Nature Connection: Settling Into Winter

Now that the holidays are over, we can settle into winter. Cape Cod winters can vary a lot, with days of snow, sleet, and rain and days of warm, stunning sunshine side by side. In January we begin to see lighter mornings and afternoons but those of us who have experienced more than a few winters here know that those teasers are just that, teasers. We may not get the snowy winters of farther north, but we do get plenty of damp, unpleasant days with frosty wind and icy trails to traverse.

If you love to walk in the woods like I do, it’s good to be prepared for everything from fallen trees across paths to trails slick with ice to long passages so muddy you wish you had hip boots and maybe a friend to pull you out of especially sticky situations. Recent windstorms have created some messy conditions with fallen branches and trees everywhere. Be vigilant when walking in these areas as some branches are still hanging, but barely and dangerously.

I often think of winter winds as part of Mother Nature’s cleanup crew as they help clear out dead or diseased wood. The branches and trees that fall aren’t done with their work yet. They will offer homes and sustenance to many animals and plants, large and small, as they slowly decompose back into the earth, offering their richness to all growing and living things. Nature wastes nothing, but especially trees.

The silence of the winter woods spooks some people, but I love it. There’s a mystery to the quiet and if I stand or sit still long enough, I realize there’s a lot of life going on around me. Our year-round birds tend to wear dull plumages in winter and sometimes we don’t see them right away. Chickadees, nuthatches, titmice, and downy woodpeckers often travel in mixed flocks, feeding on whatever they can find behind bark, in crevices on branches, on old dead leaves still hanging on. Squirrels of both the red and gray variety are also around and some of them will give you a good scolding if you interrupt whatever it is they are doing.

Winter is when I’ve seen mice and weasels on my walks. Weasels are small and fast but also bold. Sometimes they will stop right in the middle of a path as if to stare you down and then they’re gone in a flash.

Plants are busy in the winter, building up roots and budding. Most aren’t sprouting yet but in some places you can see the old leaves fading on winterberry and trailing arbutus. The new growth won’t be far behind.

Winter is a great time to look for cocoons and other signs of dormant moths and butterflies. You may find praying mantis egg masses or the furry masses of gypsy moth eggs. Check the latter against pictures online to be sure they are of the native variety, and if you find the latter, feel free to scrape the eggs off the tree branches. If you find a larger cocoon it may belong to a spicebush swallowtail or a Prometheus moth. Please leave those be. Taking them inside can speed up their natural process and they will die if they hatch too early. You can take note of the location, however, and visit it in the spring to see if you can catch any action.

Ponds seem quiet in January unless there’s a chatty flock of ducks there. We get lots of interesting ducks here in winter so check out these areas for unfamiliar ducks and look them up. I know everyone is all about the phone apps but a good guidebook is still one of the best ways to nail down an identification. Take notes or pictures but know that your good notes will be more useful than many photos, unless you are a great or professional photographer. Even then, if the lighting is weird or the birds are far away, a good picture for identification purposes can be hard to take.

Look for gadwalls, my personal favorite winter duck because they are so elegant and lovely, as well as American wigeons, ring-necked ducks, buffleheads, hooded mergansers, wood ducks, black ducks, mallards, and even the lovely pin-tailed ducks. All these ducks as well as some other less common ducks may be found in area ponds. You will rarely find them all in one area but checking out local ponds in winter is much easier than at other times of the year.

This is a great time of year to learn some animal tracks. Depending on where you are and the softness of the ground, look for deer, raccoon, opossum, muskrat, otter, fox, and coyote tracks. Learn the difference between rabbit and squirrel tracks as they can appear surprisingly similar.

Winter is when the owls become quite active, and you may be hearing their calls at night. Learn the calls of the great horned owls, screech owls, and barred owls as well as the less common saw whet owls. Their calls are readily available online.

If all that isn’t enough to keep you busy on your winter walks, check out the night skies. Learn some constellations and watch for shooting stars.

Winter is a quiet time on Cape Cod, but as all of us that grew up here know well, it is far from dull or without beauty. It’s also quite busy as many species begin preparing for courting and mating, for pushing forth new growth, and for getting ready for the crazy ruckus that is spring.

Enjoy the lighter mornings and afternoons, stay cozy when you can, and get outside when the weather allows. This is the one time of year you can go out without running into anyone else on the beach or a woodland trail, which makes it one of my very favorite times of year.