December 20, 2021
December weird weather and snow tracks
In late November and the first half of December the weather can easily be described as a rollercoaster. We have had way above average temperatures for highs and lows and then way below average. Yesterday (December 15) into today is a great example of this. After a snowstorm of about 5 inches a few days ago in Fairfax and at the Fort it got up to almost 60 degrees, rained and then cooled down 30-40 degrees, froze the remaining snow and rain to ice and then snowed an inch or so. This sudden change in temperature spawned a few tornadoes for the first time on record in December in Minnesota. I even caught this partial rainbow early in the rain on a walk next to the pond in Fairfax.
We went for hikes at Fort Ridgely at safe times in all of this rollercoaster weather. Other people were doing the same. Here is a picture of one family sliding down the large hill below the chalet. This has been a favorite winter activity of our family and many other families in the area for many years.
The evidence of this is often left as tracks in the snow since we are not there when they are doing their activity. We were very happy after the largest snowstorm that 2 people had been out in snowshoes before we hiked through the woods. It was so much easier to hike on their packed down trail than blazing our own trail. Here is my wife Becky following their trail.
Someone was out on a fat tire bike after one of the smaller snowstorms. Here is a picture of its trail and a deer track next to it.
We met up with this couple that were out hiking like us through the trails in just boots on the trails through the prairie.
Many animal tracks were evident everywhere on the trails. Deer often crossed the trails and many followed the trails. Here is a deer we saw on a trail near the camping area. It looked at us for a few seconds and then climbed the hill off the trail to join another deer above us.
We often see turkey tracks, but not as often as deer. The familiar three toes and large imprint (about 3" long) are easy to identify. Pheasants are similar but half the size.
After the big snow we saw these prints. We assumed it was a squirrel bounding through the deeper snow to go from tree to tree.
One of the weirdest tracks we have seen is this mouse trail. Many of these rodents are subnivian meaning they spend much of the winter under the snow. They build tunnels that they pass through as much as possible. This keeps them safe from predators. I'm not sure if these are tunnels or above ground. It was dead in the middle there, so may have been sick and made these random trails before dying.
Many little birds eat seeds of various prairie plants for food all winter. It is easy to see the small bird footprints around these plants and some of the seeds they knocked off. One day last winter I was out walking after a large snowstorm and I observed sparrows landing on the heads of prairie grass and their weight was enough to pull them down to the ground so they could easily peck off the seeds.
The large snowstorm was predicted to start in the late afternoon so we went out slightly before then. It was just starting to snow when we arrived with only a few flakes coming down. By the time we finished our walk it was coming down quite hard. Here is what it looked like as we walked toward the museum on the prairie trail north of it
As we walked around on the east side of the museum it was coming down even more.
Winter Birds
The day after the rainstorm, snow and cold weather that came in, I went out for a drive in the late afternoon to see how the roads were. The main roads were good so I decided to drive by on the road through the park and then the gravel road toward the horse camp. I saw 2 eagles out in a prairie area near the turnoff for the horse camp. They had either killed something or found a dead carcass. As I stopped to take a couple pictures one flew off. It came back and swooped around the other eagle and the prey. It did this several times and this is the best picture I got. It ended up landing in a tree in the background and watching me from there. The one on the ground kept on eating the whole time I was taking pictures. I am sure the eagle in the tree came back to eat after I left.
As I watched the eagles, a small flock of small birds not much bigger than sparrows landed in the field on the other side of the road. I took several pictures of them and it turned out they were horned larks. The only other time I have seen this bird was in February and March a few years ago. They evidently are here all winter.
Another cool bird that we saw recently was a barred owl. We were driving on the bottom road through the Minnesota River valley toward New Ulm. Becky saw it perching in the tree so we turned around and came back to take its picture. It was very cooperative and stayed there the whole time we took its picture. It must have been a good hunting site.
Contact me at bekahjbaker@gmail.com if you have any questions or have some pictures or text you would like to add to a future update.