At a certain point, my shared driveway splits in two. My neighbor is off to the right. I’m on the left. A row of about 10 eastern hemlocks separates the driveways.

The other day as I drove down the driveway before it splits, I noticed hundreds of little hemlock cones under the trees. Maybe thousands. It instantly brought me back to one of my favorite winter birding moments.

I was still relatively new to birdwatching when I took a long walk in Pisgah State Park. The park has several entrance points. The one I used on this day was my favorite entrance. The trail from the parking lot leads down a long hill. Once at the bottom of the hill, it’s like the rest of the world is a million miles away. No houses, cars or anything. Just woods and other interesting habitats to explore and enjoy.