Fall is over! Winter has arrived....with a vengeance! Winter brought icy cold and high winds, followed a couple days later by 6 inches of snow. A walk through the prairie is a slower trip now, with snow slowing your footsteps. A few ROBINS still fly through the woods. A DOWNY WOODPECKER raps on a goldenrod out in the prairie, looking for insects hiding within. Flocks of BLUE JAYS and CARDINALS flash a bright blue and red against the snow. BEAVER DAMS now stand in several places along the creek...well built and full of water, they provide a highway for the industrious mammals. The new beaver house stands quietly under the snow and fresh stumps show where they have collected food and building material. The creek lies mostly frozen, with a few holes...and beaver tracks leading to and from the water.
In the prairie, the grasses are partially flattened, with most of the whole landscape visible from almost any one point. Dried out baptisia "bushes" break loose, tumbling across the prairie, dropping seed along the way. GOLDFINCHES, JUNCOS, and WHITE THROATED, TREE, and FIELD SPARROWS flit from place to place. RABBIT tracks follow the trails, and MEADOW VOLE tunnels wander through the snow. A whole flock of PHEASANTS fly up one after another from cover, and glide across into the grass. A HARRIER swoops low over the fleeing pheasants and dives straight into the grass, only to reappear as its prey shoots out to one side to safety. Out in the prairie a bit of movement catches the eye...a small herd of DEER grazes and watches warily....a magnificent 10-point buck watches carefully as you walk by! Animal droppings on the trail mark the passage of a COYOTE...a night time visitor that looks for rabbits, voles and mice! A scattering of gray fur marks the passing of a RABBIT....perhaps to the COYOTE or HAWK...or OWL.
Suddenly, a RED TAIL HAWK drifts over the line of trees...the great bird rocks back and forth in the winds. It circles and drifts low over the prairie, and then heads toward the south. Beneath it lies bent grasses, snowy hummocks, frozen creeks...the icy, frozen landscape of Meadowbrook Prairie!
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