A Look at the Season's Main Events
By Virginia Barlow
February
February 2: Groundhog Day. In Europe, badgers were believed to forecast the weather. Early settlers, finding no badgers, resorted to the groundhog / The fly larvae inside of goldenrod galls are eaten by downy woodpeckers if near the woods. Chickadees go after the ones in the open / Balsam firs can deal with massive amounts of snow. Their tapering shape allows them to shed snow when the load gets too heavy / Honeybees may venture forth on warm days
Common goldeneyes and common mergansers can be seen on ice-free sections of large rivers / Red foxes begin courting; listen for their yips and barks at night / Breeding season begins for northern flying squirrels, often found near evergreens. Southern flying squirrels prefer hardwoods / The snowshoe hare is well named. Its furry feet are very large for its weight / Minute cattail seeds, each with a tiny parachute, are dispersed throughout the fall and winter
Peak of breeding season for red squirrels / Northern winters are hard on opossums. They don’t store enough fat to get through the winter, and when they go foraging, they often get frostbitten ears and tails / The range of the northern cardinal is moving north, helped perhaps by a trail of well-stocked birdfeeders and/or global warming / Deer may lose 20-25 percent of their body weight over winter, despite a big decrease in their activities and movements
Keep a look out for pussy willows. The opening flower buds are a sign that winter is losing its grip / Male red-winged blackbirds may be returning. They make quite a racket as they choose nesting territories / On warm days, look for snow fleas in the woods, clustered in footprints, winter stoneflies near rivers and streams, and winter craneflies and midge flies in the air / It’s time to clean out birdhouses, except those being used by flying squirrels
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These listing are from observations and reports in our home territory at about 1,000 feet in elevation in central Vermont and are approximate. Events may occur earlier or later, depending on you latitude, elevation - and the weather.
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© 2004 by the author; this article may not be copied or reproduced without the author's consent.
