January
Jan.18: Two male RED-WINGED BLACKBIRDS [possibly over-wintering] pause at a backyard bird feeder in Indian Village. A male and female red-winged were also seen on a feeder during the February northeaster, but no migrants have returned so far.
Jan.19: A male WHITE-TAILED DEER forages the greenery in an Acton Center backyard.
Jan. 20: A BOBCAT pauses in a snowy W. Acton backyard, ears and eyes cocked forward.
Jan. 24: Nearly two feet (60 cm) of dry snow covers the town with fluffy snow. Persistent severe cold and strong winds challenge wildlife to stay warm enough.
Jan. 27: WHITE-TAILED DEER huddle together in a packed-down crater near the trunk of a large tree in North Acton.
Jan. 29: A COOPER’S HAWK finds its way into the chicken coop of a Willow Street family and kills one of the flock. With gloved hands, the owner captures the bloody-faced marauder and expels it from the coop, and it flies away.
February
Feb. 5: GREAT HORNED OWLS frequently hoot their claims to breeding territory around NARA Park. Owls are also chatty near West Acton village.
Feb. 15: An industrious RED SQUIRREL digs a snow tunnel with an exit directly underneath a bird feeder in South Acton.
Feb. 16: A RED-SHOULDERED HAWK perches on a large branch while, nearby, a BLACK-CAPPED CHICKADEE, seed in beak, perches among the protection of smaller twigs in a South Acton backyard.
Feb. 17: A male NORTHERN CARDINAL chirps its spring breeding call in a West Acton backyard…In the same yard, EASTERN COTTON-TAIL RABBITS take advantage of the tall snow-pack to strip the bark off every cane of a CHINESE QUINCE bush.
THANKS TO Nature Watchers Nick Beals, Tom Beals, Jon Chase, Jessica Melani Duryea, John Goreham, John Horvath, Andrew Magee, Peter Norton, Sandy Metcalf Philpott, and Barbara Schmitz.
GOT MICE? Learn how to exclude them before any more move in! The Massachusetts Department of Public Health toolkit shows building managers and homeowners how to implement Integrated Pest Management (IPM). IPM practice favors sealing up and excluding rodents from entry points around your house. See this 1-minute YouTube video for how to do this. For more information about making Acton less friendly to pests but safer for our raptors, attend Green Acton’s Biodiversity Committee meeting the third Thursday of every month at 7 PM. For information about the agenda and how to connect, email biodiversity-contact@greenacton.org.
In the coming month, watch for returning red-winged blackbirds…skunk cabbage has been known to melt the snow above it to unfurl its first leaves… snow fleas may become active around the trunks of trees…Keep us posted! Submit your observations and photos to actonnaturewatch@gmail.com.
Rob Gogan is a West Acton resident and compiles the Acton Nature Watch feature. He is one of the organizers of Green Acton’s Biodiversity Committee.
