February... blech.

 This has been a shitty winter. Cold, snow and ice. Just like the winters of yore. I was getting used to mild winters. This one has kicked my ass back into the Stoneage.

Needless to say, our 33 month streak of photographing a snake in Massachusetts snapped in January. No snakes. Only a few dip-netted Two-lines. I'm not even sure we'll get those for February. Is it worth it bothering salamanders just to photograph them for my own cause? Not really.

February 12th was Andrea's birthday and we figured that we'd get out for some fresh air even though it was colder than a witch's tufted titmouse. We walked the nearby arboretum and got some fresh air and even added a couple of birds to the bird count. Here is #36, a sleepy Mourning Dove.

As we were on the last leg of the walk, we saw a woman with her phone pointed at a field very excitedly looking to us, then back out at the field. We got to her and she pointed out a Coyote resting under a tree about 50 yards out.

She'd seen it go after a couple of Canada Geese and miss, then trot across the field and settle under the tree.

She saw my pictures and asked us to email them to her. It's the least we could do for the wonderful heads up she gave us. This is the first Coyote to ever be on this blog, which I've been doing for over 12 years.

I don't know if we'll get back out to look for salamanders or not. This winter has made me cold and ornery.