Winter in the North Country

Here we are at the height of summer; in northcentral Pennsylvania it’s usually hot, humid and hazy. Spring’s wildflowers are long gone, birdsong is tapering off, mammals are largely nocturnal, biting insects are at their peak – it’s just not very enjoyable to be out in forest and field. Thanks to climate change summers in most areas are getting longer and hotter. Here, the last week has given us temperatures of 90°F or more with more to come.

If, like me, you enjoy cooler weather you may enjoy these videos from our son and daughter-in-law’s property far to the north. Even there, winters ain’t what they used to be. Last winter was warmer and with less snow than in years past, but there was still cold and snow.

Here are samplings from two camera traps at their place, part of which is a long-abandoned field with some old apple trees; other areas have always been forested. The videos were taken from late-December through mid-May. The first video was distilled from the 528 clips taken by a camera trap in the area with those old apple trees: fisher, white-tailed deer, eastern coyote, blue jay, eastern chipmunk, raccoon, red fox, common crow, wild turkey, porcupine and gray squirrel –

The other camera trap was placed to look down the trunk of a broken red maple tree in an area that was once cleared but isn’t far from a steep slope that was never cleared. This camera trap had taken 302 videos over the same span of time: gray squirrel, white-footed mouse, snow on a beautiful winter day, white-tailed deer, red squirrel, wild turkey, downy woodpecker, robin, blue jay, eastern chipmunk, southern flying squirrel, eastern coyote, raccoon and hairy woodpecker –

Now, in summer when it’s hot, humid and hazy I hope you enjoyed this refreshing reprise of last winter.