Winter wildlife

The blanket of snow up on Prospect Hill has allowed for really excellent running. In fact, I have been able to run almost every day since returning to Waltham a couple weeks ago. Each day, however, is incredibly unpredictable--the slightest shift in temperature/precipitation/pedestrian activity drastically changes the running conditions, so we never know what to expect.

The best thing is that the snow greatly reduces impact, so my shins have not felt a single tinge of pressure or pain. Also, since I have not had to go to the gym, I have been able to save lots of time AND my knees are also spared (I think the repetitive motion of the Elliptical aggravates my knees a little). As the icing on the cake, the snow is dazzling! Sometimes if it sleets a little then snows, the next morning the low purple/peach sunlight will make the ice and snow glisten and sparkle off the branches of the trees.

The hard part about trudging in snow is that it wipes you out--not only is it very slow going, is often frustrating, and does some damage to your shoes, but when footprints make the path choppy and uneven, it then also takes its toll on ankles, hips, and sometimes your back. Overall, however, the snow is really something to be glad for!

Yesterday when Seth was out by one of the lookouts on Prospect Hill he said he saw some big, extremely fluffy gray cat. It was making some strange sounds as it ran off. When we looked up some images last night he said it looked just like a bobcat or a lynx--I don't thing lynx live so far south as MA, but bobcats have been expanding their range throughout the state in the past couple years. I wish I could have seen that!!!



This is like the bobcat Seth said he saw. Definitely not my picture. ODNR.

I did, however, see my own amazing creature last month--an eastern screech owl (rufous morph). The red owls are uncommon but apparently have been increasing in numbers because of global warming... Anyways, I had a great long look at the little guy (he was perched only a few meters away), and in daylight. In real life, he was even more amazing as the one here:

Eastern screech owl (red), like the one down the road. Wish it were my picture! SDB.



However, the most spectacular critter has got to be our own little Western Pigmy Possum, identified by the card sent from some friends in Australia (Stephen and Kim). This picture was actually very hard to take because every time I tried to take one the camera's focus would make a beep sound and it would scare the dickens out of him--he would zip into his box, not to be seen for a long time after. He must think the sound was a predator or some alarm call... poor guy :o( (I eventually had to focus the camera in a different room so he couldn't hear it).