It's been a crazy week for me, so I especially appreciated the opportunity to spend some unhurried time with my kids along the
Hockanum River today. (That's them by the river bank exploring.) We walked less than a mile, but took the better part of the afternoon doing it. I thought I would share some of our discoveries.
J found the first patch of Skunk Cabbage, a sure sign that spring is really here. Rumor has it that black bears awakening from their winter slumber eat this food first. Zoo Boy
observed "Wow. Bears must have really stinky breath."
The boys hunt along the river bank for treasures and surprises.
They were rewarded -- fresh deer tracks! (We knew they were fresh because it had rained earlier in the day, which would have washed away older tracks.) They tracked it along the river for a ways until they lost the trail in the gravel of the
stream bed.
The woods that the river trail runs through.
Another treasure discovered -- a feather, I would guess from a Catbird.
The boys spent quite awhile studying a Mallard drake. He had flown over our heads and landed in the river ahead of us, so they snuck quietly along to find a spot to watch him as he preened himself. As they observed him, another drake flew in. The boys whispered to each other, wondering if they would fight or be friendly. The ducks circled each other, then eventually swam off together. Zoo Boy noted "They must be friends."
Last year's cattails.
Looking for muskrat burrows along the river bank. They found two burrows whose roofs had caved in. A bit further down the river they discovered several trees that had been gnawed by beavers, bringing into question whether the burrows were really muskrat
after all, as single beavers will live in riverbank burrows as well. Zoo Boy likes to think that there are both muskrats and beavers in the river. He's probably right.
J checks out a giant White Ash tree.
Zoo Boy, all smiles in the spring sunshine.
It's been a crazy week for me, so I especially appreciated the opportunity to spend some unhurried time with my kids along the Hockanum River today. (That's them by the river bank exploring.) We walked less than a mile, but took the better part of the afternoon doing it. I thought I would share some of our discoveries.
J found the first patch of Skunk Cabbage, a sure sign that spring is really here. Rumor has it that black bears awakening from their winter slumber eat this food first. Zoo Boy observed "Wow. Bears must have really stinky breath."
The boys hunt along the river bank for treasures and surprises.
They were rewarded -- fresh deer tracks! (We knew they were fresh because it had rained earlier in the day, which would have washed away older tracks.) They tracked it along the river for a ways until they lost the trail in the gravel of the stream bed.
The woods that the river trail runs through.
Another treasure discovered -- a feather, I would guess from a Catbird.
The boys spent quite awhile studying a Mallard drake. He had flown over our heads and landed in the river ahead of us, so they snuck quietly along to find a spot to watch him as he preened himself. As they observed him, another drake flew in. The boys whispered to each other, wondering if they would fight or be friendly. The ducks circled each other, then eventually swam off together. Zoo Boy noted "They must be friends."
Last year's cattails.
Looking for muskrat burrows along the river bank. They found two burrows whose roofs had caved in. A bit further down the river they discovered several trees that had been gnawed by beavers, bringing into question whether the burrows were really muskrat after all, as single beavers will live in riverbank burrows as well. Zoo Boy likes to think that there are both muskrats and beavers in the river. He's probably right.
J checks out a giant White Ash tree.
Zoo Boy, all smiles in the spring sunshine.
2 comments:
I have missed your blog posts and wondered if you guys went for a spring vacation or something. :) That's funny what your kids said about the bear having sticking breaths.
We loved studying the mallard and loved how they are always in pairs. We also figured out they were inside their nests along the edge of the man-made river/pond. They surprised us when they came out of their nests as you could hardly see any until you are close to the edge of the pond.
One of my most favorite things is to walk along the river with my kids (and of course Hubby when he can).
I am so happy Spring is finally here. Definately a lift to the spirits after a long extra cold Winter.
We are still in major meltdown mode, so a walk along the river isn't quite the best thing to do yet.
I noticed the green grass when you guys walked. Beautiful!
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