February 2022

January 31  I'm sneaking this into February just because I love these two photos of the waterfall at Ward's Pond and a hooded merganser in the stream that runs between Ward's Pond and Leverett Pond on such a crisp, clear day.  The hoodie had been perched on the branch lying in the water and hopped off just as I took the photo.  Went out on this walk after I posted the January notes.

February 1  On my walk from Ward's Pond to Leverett Pond, saw several hoodies: a pair in the stream as it leaves Ward's Pond; two males further along the stream; and two females, where the stream flows into Leverett Pond.  On the drive back home, stopped at the Arb to walk through the conifer woods in the snow.

February 2 Love the date:2/2/22.  In between running errands, stopped at Ward's Pond for a quick walk.  Half way around the pond I ran into a woman with her dog (which I had to pet). She'd spotted a muskrat, sitting on the edge of the ice, next to a small patch of open water by the reeds, in the marshy area of the pond. It sat there for a few minutes, then slipped into the water, swam around for a bit, came out again.  So great to see it.  Also heard a red-tailed hawk screeching above, then the woman saw it land in a tree across the pond, so I got to see that, too.  Their high-pitched screeches always sound so wimpy to me, for such a large, predatory bird.

February 3  Warm yesterday and today, everything melting.

After breakfast, on my usual walk around Ward's Pond to Leverett Pond, saw a red-bellied woodpecker land on a tree, retrieve some sort of nut and fly off again.  At Ward's Pond, Carolina wren poking about in the wet leaf litter, beneath a couple of downed logs, probing with its bill.  At Leverett Pond, the male wood duck still there. And a male common merganser, a recent arrival. On the way back to Ward's Pond, another red-bellied woodpecker pecking at the broken off end of a branch high up on a tree.

By lunchtime, it's 50F (10C) and the melting is accelerating.  Driving home from an errand, I see the pond enveloped in mist.

 

For the next few days, we have warming and freezing, so that there is ice everywhere.

February 11 And now, it's warming up, and I'm shocked to see these snowdrop shoots working their way up.

February 12 Already warm when I got up, so I headed out to Mass Audubon's Broadmoor sanctuary in Natick, about 40 minutes west of JP.  In a meadow, right by the parking lot, is a pair of bluebirds perched on the poles holding a couple of nesting boxes.  The male nearly an electric blue.  I'm surprised to see them here in the winter; Boston is a little north of their wintering grounds.  The trails are all iced up and coated with meltwater, so I head back.  

On the way home, I stop at Lake Waban in Wellesley.  It's the first time I've been there in two and a half years, as Wellesley College, which borders the lake, had closed its parking lots and trails since the pandemic began.  I walk a little ways on the paved path and boardwalk. Hear a mute swan taking off, its wings whistling with each beat as they attack the air.

Before lunch it's already in the high 50s, with everything melting even more.  Walking along the paved path at Leverett Pond I see a few ring-necked ducks and hooded mergansers.  

February 13  And now it's cold again, snowing gently, a few inches forecast.  Heard turkeys gobbling this morning on our walk, and there they were, up in a tree.

February 18 After a few cold days, a warmup: yesterday 62F (17C), this morning in the 50s, birds singing, the first real birdsong I've heard in weeks.  Snow completely gone and circles of ice melt dappling the surface of the pond.

 

A couple of swans reappeared, one dozing, neck wrapped around its body, head tucked in.  You might wonder how mute swans curve their necks like that: under all those feathers, they have 23 vertebrae in their necks, far more than the 7 we (and most mammals, including giraffes) have. 

Check out the photo of the giraffe skeleton I took at Harvard's Museum of Natural History a few years ago.  Their neck vertebrae are huge, each one nearly a foot long.

February 19 Tracks on the boardwalk at Ward's Pond, maybe the muskrat.  Instead of the usual tracks heading down from the hilly side of the boardwalk across to the marsh and pond, today there were tracks all over, from one side to the other, as well as along the boardwalk.  

The tips of the snowdrops at the side of my house are just barely starting to turn white, the beginnings of flowers.

February 20 And now it's freezing cold again: 16F (-9C) this morning, wind chill 4F (-16C).  Here's the temperature summary from today's NY Times. Friday went from a high of 62F (17C) to a low of 25F (-4C). Yikes.

All quiet at the pond this morning, no other walkers or joggers out and few cars along the Jamaicaway as it's a long weekend at the start of school vacation week.  All I hear is the wind in the trees and the crunching of the ice as it cracks and crushes against the remaining sheet, pushed by the waves.

February 21 Went to New Haven to have lunch with Jeannie's cousin Joanie and to go for a walk with Barb Levine-Ritterman.  Barb took me to East Rock Park, where we walked along the footpath by the Mill River.  Saw a turkey vulture soaring by the red cliff of East Rock, the first of the spring, and a female common merganser in the river, unusually, alone. Lovely mild, sunny day, in the 50s.

February 23  Out first thing in the morning with Maddie, I'm noticing more and more bird song, especially on the quieter streets; the video captures a snippet of what I heard.  Spring is coming.  

Later on, a few hooded mergansers on Jamaica Pond, looking sharp.  At Ward's Pond, a few ring-necked ducks.

More weird weather: today nearly 70F (21C) and I'm walking outside in my shirt sleeves. But my phone is also warning of the upcoming winter storm, forecast to dump up to a foot of snow on Boston the day after tomorrow. Yikes.

February 24 And this morning it's 24F (-4C), with a wind that makes it feel like 15F (-9C). Brrrr.

February 25 And today, snow that started overnight, accumulating to about 8".  A few Canada geese were hunkered down near the small beach, their backs covered in snow. A single male common merganser in the water; by the time I turned around and headed back home, flown off.

Maddie a snowdog after her morning walk...

February 26  The grey screech owl is back at the hole in the tree at the end of my street!  Stayed there all day, basking in the sun.  I suspect the pair spent the storm in the hole, hunkered up against each other, their down feathers keeping them warm.  In the afternoon, saw several hoodies at Jamaica Pond and a pair of ring-necked ducks at Ward's Pond.

February 27 And the recent temperature summary in today's Times: dropping from a high of 69F (21C) on Wednesday to a low of 22F (-6C) on Thursday, and then, to 13F (-11C) on Saturday. Yikes.