to cross it. The edges, near the mainland, are quite melty!

This is the north east corner of our property. Across the wetland, higher, drier land, where the property marker indicates the extent of our 16 acres, and the neighbour's 35 acres. Beyond this is more wetland, forests and another neighbour's 600 acres. On good days I can hear their cows talking to one another. It was disconcerting, at first, but now I know what they are!

Well, I asked. Should I do housework on a Sunday afternoon, or go for a snowshoe?
Of course, most of my Facebook friends are either amateur photographers, winter campers, or Muskoka amazons. Nancy, outdoors woman as she is on 600 acres of blessed flora and fauna, wolf whisperer, voted for the latter.

The girls thought they might have a nap in the mailbox. It's over the heater, and a warm, cozy spot.

I spend a lot of time on my butt, on the computer, learning some new things, but taking time to Google Hangout with Jess in B.C., I learned a new trick!

Off I went. GPS, water, walkie talkie, hankie, Petersen Flash Guide for Animal Tracks.
But with the varying temperatures, I didn't need to use the snowshoes. The snow was hard and cold on the wetland, and supported my weight.

Both coyote and turkeys had been out for walkies!

It had warmed up, and was to warm up quite a bit this next week, I figured I ought to get out on the frozen bog water before it was too late. It was -10 C. in the morning, but with the walking I removed my gloves, I was that warm in the sunshine.

Last year I took hubby out in March, and we ended up in knee-deep water. It took a week for our boots to dry!

It was beautiful. Not a long walk, 45 minutes, but I gathered some bulrushes for my planters.
The tracks were fascinating. In the photo above, the turkeys are on the right, with the coyote tracks on the left. I saw only one critter, which is fine with me! I saw a rabbit, who scared me as much as I scared it. It took off toute de suite. No photo! I was laughing too hard. The deer were in our backyard hanging out in the sun under the trees, as they are inclined to do.
You can see how large the turkey tracks are! The four-toed track is a weasel, I think. Small track, and no claws, like the coyote and fox.
Lots of fungus on the dead wood. It was a dry, drought summer and we lost a lot of foliage.