Visitors in the Valley

It's amazing what you can find out about your neighborhood by going for a walk. With the past two days acting like maybe we'll have spring and summer after all, I put on my safety vest, grabbed my picker-upper-stick and some bright yellow litter bags, and hit the roads.

Down at Tern Lake, the summertime tourists are arriving. See those black specks near the edge of the ice?



Here they are. A pair of Barrow's Goldeneye ducks. Another pair took off when I approached. And there were some mallards farther along the lake.



Down the road a ways, I saw a moose had crossed the road. The cell phone's for size comparison. Moose have a split, pointed hoof.



Then I found the tracks of two snowshoers--and I don't mean the long-eared hares that are turning from white to brown and hopping all around the yard. I have no idea why their tracks are left in the gravel.




And then there's this little fella, who left no tracks I could find.



Saved the best for last. So, I was walking along and saw these tracks. All those scuffed up boot tracks in the lower right are mine.




And, a closer shot.



And a real close shot with my cell for comparison. No doubt--wolf tracks, and recent. Two days ago it rained pretty hard, and the rain would have washed out the ridges between the pads.



Either wolf, or someone has a monstrous St. Bernard in the valley.