December 2003

5 December 2003

Sequestering ourselves in offices and coffee shops (grading or simply hiding) is not unlike what many animals and plants are doing during the winter descent into darkness.

Most of the deciduous plants have lost their leaves and have sent their nutrients below ground for storage. Our friendly campus snakes and turtles have buried themselves deep in the leaf litter or under the protection of rocks. Bats that feed on the flying insects of spring, summer and fall have found safe hiding places or have joined the migrating birds in search of warmer climes. Even the busy squirrels are spending more and more time snuggled in their leaf-lined dens.

Only a few souls can still be found braving cold rain and murky fog. The rough-skinned newts have returned to the forest from their sojourn to breeding ponds and pools. In the forest you can occasionally find them out in the open, apparently confident that their bright warning coloration will keep away hungry predators. Steller's Jays, with their comical black crest are, if anything, more visible having "come down" from higher elevations. They add their noisy chorus to the calls of resident Scrub Jays and Crows.

Cheerily, a few animals outright refuse to be dampened by December gloom. Just a few days ago I heard Robins singing and saw a Song Sparrow blasting out its territorial song. Sweet reminders that despite a night that arrives early, spring is just around the corner.

with an eye on nature...