February

by Nancy Rosenberg
February 2002

February. Almost half way between the winter solstice and the vernal equinox.

The Chinese celebrate New Year on Feb 12th. To the ancient Celts
February first was Imbolc, their New Year's Day. Our Ground Hog day is
probably a remnant of that ancient celebration. In some parts of the
country the first stirrings of spring are felt. But it is still the heart
of winter in New England. "Groundhog Day - Half your hay" was an old
farmers' saying here. They knew that no matter how cloudy or sunny the day was, whether the groundhog saw his shadow or not, winter was still very much with them and that they would need half their hay supply to feed their livestock until pastures were green again.

However, days are becoming perceptibly longer and on sunny days, the snow on the ground doubles the light making winter much more cheerful. Our winter has been unusually mild so far which makes less work for us. We haven't felt the need to cook hot cereal for the chickens which we like to do on frigid mornings.

The little snow we had has melted on the pasture close to the woods and the geese and ducks have been finding grass to eat there so we haven't been giving them sprouts as we normally do. Sprouted wheat, barley and oats seem to generate heat as they grow and the waterfowl relish them on cold days.

The geese have begun to mate already; normally the domestics wait until March and the Egyptians wait until April. There have been many cloudy, rainy, snowy, dreary days and we keep full-spectrum bulbs on in the barn and the chicken coop. Not for any physical benefits (the bulbs are too far away from the critters because of safety concerns for that) but just because they emanate such a cheery light.

The warmest January on record has just ended and we have noticed some
consequences of our abnormally warm weather and sparse snow cover on the land and wildlife. Earlier we did have a cold spell and the ice on the
ponds was quite deep because there was no snow to insulate it. Many small fish and other pond inhabitants may not have survived. We'll see when spring arrives.

A good snow cover provides protection from airborne predators for small animals such as meadow voles. We like to look for their tracks in the snow and see the little breaks in the snow where they emerge to eat the tough dried grasses. We haven't seen any this year.

In a normal winter the bird feeders are crowded with juncos. They were here for a brief spell and have disappeared. Now there are only a few chickadees and a pair of cardinals. Some trees and shrubs have begun to blossom already but the coldest air of the season is forecast for the next few days.

Copyright 2002 Nancy B. Rosenberg