Forest Life

It was a beautiful, blue sky Tuesday morning (6:50 am), May 20, 2020. I'm the first to arrive at Aitken State Forest, soon to be sharing the trail with a couple of older ladies. As they part up the trail for Bald Moutain, I make my way down a different road for about 45 minutes. At first, I was a little discouraged because there wasn't much activity going on except the abundance of chipmunk calls. As I turned around and began my journey up Bald Mountain, that soon changed. It was almost like I was watching a couple's show where there were two Black-capped Chickadees dancing with each other and then right after, two Black-throated Green Warblers. Though, those were the only species I really saw in this dense mixed forest. The forest itself was a beautiful composition of pines, beech, maple, oak, and even a few flowering species like bleeding heart and trillium. Throughout my way up to the peak of the mountain, I heard one Woodpecker going to town on a tree somewhere, unfortunately, I was unable to spot it. I knew it was a Pileated Woodpecker because of it's distinct 'laughing' call, but oh how I wish I was able to see it too. Most of the time I had to wait for a species to send out another call because all my recording would pick up was the loud call of a chipmunk. Though that was one of the biggest challenges today, Aitken State Forest did not disappoint in the number of species I was able to get a good recording on. I hope to go back there soon to see what else it will have in store for me, let alone, see that gorgeous view again.

Publicado el mayo 20, 2020 11:37 TARDE por chey_conn