Wednesday January 13th 2021

Today was a cool and gloomy day. The thick cloud cover necessitated a light on inside my RV home to do anything more than watch TV even at midday. Outside the temperature remained in the low fifties all day.

An upside to the cool, cloudy and still conditions was the lack of people out on the trails. During my late morning walk I didn’t see a soul. It was so quiet that every little noise in the woods stood out. The sounds of squirrels on the ground and in the trees sounded like far bigger creatures. A woodpecker on the far side of the river found a hollow tree that amplified every peck against the trunk. It was an interesting exercise to stand still on the river bank and listen to all the various sounds throughout the woodlands.

I took my second walk of the day early to get away from the TV and beat the approaching rain showers. Around 4PM a series of brief light showers began. They are forecast to continue into the evening. On the second walk I encountered more people out and about. It was still very still, but the sound of kids at play and barking dogs kept the more wild sounds of nature from my ears. Other than lots of squirrels the only wildlife I saw was a lone Anhinga. Unlike yesterdays spread wing pose, it was huddled up with its wings close to the body.