April 7, 2021

A few nights ago we had a nice surprised on the trail cam, capturing an adult bobcat walking down our driveway toward the road, just after the time when our girls usually fall asleep in the evening (and in the early morning, a gray fox). I may have seen a bobcat once at our house years ago, from the mud room after bundling the kids up in their winter clothes. When I stood up and looked out of the door window, I saw a flash of brawn and fur and something went tearing up the hillside. It looked feline, but it was fast, and the snow was too deep to get a clear look the tracks. But now we have confirmation that bobcats do occasionally travel through. Our neighbor feels like the habitat along the brook across from her house, and across the road from us perpendicular, is perfect for bobcats, and she’s probably right.

This morning nothing was on the trail cam, but the phoebes, which have been back for a couple of weeks it seems like, have been noticeably louder, with a pair of males chasing each other over by the cabin. This is the time of year that feels somewhat like the calm before storm, when the soundscape is mostly still year-round resident birds punctuated by a few early arrivals, when the buds become visible in the treetops, and when you can walk outside first thing in the morning without a jacket, at least for a couple of minutes.