Today's sighting?
Not a bird of any sort ... well, then again there was a plethora of birds at our feeder this morning taking advantage of the easy meal given the four inches of new snow that fell overnight ... but the really exciting sighting of the day was a mink!
We've seen mink before, but certainly not often. In fact the last one we saw was cavorting over the ice on the frozen pond last winter, slipping in and out of holes in the ice and hunting along the frozen bank.
Today I caught sight of him from my bedroom window. He was this side of the stream, standing up like the photo (no, I didn't take this photo) and at first I was not sure of what type of mammal he was, squirrel??? cat?? then he ran and the gait was unmistakable. Half an hour later Birding Dad saw him running along the far side of the stream. We watched him run the entire length of the property, up and down the stream bank.
I love the snow especially for that reason. I'm sure he is around more often, but as he is so dark in color, and relatively small, we can't spot him against the dark undergrowth and the stream bank.
Often in the summer months we see the prints in the mud, but my favorite "hunting" is to look for tracks in the snow. 
After a light snowfall there are so many clues to look for as to who has been sneaking around the woods or stream bank.
Posted by sunybank at February 27, 2007 05:38 AM
