There was a cold wind on the day I drove by this pond. Snow showers were blowing through and the flakes glittered like glass in the air. You can see the ski trails of old, now closed, King Ridge ski area in the far left.
The is the inlet to the three ponds here. It comes out of the woods, goes under the road John cut and enters Pond 1. Unfortunately there were way too many coyote tracks in this part of the property. Enough for me to consider hiring a bounty hunter. (No, I won't. Probably.) I didn't bother to photograph the coyote trails. They followed the brook out of the woods and then wandered around the ponds and the saw mill. They were hunting mice and squirrels. And any wayward cat. One morning last week I heard the coyotes on the property and they were much too close to the house. As soon as I turned on the outside light, they quietly disappeared into the dark.
At what I call Pond 3, the wetlands pond that is a nursery for frogs and turtles, we found that the outlet of the pond was not frozen. You can see how popular this liquid water is for the wildlife in the area. The trails are plentiful here. I only wish I could withstand the cold (which has been formidable lately) and sit and wait for them to come for their photographs to be taken while drinking. But it is satisfying enough to view the evidence of their comings and goings.
