February 2023

Monday February 6 Strange weather the last few days. We've been having an unusually mild winter: early Friday morning it was 32F. But Saturday morning, when I got up to take Maddie out, it was a breezy -11F (-24C), with a wind chill of -28F (-33C) in Cambridge; the photo is a frosty window we passed by. In Boston, the low of -10F was a record. And by noon on Sunday, it was 50F (10C). Yikes!

This morning, ice at the edges of Jamaica Pond. Lots of Canada geese hanging out in the water just beyond the ice. Maybe 50 or so common mergansers, many beautiful males with their white bellies, black backs, shimmery, greenish heads and bright red, thin, narrow bills. And the hoodies, which had numbered around 100 a few weeks ago, almost all gone, only about half a dozen left by the tiny island. A couple dozen ring-necked ducks gathered together in a single group. And the lone pied-billed grebe still there.

On our afternoon walk around the neighborhood, I spotted these large, grey feathers strewn on a front lawn, maybe from a pigeon? I wondered if it had been attacked by a red-tailed hawk or a great horned owl - must have been something large to take it down. Peregrine falcons are fond of pigeons; they are one of the reasons peregrines sometimes live in cities. Diving at speeds of up to 200mph, they hit the pigeon mid-flight, so that it drops like a stone, and catch it in their talons before it even hits the ground.

Tuesday February 7 Afternoon walk at the Arboretum. First up, looking for witch hazel, now in bloom. This one is in the Leventritt garden. Another on Bussey hill and another by the two ponds.  As Ned Friedman, the Director of the Arb says "If you think you need to visit a florist to see flowers in the depths of winter, you are dead wrong. Just head to the Arnold Arboretum where there is something in flower every single day of the year."

We walked along the oak path and on the road by the conifers, hoping to hear the owls hooting, but no luck. On the way back, on the back side of Bussey Hill, a sugar maple had a few small, sweet sap icicles that we tasted; sapcicles Susan called them.

And along the Willow Path which parallels the Arborway, I saw this sign:

My English friends may know that cricket bats are made of willow, but I was unaware that there was a type of willow called "Cricket-Bat Willow", known for its toughness and shock resistance, while still being light.

One night this week we went to the top of the hill at Larz Anderson park in Brookline to look for the "green comet".  Over the last few days, the newspapers have been giving updates about where to look for it. We didn't see the comet (city lights too bright), but Susan did find an amazing astronomy app, Sky Guide, showing the night sky in the direction that you point your phone, tracking the stars as you move your phone around, highlighting the constellations and visible planets. With it, much to our delight, we found Jupiter and Venus, brighter than the stars.

Friday February 10 After last weekend's deep freeze, we're now having spring, about 6 weeks early (so much for the ground hog). Here is the weather forecast on my phone for the next 9 days.

Saturday February 11 On Maddie's early morning walk in Cambridge, I heard a woodpecker drumming, staking out its territory, proclaiming its availability for mating, another sign of spring. I couldn't find it, but stopped to try to record the sound. Then there was a second one, across the street from it, drumming back in response. Back and forth they went.  As I stood there and listened, I noticed a golden retriever coming out of the house I was standing by, about to head out for a walk. It was Bailey, Elizabeth Warren's dog; I chatted for a minute or two with Bruce, her husband, at the other end of the leash. Susan had mentioned that they live in the neighbourhood. 

On our afternoon walk in JP, ran into a neighbour who told me she'd seen two mature bald eagles at the pond earlier today. Very neat!

Tuesday February 14 More witch hazel, this time in our neighbour Mary's front yard.

Wednesday February 15 Several friends have told me they've seen bald eagles at the pond over the last few days. I've been on the lookout, but still haven't seen one.

Walking along my street, saw these snowdrops blooming, confused by the warm weather.

Thursday February 16 The high today was 62F (17C), a record, just ten days after we hit a record low of -11F (-24C). Yikes. If this is what February is like, what are we going to see in August?

Saturday February 18 In Brooklyn today, visiting Susan's family.  Walked down to the Brooklyn Marine Park and along a trail by the salt marsh, saw a flock of ruddy ducks and a couple of wigeon. I had no idea there was such a gorgeous place in Brooklyn.

Tuesday February 21 After spending a few days in Brooklyn, we drove to New Haven to see some friends and Jeannie's cousin. At breakfast at Barb and Robin's, Susan spotted a fox trotting through the woods along the edge of their back yard, not in a rush, but intent on where it was heading.  Love seeing foxes. After breakfast we walked around Maltby Lake, one of the reservoirs near their house.  Saw a few common and hooded mergansers (I think...we neglected to bring the binoculars), a great blue heron, and possibly a muskrat, its wake giving it away as it swam across the still water).

Saw these cubic, box-like seed pods on the way - very unusual! Barb tells me the plant is appropriately called seedbox.  More photos here; scroll on the photos to see better shots of the seed pods.

After our walk, we drove on the Guilford to see Susan's friends, Liz and David.  Sitting in their kitchen,  watching cardinals, chickadees, red-bellied and downy woodpeckers at their feeder, Susan spotted a Coooper's hawk perched on a branch at the back of the yard, sizing up the birds at the feeder for a meal; she took the photo.

In the afternoon, we went out for a drive and walk.  First stop: an eagle nest, huge collection of sticks midway up the crown of a tree.  We were just going to drive past for a look at the nest, but I thought I saw an eagle in it so we stopped to take a closer look. And there was an eagle: we could just see its white head above the sticks. Wonderful, especially as Susan had never seen one before.  As we watched, taking turns with the binoculars, a second eagle flew in, swooping fairly low before rising to land on the nest. As it stood at the side of the nest, we could still see the head of the first one, too. Amazing!  

Also in the eagle department, we've been watching the Big Bear Valley eagle cam, of a pair of bald eagles on a nest in Big Bear, CA (from the Friends of Big Bear Valley).

 Love the Connecticut shoreline with its inlets and bays surrounded by salt marsh.  This is the view not far from Liz and David's house.

Driving along the shore saw a pair of red breasted mergansers, to complete the merganser trifecta for the day.

Wednesday February 22 Walking down to the water in the morning, spotted these snowdrops, carefully planted along the roadside. Also a purple crocus blooming. This is the earliest I can remember seeing so many spring bulbs flowering.

Sunday February 25 An amazing Facebook post of a complete circle rainbow, taken by a pilot flying over the Pacific at 30,000'; Susan passed it along to me.

  

Monday February 27 I went to Brown University to visit my colleague Sharon Swartz and give a talk on feathers.  Sharon studies bat flight (she has a wind tunnel for flying bats in place, the flight equivalent of a treadmill).  She has all manner of bat paraphernalia, including this bat Christmas tree ornament.

You can see more photos of the bats she studies on her website; scroll down to the Gallery or click on "Gallery" heading at the top of the page.

Tuesday February 28  I've been seeing these nearly perfect circles in the ice on ponds.  Don't know how they happen. Maybe an upwelling of warmer water in the center of the circle melts the ice in a symmetrical way?