The last couple of days saw a relatively strong low pressure system through the region and it brought with it wind and rain.  While not particularly fierce compared to most fall and winter storms, there was more wind and rain then we’ve seen in a while. Despite the weather, the kids and I made a trek down to the park each day to check on shorebirds and moths. We didn’t find as many moths as we had during the milder weather the day before. Shorebirds also are still in short supply. Black Turnstones are showing up at low tide, but things are pretty quiet when the tide comes in. I did see a couple of shorebirds flying yesterday, but never got a good luck at them.  Ducks have also been fairly sparse. Overally, it’s still a little early, so it will be interesting to see what shows up in the coming week.Â
With all the relatively warm sunny weather this month, plants really took off. Many of the trailing currants are now in bloom. I’ve seen flower buds on violets in the park, though no flowers open yet.
Today I noticed some holes in the ground and what looked like it could be associated trails above the rocks stabilizing the slope from Lincoln Street to the beach just before Merrill Rock. The kids an I looked at them and thought maybe they could be evidence of voles. With that inspiration, the kids spent a bunch of time turning over logs along the edge of the forest between the battle site bench and the river mouth. They said they found what looked like vole holes under most of the logs.