What a perfect morning! Fresh, fluffy snow. Clear azure sky. Cold – but with almost no breeze not too cold. I set out on my 6-7 mile Pownal walk with the dog to celebrate.

I heard a couple of Brown Creepers; they’re certainly becoming more vociferous now. 27 Wild Turkeys were in the same grove of White Pines at the edge the same pasture that they are always in. Common Ravens are paired up now, and Downy and Hairy Woodpeckers were busy drumming. Black-capped Chickadees, Tufted Titmice, and White-breasted Nuthatches - in descending order of abundance – were singing throughout the duration of the walk. About 30 American Robins feasted on Common Juniper in an abandoned field. A flock of 21 Blue Jays moved through a yard – early migrants perhaps? One Pine Siskin called as it passed overhead, unseen, but 3 or 4 flyby American Goldfinches were my only other finches of the morning.

Returning home, I followed a few deer trails around the woods – didn’t think we had this many passing through our yard – and a few unidentified rodent tracks were under the feeders. The feeders were much more active than they have been of late, as birds were replenishing their fat reserves after the blustery night. Red-breasted Nuthatches worked the peanut feeder, a Hairy and a Downy Woodpecker sparred on the suet feeder. A few Goldfinches clung to the thistle feeder, Mourning Doves enjoyed millet on a tray feeder, while Chickadees and Titmice came and went from all of the other feeders.

A long-cut on my way to work produced a dozen Cedar Waxwings and a half dozen more American Robins gobbling crabapples by LL Bean’s corporate offices and a the 6 drakes out of the dozen Long-tailed Ducks off of the South Freeport Town Landing were busy calling and displaying for seemingly uninterested hens.

Now, that’s the way February in Maine should be!