One sure sign that a piece of land was once used for agriculture is a pile of rocks like this. This small clearing is one that I had not explored before and one of the few remaining places in the 200 acres of field and forest within walking distance of where I live that I have not stepped foot in. I have been using this early start to spring to go exploring here and elsewhere. It is a great time to explore because there are no leaves or snow to hide features, limit visibility, or hinder movement through the landscape. I also know that I am not missing big movements of migratory songbirds or the ephemeral spring wildflowers because it is still too early for them. So if the places I explore turn out to be poor for my interests then I have not missed out!
 
A lot of the forest here is plantations of red and jack pine and eastern white-cedar and I don't find that they offer as much for my interests as some of my other regular patches. But I have found a few new places here that may be promising including the small clearing shown here, which is close to a larger clearing I know well. This particular pile of rocks is where I found two of the butterflies I saw today, both sunning themselves on the rocks, and where I took the previous photo(s) of the Eastern Comma. I was very happy to find this pile of rocks because it is the only pile like this in the area that is out in the open. The others are all in the shade or overgrown with vegetation. Maybe in the future I will find a variety of cold blooded animals making use of these rocks!