Winter On The Salmon Creek

It snowed off and on all day today. After lunch I went down to one of my favorite places. I walked down by the mouth of the Salmon Creek, where it empties into Cayuga Lake. As it was snowing heavily, light filtered down through the mist of snow to the southwest and lit the sky. As the snow lightened I waded in the middle of the creek when I heard a steady ta-dump, ta-dump, ta-dump behind me. I turned to see a train approaching the old trestle bridge. I took the picture below of the train on the bridge while standing waist deep in the middle of the rushing creek!

The Stillness of a Winter Storm

I had plans to visit a good friend in Hector NY on Friday. I was looking forward to our visit but the weather called for a snowstorm. I contemplated rescheduling our get-together, but I have an all-wheel-drive subaru and with the holidays fast approaching I knew it would be a couple of weeks before we could meet. So, I decided to make the trip in the storm. As I drove west on Rte. 96B the snow was very heavy and it filtered the light like a curtain of lace against the landscape. I stopped to capture a few images along the way. We had a nice visit!

The Many Moods of Cayuga Lake

I moved near the shore of Cayuga Lake 15 months ago. I was born and raised on Long Island where I spent many thousands of hours walking the shores of the bays and the Atlantic Ocean. I developed an affinity for large bodies of water. Since moving up to the Finger lakes, I have replaced my connection to the bay's and ocean of my boyhood home with a connection to Cayuga Lake. I have been creating a photo essay of Cayuga Lake over this time. I am amazed how many moods the lake has shown me! Below are a few images created during this time. To see more of my Cayuga Lake photo study go to
http://www.pbase.com/veganphoto/cayuga_lake_in_winter

Animal tracks in the snow at the O.D. Von Engeln Preserve

Last Sunday evening it was snowing softly when I went to bed. I got up early on Monday to find a fine coating of snow like powdered sugar sprinkled on the earth! I love wandering in the woods while it is snowing so I grabbed my camera and tripod and drove east to hike and explore.

I ended up at the O.D. Von Engeln Preserve near Fall Creek. It is an amazing place with creeks, bogs, and wetlands. The trails are well marked and there are platforms that run across the creeks and bogs. It was still snowing when I arrived. The only sound was from wintering birds like chickadee's, cardinals, blue jays and crows.

I found many animal tracks on the frozen creeks and marshes and photographed them. The results can be seen below. I look forward to returning to this special piece of nature!

Red Fox tracks.


Crow?

Crow?



Crow?
Crow and rabbit narrowly avoid collision.
Rabbit tracks. Rabbits make snow angels!




Which way did the rabbit go?

Red Fox.



Rabbits go in and out of a burrow.

Rabbits crossed by Red fox.






Very tiny. A mouse maybe?


Somebody small climbed over a log.

Small critter climbed a log.










Very small creature. Each mark is smaller than a dime.

Side view of a turkey landing and walking off to the left of the image!





The 3 images above show a the remains of a turkey feasting on a winter skunk cabbage bud!


Turkey and red fox tracks side by side

This creature was very small. Each footprint is smaller than a dime.

Turkey's made a north, east, south, west symbol at the bottom of the image.