I got out.

[thecfarm]

No rock hauling yet. 
But I started to clean up a EWP that broke off during the wind storm back in December. I took the big wood and that got burned in the OWB last year. Now I am picking up the top and the limbs and those are going into the OWB too. Just put a load in and it's just a smoking now!!!! That green pine really smokes!!!
This is across of the garage.



The pine that broke off is just about in the middle of this picture. This picture is an old one.
This area has dried out very well. But in the other direction there is still snow on the edge of the woods. I have some places I don't go into until mid June.

[Bruno of NH]

Glad you have got out 
It's nice when you can get  things done

[SwampDonkey]

She all burns and makes heat......and smoke.  I cleaned up a couple softwoods around the time of the December wind as well. Had a 3 foot diameter spruce and a 22" fir, both white on the stump, but the fir snapped off 6 feet up where there was some dry rot. Used most of the fir for firewood, and used some of the spruce until I got tired of chain sawing cuts to split in them big rounds. World of difference in splitting fir versus spruce. Fir is way less effort and work. 

[thecfarm]

I have very little spruce. I doubt I would have a truck load on my land. The fir I have don't grow well. Most times it gets about 4 inches across and will break off. Some do get up to 8-10 inches but will have a lot of rot in it. I did have a couple acres that grew some nice fir. That stuff was almost 2 feet across and no rot. But for the most part when I am cutting, I cut the fir down and let something else grow. 

[SwampDonkey]

Yeah, most fir I see quite a bit south of me doesn't amount to much size. Once you get down into the low lands off these rolling hills it doesn't do great. They don't like wet. Spruce will grow in wet or dry ground.

[thecfarm]

Not that it really matters. but the fir that grew the best was on a side hill that was wet all the time. The fir that don't grow good is on the high ground. 
The picture I posted is good ground and note I cut all the fir out of there. Take a picture of that size most any place else on my land and there will be fir in it, a lot of fir.
The green trees you see in the background is fir and not my land. Thats how the fir would be on my land. In some places it is that way.

[woodroe]

Used most of the fir for firewood, and used some of the spruce until I got tired of chain sawing cuts to split in them big rounds. World of difference in splitting fir versus spruce. Fir is way less effort and work. 

Ayuh, splittin spruce by hand can make a grown man cry.  

Most of my big firs have been blown down or broke off from wind.
But it regenerates here like crazy. Makes for good rabbit habitat. 

[thecfarm]

At least you have rabbits.
I see very few tracks on my land. And I mean a few. 
My Father use to hunt rabbits when I was growing up. Then in the early 70's they was not that many. He stopped going because he was not even seeing tracks.

[woodroe]

Not many bunnies here either, only a few tracks all winter.
Fox keep the numbers down I think, saw one slinking about yesterday morn.

[Southside]

Loss of open farm ground with brushy edges, known as edge habitat, basically re-forestation, over the past several decades have led to a dramatic decrease in the cottontail population.  

[SwampDonkey]

Lots of snow shoe hare on the woodlot. But you can go to some woods where there might not be a track.  I hardly see one on the woodlot road, just back in the woods. Yet they cross the road all winter, tracks everywhere. We have no cottontail. Before we had snow on, back before Christmas, I could spot the hares easy. 4 or 5 when I walked out in the woods on paths and buggy trails.

Never see a fir that amounts to much at all on wet ground. They started to discourage managing for fir down there on woodlots and crown land. You see it discussed in woodlot owner group literature and courses online. Wet land yields stunted, yellow, and necrotic small needles and maybe the size of a fence post if lucky. All my decent fir are on well drained elevated ground and way bigger. But not on glacial sand ground. Glacial sand they are not all that great either, maybe get to 16" out in Deersdale ground, sand and boulders. Can see lots of old thinning out there, they get so big and the tops slow growth to 2-3 inches. Not far from Deersdale is more loam ground and they grow good in that in Napadogan. The cedar grow to 3 feet across, more upland cedar growing with maple in Napadogan. In my cedar ground the better firs are on raised spots. In the wet spots they don't grow too much. I've seen that in all my travels with fir. 

[B.C.C. Lapp]

We used to have cottontail rabbits all over this farm.   Now we have next to none.  But we see eagles, red tail hawks, sharp shin hawks, falcons, Kestrels and a host of different kinds of owls.   Rabbits don't have much of a chance.    Glad you were able to get out Ray. This time of year with the soaked ground its tough just staying busy till things dry out a little.   

[moodnacreek]

They blame fox, coyote and all the hawks, not to mention traffic. Then fields are either housing developments or dark woods. Back in the day we shot rabbits in the vegetable gardens and hunted them with beagles. We have a few here and there but what I see is very small litters. Every summer for a long time now I see one or 2 bunnies if any.

[thecfarm]

BCC Lapp, I know where I can go and where I should not go. I hate ruts!!!!

[Peter Drouin]

I have some fir, Nothing big.

[woodroe]

This is what most of my bigger firs and spruce look like in recent years, horizontal. These two 1' dia, firs came down in the Dec. wind storm, UGH. Lost two similar size spruce at the same time, 80'ers. Have lost dozens of these size trees over the course of 5-10 yrs. One of these
broke off up 4-5'

[barbender]

 I'm on a silty sand, spruce and fir both do quite well but  the spruce tends to have red rot. 

 I'm in snowshoe hare country, but I've started seeing a few cottontails the last few years. Everything is moving north. 

 The "winter" we've had this season, will stress many of our northern species. I haven't plowed at all this winter, and we only had about 2 weeks of below 0 weather. What we've had is what I would imagine to be a normal winter for Missouri or Arkansas. 

[B.C.C. Lapp]

I  hate making ruts to Ray.  Once you start that it just gets worse.   I moved a new round bale out to the cows this morning and left three inch ruts all the way across the pasture.   I always put the bucket on float and back drag my way out when that happens but I'd have rather not drove in there at all.  
Right now my woodlot is so soft I wont do any thing out there for a few days at least.   Heck we took another inch of rain last night.

[beenthere]

We seem to have plenty of rabbits, but seldom see them during the daytime. But have them often on the trail cams at night. Think the coyotes and bobcats that we also see at night on the trail cams enjoy the occasional rabbit for a meal. Plenty of tracks in the snow during "snow" time. 
(took my snow plow off and with basketball tournaments coming up as well as the forecast, may get to put it back on this coming week)

[KEC]

I think that here in much of NY the Cottontail Rabbits flourished when many marginal farms failed and successsion brought in an era of brushlands and young forest habitat. All that habitat is now more mature with sparse understory. I have a few cottontails here but not nearly as many as I saw as a kid in the 50s and 60s. Every winter I prune an old apple tree and leave the twigs on the ground for the rabbits. They used to reduce the prunings to bare wood. With our mild winters now they only eat the buds. Fire suppression may well be a factor, too.

[SwampDonkey]

Snow shoe hare are active at night time. Daytime is slumber time.   I have owls and lots of coyotes and I see goshawks in winter. But I only seen them hawks with grouse in their claws. I've not seen  lynx very often. One comes through not very often. Maybe once in 10 years I see a track or a cat. Hares like cedar thickets around here and if they find a small spruce they will give it a hare cut and bite off the top. I've had them go down planted rows and take all the spruce. If I had less I wouldn't complain too much. :D