February: the month of flurries and furies. We get a little of everything while Nature decides to have one last fling with Winter. The days get longer, the winds blow stronger. Rain, snow, pockets of sun, 50 shades of gray. It can – and does – all happen in February.
Uncommon Critters!
Appropriately on Groundhog Day, in the wake of all this chaos and destruction, we had an unusual visitor: an opossum – in broad daylight! — perhaps looking for what would be (for a nocturnal creature) a midnight snack. I had placed chopped apples for the birds beneath the big fir by the house. Perhaps it already knew that. It looked a bit rough around the edges – a gash on the head, a torn ear, a cut on a shoulder, and a canine tooth jutting out at an angle that looked quite painful. It stayed awhile, taking its time, eating the apple pieces, sniffing out other foods and using its nose to dig in the ground for possible seeds, roots, insects, and ? Then it waddled back along the edge of the field and ducked into a small tunnel through the Himalayan blackberry brambles on the west end. The blackberries are an invasive species that nonetheless provide habitat and shelter for quite a few different animals, including, I now know, an opossum.
“Opie,” as we called it, showed up again a week later, much improved! Our grandchildren were visiting and got to watch this peculiar, oversized, rat-like creature slowly eat more apple pieces, which I now put out quite regularly. The wonky tooth was a sure sign it was the same one. Its coat looked fluffier, and it moved more easily, snuffling about. We were overjoyed.
Opossums are gentle creatures, and although an introduced species, they have been resourceful in making their way across the U.S. and into Canada. They are efficient foragers and are useful in cleaning things up. They even eat slugs. They also eat bird eggs and frogs, so there’s that. Apparently, though, the claim that they eat a lot of ticks is a myth based on a faulty study that ballooned into common knowledge via the internet (thank you, Steve, for that info!). They DO eat ticks in the process of grooming (opossums are very clean), but that doesn’t make ticks a preferred food source. As North America’s only marsupial, I consider the opossum pretty special, despite its alien status. Some interesting facts: they have the ability to grow new teeth that become damaged or lost, which they are able to do throughout their lives! In fact, they have 50 teeth, which is more than any other land mammal — weird, but true — and they can be quite intimidating when they offensively bare their teeth and growl and hiss. They can hold their hairless tail out straight; it doesn’t always drag on the ground, like a rat; and it can be used to grab onto branches when they climb trees. In fact, I once recorded one on a night cam using its tail to carry a bundle of leaves. It was like it was carrying its own bedroll. Also, “playing possum” is actually an involuntary fainting response, during which the lips curl back from the teeth, saliva foams around the mouth, and a foul smelling liquid is secreted from the anal glands. I would think that last detail would probably deter most predators. But other than that, it doesn’t seem to have many defense mechanisms.
Wintry Weather… (it is, after all, February)
And then came the snow – sometimes light and swirling; sometimes large flakes floating softly downward. All through the night. Magical.
Alright. It was only 2 inches. Here at sea level, we thought it was a very big deal. Schools closed, as buses couldn’t get up the nearby hills (where there was a lot more of the white stuff). Driving on the side roads was not easy. We don’t have equipment for removing it, and sand and gravel trucks keep to the main roads.
It was quiet. I loved it.
The snow also gave me an opportunity to see who might be wandering around the property at night.
Tracks! To my surprise, NOT opossum! My guess, raccoons.
Take another look at the opossum’s feet in the above photos. Their front feet are more like a thumb and fingers, spread out. The raccoon, on the other hand, is much more “paw” like.
The raccoons knew exactly where they were going. Their tracks made a straight line back around the barn and over to the Himalayan blackberries on the back (north) side of the property.
We get snow so seldom … the gardens become a wonderland!
Escape …. (?)
We thought this a perfect time to leave the cold and dreary Pacific Northwest and head to – where else – Colorado, where temperatures dipped to almost 0*F, and then over to New Mexico, where it was still in the 30s but rose to a balmy 50 in the afternoon. The reason behind this madness: my father, a WWII fighter pilot, and quite possibly the only one still flying, turned 101 years old; and in New Mexico, cute grandchildren and shenanigans and more birthday celebrations. A fun escape.
