The GAP between Frostburg and Cumberland has been ice-free for over a week now but temperatures have remained a bit chilly for biking. Warmed up today so I made my first run to Cumberland. I was most interested in checking out the Spring vegetation but I must admit I was disappointed. No dandelion rosettes, no purple deadnettle, no first-year witches broom—the usual harbingers of Spring—in evidence yet. About the only greenery out now are the leaves of dames rocket.
Did see my first robins of the year—a sure harbinger of Spring. Last year I saw the first robins on March 1. I guess now we will subjected to their cacophony each morning two hours or so before dawn. Also saw a peregrine falcon, tufted titmouses, two cardinals (male and female), black-capped chickadees, and song sparrows.
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| This boulder had fallen on the edge of the trail. Workmen were wrestling it to the side. |
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| A sizable tree had fallen across the trail but it has been removed by the time I got there. |
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| Dames rocket leaves |
At one point I saw ahead of me on the trail what I first thought was a skunk. As I approached closer I realized it was a porcupine. I have seen porcupines in the Catskill Mountains of New York but I had never seen one around here before. I did not even know they occurred in this area.
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| Porcupine |
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| Porcupine. Stay away from that tail! |
