The latest winter storm began dropping snow on Blue Jay
Barrens early Wednesday evening. Snow
fell steadily through the night and continued until late Thursday morning. The total snowfall was eight inches. That
wasn’t close to being a record, but an eight inch snow is considered to be a
major event in this area. Temperatures are
predicted to warm rapidly over the next week which should melt this snow fairly
soon. Of course, thick snow cover has a
way of keeping temperatures colder than predicted, so I expect to be seeing
this snow for a while.
Unlike our last snow event, this snow began with a couple
inches of large wet flakes that stuck to whatever they touched. This formed a base of snow on tree branches
that caught much of the dry snow that followed.
Cedar branches developed a noticeable droop. Some cedars lost their cone shape altogether
and took on the appearance of sprawling shrubs.
Most will recover their shapes once the snow melts, but there are always
a few left with a permanent disfigurement.
The Indian Grass managed to remain upright through this
snow. A few stalks developed a strong
lean, primarily due to becoming saturated with water during a heavy rain event
preceding the snow.
This winter storm officially began as rain on Tuesday
afternoon. Temperatures reached 50oF
and almost two inches of rain fell during the next 24 hours. By the time the rain changed over to snow,
most of the snow from the prior storm had melted.
The rain was more than enough to fill the pond. Cloudy water made it impossible to make a
visual check for any new salamander activity.
Frozen slush now covers the pond’s surface, so I’ll have to wait for the
melt to see what may be occurring in the water.
A few Spring Peepers began calling late Wednesday afternoon, but they
grew silent when the temperature and the heavy snow began to fall.
During that brief period between one snow cover and the
next, I noticed that voles had left the tall grass fields and extended their foraging
tunnels into the lawn. Voles forage in
areas that provide a thick grass canopy capable of shielding their activities
from predators. Deep snow offers a
temporary canopy cover that allows foraging in normally inaccessible areas.
Voles are plant eaters that feed on a variety of leaves,
stems, bulbs and roots. As they progress
through an area, eating whatever they find suitable, they develop runways that
are then used as travel lanes to quickly escape predators, move to and from
temporary nests, or to access new foraging areas. The floor of the runway is generally bare ground
and the sides are lined with plant material unsuited to consumption. Extensive systems are often developed.
I’m impressed by the amount of work the voles were able to
accomplish in the short time the yard was covered by snow. It’s a more impressive accomplishment when
you consider that the vole was eating its way along. Fortunately, I have no desire to make the
lawn a manicured landscape of introduced grasses, so am not disturbed by the
activities of a few hungry voles.
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