Hibernating woodchucks rarely celebrate groundhog day in northern New England / Breeding season for skunks / Barred owls are calling. They lay their eggs in mid winter and incubate eggs and chicks through many blizzards / Winter browning of evergreens can be caused by the combined effects of wind and sun. Trees lose water from needles if roots are in frozen soil. Screens of burlap around evergreen shrubs are more effective than anti-desiccant sprays

Old man’s beard, a pale, gray-green lichen, grows in inhospitable places – in the fog of high elevations and in damp, cold lowlands / Lucky are those who have flying squirrels at the feeder. These acrobatic rodents provide excellent evening entertainment / The seeds of Queen Anne’s lace can be steeped in hot water to make a nice tea. The seed heads look like little bird nests / Bobcats have larger, rounder feet than coyotes or foxes, and they rarely cross meadows

At seven weeks old, black bear cubs now weigh about four pounds / The black-tipped tail of an ermine might seem like a mistake at first, but it confuses potential predators / Red-breasted nuthatches and chickadees cache food for only a short time; usually they retrieve it within a day / Stoneflies begin hatching. There are more than 30 stonefly species. Fishermen prefer the later-hatching ones, from mid-March to late April, when trout are becoming active

Meadow voles are born beneath the snowpack, in the relatively warm layer just at ground level, long before the snow has melted / Belted kingfishers, red-tailed hawks, turkey vultures, and red-winged blackbirds are usually among the first migrant birds to return / Pileated woodpeckers, the largest woodpeckers in North America, hammer their heads into trees with a force of 15 mph, 20 times a second / Spring is near: time to clean out the bluebird houses