Piitaiki'somm 10, 1st Quarter (2026)

I paid a visit to my phenology site this morning. The snow pack hasn't melted, but it has aged, which is, I suppose, a way of saying that impacts and disturbances have accumulated across its surface. Snowshow hare tracks, as well as "sit-prints" and droppings have joined the vole tracks. The first berry skins to have accumulated on the snow's surface again are those of the mountain ash, which makes me wonder whether wax wings have been through. I have seen a few small flocks of wax wings over the past few days.

The vole tracks appear densely in a few locations, connecting portals between the subnivean and supernivean zones at the trunks of particular trees on either side of the pathways the humans maintain and that I traverse. It makes we wonder why these particular trees are chosen; there's nothing to indicate to my eye that there would be any more food sources around these trees than anywhere else.

The creek is well frozen over, but appears glassy in some areas. I ventured out onto the creek a couple of times to visit a specific spot, and investigate something, but I didn't do a creek walk as my visit. I also ventured a little farther south than I normally do, to take a look at how the erosion mitigation work below the 82 ave bridge is faring.

I heard chickadees, and several calls from what I took to be a pileated woodpecker, as I understand the flickers are not winter birds here. I also heard some woodpecker drumming.