Wonderful column. Very encouraging and life-giving! Thank you . Sent from my iPhone
> On Feb 17, 2022, at 12:09 PM, Michelle Barnes via Lincoln > <[email protected]> wrote: > > > Dear Lincoln Talk, > > Below please find the latest installment of Lincoln naturalist (and LLCT/RLF > Trustee) Gwyn Loud's Wildlife Column. Lots of different type of weasel > activity plus some winter surprises from The Smaller Majority (one of my > favorite books). To put one more sighting into the rodent column, we got to > see a muskrat scurrying along a pond's edge on one of those very cold snowy > January days Gwyn mentions, which was exciting, but I wasn't quick enough on > the iPhone draw to get it into Gwyn's column... > > Enjoy! > Michelle Barnes > LLCT/RLF, Chair > South Great Rd > > ----- Forwarded Message ----- > From: Lincoln Land Conservation Trust <[email protected]> > To: Michelle Barnes <[email protected]> > Sent: Thursday, February 17, 2022, 06:01:33 AM EST > Subject: February 2022 Wildlife Column: Maples, Beavers, and More! > > > > > > > > Written by Gwyn Loud for the Lincoln Land Conservation Trust. Gwyn welcomes > your sightings, pictures, and questions at 781-259-8690 or > [email protected]. Banner Photo: Beaver by Norman Levey. > > Ms. G, the official Massachusetts groundhog, who lives at Drumlin Farm, did > not see her shadow on Feb. 2. If folklore is correct, this means that spring > will arrive early this year. Time will tell. A blizzard on January 28-29 > dumped about a foot of snow on us (it was hard to measure due to wind and > drifts) followed by nights of bitter single-digit cold. Freezing rain and > sleet came on February 4. Lawns turned into “white concrete”, walking was > treacherous and I felt sorry for birds and mammals which needed to burrow > through snow for food or protection. The swings in temperature continued, > giving us 58℉ on Feb. 12 followed by snow all day the following day. But the > sunlight lingering later each afternoon lifts the spirits and we know that > the spring equinox is only six weeks away. Clipped twigs of forsythia > blooming on my kitchen counter are a bright harbinger of what lies ahead. > > > February 13th Storm. Photo by Bryn Gingrich. > Sugaring season will soon be here as sap rises in the sugar maples and > climate change makes the season start earlier. Quoting from a Cornell > Cooperative Extension newsletter, “Here’s how it works: During the periods > when temperatures rise above freezing, positive pressure develops in the > tree. This pressure causes the sap to flow out of the tree through a wound > (tap hole). > > > Sugaring. Photo by Gwyn Loud. > > During cooler periods, when temperatures fall below freezing, negative > pressure (suction) develops, drawing water into the tree through the roots. > This replenishes the sap in the tree, allowing it to flow again during the > next warm period. Although sap generally flows during the day when > temperatures are warm, it has been known to flow at night if temperatures > remain above freezing. Well before colonists began sugar maple tree growing > in this country, Native Americans tapped the trees for their sweet syrup and > used the sugar made from it for bartering. Their method of sap harvesting and > syrup making is still used today!” > > Each week more birds are starting to sing their spring calls and songs, > including woodpeckers drumming, cardinals singing “cheer cheer”, and > chickadees calling “fee bee”. Birds (and red and gray squirrels!) have been > busy at feeders and several people have written about the pleasure of seeing > bluebirds feeding, as many as eight at one residence on Hawk Hill Rd. Birds > seen recently at Drumlin Farm include a brown creeper, sharp-shinned hawk, > golden-crowned kinglet, 25 white- throated sparrows, two pileated > woodpeckers, hermit thrush, common raven, and hairy woodpecker. > > More over-wintering robins have been reported lately but it will be many > weeks before we see migrating flocks of robins coming from the south. By the > end of February, however, we are likely to see and hear the first red-winged > blackbirds arriving. Listen for their raspy “conk-a-ree” calls from wet > meadows. Various hawks have been observed, including Cooper’s hawks looking > for prey near bird feeders, and red-tailed hawks soaring over fields. A Woods > End Rd. resident was surprised to see a peregrine falcon sitting in a tree > near the house, certainly not a normal “yard bird”. Owls, especially > great-horned owls, are hooting a lot in courtship and territorial behavior, > usually in pre-dawn or early evening hours. They are very early nesters and > may already be incubating eggs when this column goes to press. The > great-horned owls do not build their own nests but use existing nests made in > a previous season by hawks or crows, often high in white pines. > > > River Otter Tracks. Photo by Michele Grzenda. > Recent snow has given us the opportunity to see all sorts of animal tracks, > which tell stories of who was headed where, how fast, and how recently. A > unusual mammal sighting was of an ermine, which is the name for a weasel when > its coat turns white in the winter. It was seen in a surprising place: > dashing across the homeowner’s living room before running outdoors! The home, > on Concord Rd., is close to Polebrook, which is a wildlife corridor. > > > Fisher Tracks. Photo by Ron McAdow. > > Over the past month at least four fishers have been spotted in different > parts of town. Coyotes have been howling at night; mid-February is their > breeding season. Local beavers have been living up to their “busy as a > beaver” reputation, as throughout the winter they are active chewing down > trees to provide food for the beaver family in their lodge. Beavers observed > in Heywoods Meadow seemed unfazed by being videotaped. Beavers have built a > fairly new lodge by a pond on Winter Street near the Waltham line, which may > require a “beaver deceiver” installation to keep the beavers happy while also > preventing flooding. > > With snow on the ground one does not usually think about insects but Norman > Levey has been out with camera in hand, looking for insects and other > arthropods. He has found wolf spiders, stoneflies and even a grasshopper on > the snow, a good reminder that very small forms of wildlife are essential > parts of food chains and ecosystems. He also found a nature mystery: a frozen > orange flow coming from a rotten birch log, possibly the result, from tannin > or other chemical resulting from wood decay. > > > Wolf Spider. Photo by Norman Levey. > An upcoming citizen science opportunity is the annual Great Backyard Bird > Count on Feb. 18-21. As explained by National Audubon, “The Great Backyard > Bird Count (GBBC) is a free, fun, and easy event that engages bird watchers > of all ages in counting birds to create a real-time snapshot of bird > populations. Participants are asked to count birds for as little as 15 > minutes (or as long as they wish) on one or more days of the four-day event > and report their sightings online at birdcount.org. Anyone can take part in > the Great Backyard Bird Count, from beginning bird watchers to experts, and > you can participate from your backyard, or anywhere in the world.” I > encourage you to participate! > > The February full moon, often called the Snow Moon, will occur on February > 16. It has other names, however. As explained in the Old Farmer’s Almanac, > “Names for this month’s Moon have historically had... > > Continue Reading > > > > ©2022 Lincoln Land Conservation Trust | P.O. Box 10, Lincoln, MA 01773 > > Like Tweet +1 > Web Version Preferences Forward Unsubscribe > > Powered by Mad Mimi® > A GoDaddy® company > -- > The LincolnTalk mailing list. > To post, send mail to [email protected]. > Search the archives at http://lincoln.2330058.n4.nabble.com/. > Browse the archives at https://pairlist9.pair.net/mailman/private/lincoln/. > Change your subscription settings at > https://pairlist9.pair.net/mailman/listinfo/lincoln. >
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