April 2, 2017

Mother nature had a nice April Fool's surprise for us yesterday:  12" of new snow.

Red at morn, sailors be warned - the morning before the storm.

April 1st, no joke

And that was on top of 5" we received on Monday, just when we were starting to see some bare ground appear again, although there is still ice aplenty on the lake.

March 30, bare ground on the shore and puddles on the lake

Tuesday's snow left a perfect cover for some skiing around the lake, and while I was out I went to investigate where Linda had seen an otter bounding across the ice earlier in the morning.  It was easy to find their tracks in the new snow, and it turned out there was a pair of them enjoying the soft snow and spring weather.

Tracks from the otter Linda watched run across Lake Wicwas

Looks like a pair frolicking on the snow

Their tracks led straight from their den, from which I kept a wide buffer as the ice is thinning near the warming shoreline.

Did you know an otter den is called a "couch"?  Or a "holt?"

Sliding in and out of openings along the shore

Soft snow provided some nice examples of otter tracks.

No slides here

The migrating water fowl are also ready for spring;  I heard geese one evening and the next day there were a few congregating down by the dam.  There have been a few pairs of ducks in the open water there as well.  However, I'm guessing the snow birds - both feathered and human - will be delaying their return until their houses are un-buried from the snow.

2017 - it's turning into the winter that just keeps giving.