Enough Already?
Phenology – “a branch of science concerned with the relationship between climate and periodic biological phenomena (as the migration of birds or the flowering and fruiting of plants).”
Had Enough Snow?
It’s the end of February, so the coldest part of winter is behind us, there’s only a few inches of snow left in the fields, and the finches are camouflaged as they rummage around the bare ground under the feeder for sunflower seeds. And we complain. About the lack of snow, the repeated thaws that turn our gravel roads to mush, and the lack of the cold snaps that we (claim) to have enjoyed so much in the past.
Has it really been warmer than usual, with less snow? Well, I’ve been keeping track of temperature at Post Road Farm for nearly twenty years, and this winter (so far) rates as the least cold during that period. I keep track of the average high and low temperatures for each half of the cold months. According to this measure, the coldest period since 2008 was the first half of January in 2022, when the average low was minus two degrees and the average high was 20 degrees, for an average temperature of 9 degrees. The coldest half-month so far this year was the second half of January when the average low was 20 and the average high was 29 for an average temperature of 24.5. This is the first time in the last 17 years that the average temperature never dropped below 23 degrees the first or second half of January or February. Avoiding a cold snap is good for our heating bills, but most of us prefer the cold to the mud. When I looked at the weather records for Sugar Hill, I found that the total snowfall so far was pretty much the same as the historical average. The reason the ground is peeping through under the trees is not that there has been too little snow, but that there has been too much melting.
I suspect that most of us are hoping that March will revert to the norm for late winter. After all, if we didn’t like winter, we wouldn’t be here. So be optimistic. The snowiest and coldest days may still be ahead of us, just as they were back in 2016.
March 15, 2016, steady snow, windy at times, 15 inches of snow, gusts up to 40mph. A deer came to both the front and back doors during the night.
March 18, 2016. This was the coldest night of the year. Since there was no moon and since there was no water vapor left in the air, the night was brilliant. The Big Dipper was nearly straight overhead, something I don’t recall ever noticing before. Jupiter could be seen large and bright through the big maple. The day continued cold and clear, and we set a one-day record generating 46.4 kwh from our solar array even with only 12 hours of daylight.
February 26, 2024. No snow under the big trees, and the little that’s left on the lawn is likely to melt when the temperatures rise close to or above 50 today and tomorrow.
March 12, 2022. The same view out my kitchen window in mid-March two years ago shows that there is still plenty of time for a good snow storm!
Enjoy the Birds
Relatively mild weather may bring more birds to our feeder. Last March, after four days with highs near 40, we not only had an excellent showing from the regulars, a small flock of pine grosbeaks came to the feeder. I had only seen these once before, more than twenty years ago, and this was my first sighting confirmed with both a close look at a bird book and photos.
March 5, 2023, 30 degrees, cloudy, 1145. Great day for the feeder. First, the usual suspects: Eight chickadees, seven starlings, two male and a female cardinal, a white-breasted nuthatch, hairy woodpecker, and a titmouse. But then about seven pine grosbeaks stopped by, staying long enough for a photo session.
February 22, 2024. Sunny, high of 36 degrees. Two dozen small birds active at the feeder today. At least 14 goldfinches, five pine siskins, four chickadees, a pair of purple finches, several blue jays, and a couple of tufted titmice at the feeder or foraging under it. Hairy and downy woodpeckers, which have been around regularly, were finally joined by their smaller cousin, a white-breasted nuthatch.
Last week, on the 23rd, a half dozen or so robins took a short rest on the tall trees seen in the above photos. I only managed a poor photo of one sitting atop the big pine, worth saving only to document their early arrival at Post Road Farm.
Take A Walk in the Woods
Friends from away probably don’t understand our disdain for warm days and melting snow. Haven’t you had enough snow already, and aren’t you sick of huddling by the wood stove sipping hot tea every day after the sun sets? No, I would tell them, this is the time of year that is best for getting the snowshoes and taking a walk in the woods. A layer of snow, especially recent snow that still clings to the branches, transforms the woods into a magical setting. I can put on my snowshoes and head out into the silence, carrying a mug of coffee to enjoy while sitting at Two Stump, Carl’s Seat or one of the other secret places where I love to sit still, listening for the woodpeckers, and hoping to see one of the deer, foxes, or hares that have left their tracks here and there across my trails.
March 17, 2016, 18 degrees warming to 26 degrees in mid-afternoon, pristine! When I stepped outside, two blue jays flew directly overhead, their white and light blue feathers contrasting wonderfully against the deep blue sky. I snowshoed through the Back 80 to the Big Rock, then cut across the frozen swamp to Carl’s Loop. I heard some crows cawing, a pileated woodpecker calling, and several other woodpeckers pecking, but only sporadically. Mostly it was very quiet, except for the snow falling off the boughs of the evergreens.
March 17, 2017. Snowshoe tracks by the pond head out to Foss Woods.
January 30, 2005. “Two Stump” is my favorite resting place in the Lower 40.
Even if the birds are quiet and tracks have been covered by fresh snow, there is plenty to make a walk in the woods enjoyable.
Scraggly bark peeling off a yellow birch, birch seeds littering the snow, a babbling brook breaking the silence, and the long shadows cast over the hillside contribute to memorable afternoons.
Right and below center: Foss Woods, 3/19/18
Below left: Back 4, 3/13/22
Below right: Sugar Hill Town Forest, 3/26/20
Opening Day
Opening Day at Fenway, always a big event for any New England baseball fan, will this year be on April 9th when the Red Sox return home against the Baltimore Orioles. When we lived in Boston, Opening Day was one of the rites of spring. But now, having lived in the North Country for nearly two decades, I find it difficult to include baseball, Baltimore Orioles, or rites of spring in the same sentence with “early April.” The earliest I’ve ever seen a Baltimore Oriole up here was way back in 2009, on April 28th. Nowadays, as winter drags on through early April, my thoughts about “Opening Day” concern “Ice Out” - the eagerly anticipated, but totally unscheduled return of the wood frogs to the pond.
April 24, 2018, 62 degrees and sunny at 10am! The ice was a third out at 8am, but it was rapidly dissolving, turning from pure white in the morning to grey by noon, to translucent by mid-afternoon, and finally disappearing before the sun went down. We took advantage of this unusually warm and beautiful day to have breakfast on the patio. While sitting there, we heard faint calls of wood frogs from the other side of Pearl Lake Road, from what Nancy suggested might be a vernal pool lost in the woods.
Now, I don’t even think of watching a baseball game until late April, when the ice and the snow have finally disappeared. By then, we’re ready for spring, we no longer complain about the lack of snow, and we hope that there won’t be another frost like the one in mid-May last year. If it snows at this time of the year, even the most devoted winter enthusiasts are finally ready to say:
Enough Already!
