Last Day of Winter - Nor'Easter

We had yet another Nor'Easter this past week...the day before the official start of spring. Stayed warm inside as the snow swirled and fell throughout the day and evening...some 12 inches of new snow fell here. Today finally there is bright sunlight and the winds have died down. The snow is starting to melt. I snow shoed over a portion of the pond in search of animal tracks of which I found many nearby the beaver den and the rock Lindley called Rock of Ages. Some kind of cat prints (I assume bobcat) and perhaps prints made by the mink we saw on Tuesday in the middle of the snowstorm.
One of the animals had made little tunnels through the snow into the running water below. Climate scientists say the warmer air has been blocked from getting to us, prolonging our winter here. Meanwhile the arctic continues to be warmer than normal and the ice melting faster where it shouldn't.

March Thaw - Finally

We are full swing into March and finally up in the Lake Sunapee area we are getting a late winter thaw. It has been raining all day this Town Meeting Day 2013. The critters outside devoured two-thirds of the seed I put a couple of days ago. The driveways and dirt roads around town are deeply rutted and slippery with mud. The sugar houses have begun to process maple sugar.
Our last snowstorm on March 7 brought us about 8 inches of weight snow, but the day after the skies cleared, the temperatures rose and the snow began to quickly melt. Still lots to go before the woods and backyard are clear, but I can feel the spring coming.

The rest of February was quite snowy. We had at least three other big storms. The snowbank at the end of the driveway is piled high over our heads. Since the last storm, on Wednesday of last week, I haven't seen any animal tracks in the forest. Perhaps they are waiting for a thaw, hunkered down somewhere.
Only the chickadees and gray and red squirrels have ventured out.
Lots of tree have come down this winter.