I am one of the biggest nature geeks who is intrigued with what our region offers us in nature opportunities. I don’t like snow like I once did, but the initial snows make the landscapes look better.

I do though enjoy sitting in “Penn’s Woods” when it begins to snow. It is really peaceful. A fresh inch or two of snow is just “calling me” to get out there. A day after a snow will allow me to “track” wildlife activity and will tell me a story of what was happening while I slept. I have often backtracked a fresh set of deer tracks to find where deer rested on a south-facing slope soaking up whatever sun they could find on a cold January day.

Likewise, a rainy spring and summer helps me investigate, too. One of my favorite birding areas finds me along some abandoned railroad beds in Lower Carbon County and another on some “fire lines” in the Penn Forest areas. I can’t resist checking a mud puddle edge or soft, sandy soil to look for tracks and clues to what is prowling around at night or when I’m not there.

You may remember that birds have two types of ways of getting around on the ground. There are hoppers and walkers. Most smaller birds, like sparrows, juncos and towhees are hoppers. They will leave behind pairs of tracks as they hop every few inches. A half- inch or 1 inch snow will allow you to find tracks “everywhere” near your feeders.

Mourning doves, turkeys, crows, ravens and pheasants will walk. They will leave tracks in a line much like a cat or dog would. Robins are “walkers,” but as grass gets higher, they too resort to hopping. Watch them in your lawns this summer looking for worms or insects.

Starlings, sometimes in flocks of dozens, will “walk,” scouring your lawn for grubs. So bird tracks can give you a clue as to the makers. In the snow you might follow junco tracks to a weed stalk and realize they shook seeds loose with some of the uneaten ones still lying on the white blanket.

I enjoy following fox tracks, too. They, like a dog, will stop occasionally to “leave their calling card,” but at different places I can find where they pounced into the snow. Probably after a vole or a shrew. One cold January day a few years ago, fox tracks were everywhere. Eventually I found that they led to the remains of a deer carcass which was offering needed food to a number of them and some crows.

Be a little curious after a fresh blanket of snow. Follow a few tracks and “picture” the makers and how active they have been while no one was watching them.

Test Your Outdoor Knowledge: Which of these birds does not build its own nest? A. crow, B. great horned owl, C. red-tailed hawk, D. Cooper’s hawk.

Last Week’s Trivia Answer: Chipping sparrows will not overwinter in our region.

Contact Barry Reed at breed71@gmail.com.