This suffered ice storm damage on 19-20 Dec 2013, and had a substantially large branch snap in half. Beyond the tree however, is one of the campus' and towns major power line, which would have been taken down had the ice piled up more so on the other side of the tree. The image highlights trees that are dangerously close to the power lines and with multiple ice/snow storms northen New York recieves, it's only a matter of time until a line gets broken.

Feb. 5, 2014: This is a picture depicting waterfall movement on a winter hike through Stone Valley in Colton, NY. The woodland offers a nice enclosed feel when passing through and seeing the views of the waterfalls along the river. I like this image because I feel that it captures the rivers movement and showcases its reaction to the heavy snowfall. The Stone Valley trail network encompasses over 12 miles of trail along the Raquette River (shown above) which is accessible for about six of those miles. The trails lie on land that is owned by St.

Somehow I wasn't expecting 5" of fresh, powdery snow when I took the dogs for a walk this morning. But as they say, March "comes in like a lion"…

It was snowing as we walked and I enjoyed the partial view of the sun through the snow clouds. Turns out that the rest of the day was pretty sunny and warmish.

This is an example of the neglect of the dilapidation experienced by some of the university’s older structures. The North Country experiences extremely low temperatures throughout it’s winter seasons yet according to Sperling’s Best Places climate record website, Canton experiences an average of 164 days of sun annually. This sun heats up the black stone wall and melts the top layers of snow during the day where the water can seep down through cracks along the walls surface.

Due to the December 2013 ice storm, the old needles on the pine tree shed. The needles that fell off from the white pine sapling accumulated beneath the pine tree. They play an important role of retaining soil moisture and temperature of the plant’s roots found underground; hence maintaining the plant’s metabolism. This is significant during the winter season whereby the temperatures drop below freezing point thus less liquid water is available in the soil for the plants.

A scotch pine outside of Whitman Hall took a hit from the ice storm that took place on the 19th and 20th of December, 2013. The trees top has cracked due to a covering of ice and snow from the storm, but has yet to fully break. Even though the tree can survive without the top, this area is now vulnerable to rot and disease, which would result in the death of the tree. Only time will tell if the tree will survive. The December ice storm has had many continual affects in the North Country and is a reminder that much of nature is vulnerable to the affects of weather.

Warm day! Temp about 38 degrees as we enjoyed a nice snowshoe. The old yellow labrador did ok as long as he walked in our snowshoe tracks.

In the late afternoon, just when you wouldn’t think there would be any animal activity in mid to late winter, two kinds of animal tracks were discovered about 10-15 ft outside my dormitory around an entrance that is not commonly used by its residents. What appeared to be squirrel and deer tracks, left two trails that lead to and from a young maple tree. Both animals are very much active during the winter, utilizing this tree for sustenance until spring brings around lush, green trees and grass.

Yesterday afternoon, when spring unexpectedly splashed into the air for a few short hours, something else fell too. As I was walking near Miner st. trying to contain the spring giddies, there was a sharp report. After inspecting the street for lost hunters and fallen deer, I turned and continued walking, only to hear the sharp cracking sound again. With a quick spin I faced the empty street ready to take on my foe but found nothing. Unwilling to be duped again, I started walking backwards, eyes waiting. Then I saw them.

I spotted a Snowy Owl hanging out in a large field. It was amazing to watch it fly effortlessly from a telephone pole, to a tree, and finally landing on the ground in the field. It was very impressive to see how well the coloring of the owl helped it blend into the ground. As I watched it, I couldn't help but to think of all the people who were driving by the field oblivious to this beautiful bird!