March 2021 Field Notes and Observations.

The field crews returned for another action-packed season.

We added 125 milkweed cuttings into each yellow polygon.

We installed rodent exclosures at 30 sites between Lower Woodchuck and Upper Partridge Alley

Routine equestrian traffic over semi-frozen slopes caused mud to flow like lava when the ground thawed.

This winter, a porcupine debarked a couple of planted ponderosa pines in Lower Partridge Alley

This mountain bluebird paused just long enough for a photo.

A spotted towhee explored a thorny thicket we planted ten years ago.

a flock of crossbills foraged ponderosa pine seeds from cones and the forest floor.

I can’t help but photograph the first flowers that bloom every year. Early buttercups won again.

Young stinging nettle shoots emerged from last year’s dead foliage.

Aspens prepared for bud burst.