The Feathers of February. Feb. 2022

 The temps have been up and down this month... almost 70 one day, a blizzard the next. Literally. We visited the dens a few times on sunny February days, but our only encounter was a half Water Snake. A predator saw it before we did.

But, we went out and saw plenty of birds this month. Our trip to Castle Island on the 6th was especially fun. The walk was very icy but we saw lots of nice birds. The first of the day, this Herring Gull (#14) was digging in the sand under water with its feet. It was an interesting thing to watch.

We saw our first Snow Bunting (#15) in many years.

We added the usual sea ducks and shorebirds, too. 10 species were added to the count. Here are a few...

 Common Eider...

Red-breasted Merganser...

Purple Sandpipers...

The 12th was Andrea's birthday, so we wanted to do something special. We went to Plum Island because it was a lovely day out. (We did visit the dens first... nada.) Unfortunately, tons of other folks decided to do the same thing and it was overrun with humans. Still, we saw some Long-tailed Ducks (#24) which doesn't happen every day.

The birthday girl...

On President's Day, we were both off from work and it was sunny and warm. A few of our friends managed to see a snake or two but our dens weren't occupied. Or, rather, they were. We saw nobody. Except that half-Nerodia.

But, we added another 5 birds, including Hooded Mergansers (#27)

And a surprise flock of Cedar Waxwings (#28), a bird we don't usually catch up with until late Summer.

That's about it. Unless we get out this weekend (unlikely), that is our February. No reptiles or amphibians. But we have big plans for March.