Despite it being an overcast day in late February, with the snow about 7" deep and slushy, the little babe and I had a great woods walk. We headed into the game lands, bouncing down the rutted washboard gravel road. Luckily enough people had been through that the road was mostly clear. The forest we were walking in was mostly aspen, black birch, and white oak. This section is known as the Scotia Barrens and it has a really interesting history.
Black birch bark, peeling off and ready to decompose and return to the soil, yet looking so photogenic. The young branch tips of Black birch are good for chewing to freshen your breath - a favorite of the little babe!
We had our second porcupine sign sighting this Winter. Under a very tall White Pine, there was a large amount of poop. One description I read about their scat described it as "cashew shaped" and that is exactly what this looked like. Full disclosure - before I got this close to fresh scat, I looked around very carefully. I was excited to see signs of a porcupine, but I did not actually want to see a real one on the ground!
We saw a large sign of porcupine feasting high up on an Aspen tree.
It was a quiet day. There were no immediate sounds in the forest except for the occasional White Breasted Nuthatch "yank, yanking", though in the distance we could hear road noise. We saw tracks of a skier, but had the place to ourselves. I love Winter because the woods are a wide expanse to explore, without the underbrush or ticks to worry about, and we can bushwhack anywhere, exploring the whole woods, not just following the path. There is always something to see and learn more about.