Maine Nature News

Vol. 5, no. 9, Tuesday, February 29, 2000

Quick jumps: | This week's reports | Very rough plot of Feb. 22 snow depths in Maine | Prior weekly Nature reports | Prior black fly reports | Home page |

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Please e-mail Frank Wihbey, Editor: menature@maine.maine.edu

This week's reports

Report format = Day, date, [time]. Location (Maine Atlas Map number) Report text. Initials of correspondent.

Tuesday, February 22.  Fort Kent (Map 67)  I measured in a number of locations that did not seem to show any drifting.  Depths  ranged from 28 to 36 inches, so I would say 32 inches is a good average. I think I caught it before any significant melting, which is just starting now.
    I have been spending virtually all the time I used to devote to my daily  nature walks clearing snow with my snow scoop, pushing  each load down the road so the snow plow can get rid of it. Often I have to start my roadside snow mound  as much as 100 to 150 feet down the road in order to have enough room and not constrict the road too much. It seems I have never had to use up  so much of my time with snow removal.  Still, I have refrained from using my Farmall  tractor with its 7 foot snow scoop. There is something exhilarating about personally interacting with fresh snow in such beautiful, largely natural, and quiet surroundings; and the exercise value is unexcelled. 
    As for observing wildlife while doing my snow work, there are, of course,  almost always the cute little chickadees but usually not much else.  However,  a few days ago,  I had the good luck of seeing a small weasel, all white except for its black tail tip, look at me before slipping through a narrow opening  under the corner of my overhead garage door. I had seem her tracks before, so she may have  chosen me as his landlord for the winter. The black tail tip identified her as a short-tailed weasel female (males are almost twice as large as females ), even though its small size suggested a least weasel.  However, least weasels have an entirely white tail. 
    One more wildlife observation was reported to me by my wife a few days ago. She said she saw a beaver on the lake following my snowshoe tracks.  She claimed she had  recognized it by its big tail.  I didn't think this could be and suggested that it must have been a northern river otter, interestingly a member of the same family (mustelids) as the weasel  I had seen.  She agreed when I showed her a photo in my Audubon field guide. E.T.

Wednesday, February 23.  West Buxton  (Map 2)  Chickadees began singing their spring song, can snow fleas be far behind?  Heard a flicker as well which I haven't heard all winter.
    The red squirrel who has been successfully kept from the bird seed until now, can now climb in to the tubular feeder from the top, utilizing the deep snow back.  Oh well...  L.J.

Monday, February 28.  Farmington (Map 20) We had about 3 1/2 feet of snow, before the warming trend.  Now, of course, it's down to about 2 feet, and getting slushier.   F.D.R.

Monday, February 28. Brunswick, Maine (Map 6) We have a number of bird feeders and this winter have been entertained by a number of visitors. Most of all were the large numbers of Common Redpolls. We had over 150 most days. We are also host to over 60 turkeys.  They roost behind the house as we live right on the Androscoggin River. We have 8 mature gobblers and a large number of Jakes.  In the last couple of weeks, they have become more and more shy. In another month, there will not be any sign that they were ever here. They will return next fall around the middle of October. While watching them the other day, the whole flock suddenly went on alert. I knew that there was something in the woods that they had noticed.  Shortly, a red fox came into the yard and looked over the whole flock. The 8 gobblers were within 10 yards of the fox and not the least bit afraid. In fact, I think that they set themselves as a barrier so that the hens were behind them.  Satisfied that the flock didn't have any weak birds, the fox trotted off into the woods.  The Toms watched intently as he ran toward the river. It was really very exciting. Now understand that the Toms that we have are well over 20 pounds and could easily hold their own with a fox I'm sure. We have a neighborhood cat that comes down to watch them and they almost taunt the cat. 
    The other day, we observed a falcon come into the yard. I think it was looking for one of the doves to make a mistake and hung around for about an hour. We think it was a Merlin.  It seemed to be too small to be a Peregrine and that was the only other bird that we could see in our books that fit the description.  We'd appreciate any suggestions others might have.
    Because we live on the river (actually on a cliff above the river) we are regularly treated to Bald Eagles, Osprey and Turkey Vultures soaring the river in the summer. Our deck is about the same height as they seem to like to fly above the river.  B.F. and J.F.

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