Return to …. (?)
On our return, we were greeted by 50+ mph winds that ripped large branches from swaying fir trees, accompanied by stinging rain blowing sideways – almost an inch over a few days, which was a lot for us. It came down hard.
Feathered Friends
The weather seemed to bring in the birds: quail, flickers, starlings, ravens and crows, mourning doves, jays, downy woodpeckers, and the usual menagerie of bushtits, finches, sparrows, chickadees, juncos, and their kin. It also brought out an occasional hungry hawk. Perhaps it is the same one that seems to visit us quite regularly? It doesn’t often catch anything. It must be harder than I realize … so I no longer chase it away … everyone has to eat, and we definitely have a lot of small birds. Sharp-shinned hawk or Cooper’s hawk? If someone knows, please tell me! I was thinking Cooper’s earlier, but now I am pretty sure it is an immature (northern) sharp-shinned hawk. Check out this comparison from Cornell Lab All About Birds. The Cooper’s hawk is much more of a steely grey color, the chest stripes more even and rusty colored, and the feet shorter and stockier. This hawk has a more streaked chest and a yellow eye.
And then, toward the latter part of the month, I heard a familiar low three-toned coo-COOOO-coo. The Eurasian Collared Doves (Streptopelia decaocto) had returned! There were only two, but then a few days later, a few more were sitting in the apple trees.
As the story goes (from the Cornell Lab, “All About Birds”), a pet store in the Bahamas was burglarized back in the 1970s, and then the pet store owner let all 50 of the remaining doves go. I can only imagine him throwing them to the sky, saying, “Be free! Be free!” And so, these “immigrants,” as they were, made it to Florida, and from there, all across the United States and even across the pond to the UK. I have to admire their resilience and resourcefulness. The call of these beautiful soft doves who mate for life is quite soothing. They are a bit skittish – far from tame – but I managed to catch a photo through a window, along with the more common Mourning Doves for comparison, who are often here in a flock of a dozen or more. I appreciate that both kinds of doves will clean up the millet in the bird seed mix that the others often toss out from the feeder. So far, everyone seems to be getting along.
A fun fact from Cornell: “Eurasian Collared-Doves are one of very few species that can drink ‘head down,’ submerging their bills and sucking water as though drinking through a straw. Most birds must scoop water and tip the head back to let it run down into the throat.” Also, some Eurasian Collared-Doves have been known to live over 17 years, which is quite amazing.
In February, First Signs of Change …
By the end of February, the days were definitely getting longer. The sun had now moved north enough (meaning, the arc begins to the east of the neighbor’s tall trees) that we could now see an actual sunrise, which at times has been quite spectacular. Robins can often be seen out in that morning sun, picking up worms in the moist earth. We aren’t out of the frost zone yet, but plants are definitely responding. As of 2/28/25, Cornelian cherries (Cornus mas) were really opening up, as were the Mahonia / Oregon Grape. Daffodils and violets were popping up in unexpected places; the buds were swelling on the red flowering currants; and the first pink and blue flowers of the Pulmonaria / Lungwort had opened, which with their speckled leaves are so darn gorgeous and so very much welcomed by early pollinators. (Thank you, Irene! They continue to bring us joy!)
It’s a great time to walk around and take note of all the things that are leafing out so early in the year and to think about planting more pollinator-friendly natives. Early caterpillars will provide important food for feathered hatchlings in the months to come.
We have done quite a bit of work on pruning back willows, but are resisting doing much clean-up work, other than hauling off some of the big branches that fell down in the storms (thank you, Jeff). Insects are still overwintering in the debris, so for now, I’ll just let the debris be. The weather can still do just about anything. It’s great to see new snowpack in the mountains; we can always use more!
Entering March
We step out in the morning, and although still chilly, we can sense the change – as can the birds, who were mostly quiet through the winter, but are now filling the air with their songs. So much chatter! Love it!
Thanks for visiting!
Click Here for more photos of the February garden over the past few years. (Adding to these pages as I find time!)
Stay safe! Keep sane! Help our fellow creatures when you can!
~blythe
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