Male Cardinal
Starting the second week of February, spring arrived with a bang. With the unseasonably warm weather, several signs of spring arrived all at once. Black-capped chickadees were enthusiastically singing their spring songs. In the morning shortly after sunrise, male cardinals could be observed and heard singing from the highest branches of neighborhood trees. Their rich whistle "What cheer, cheer, cheer" is really a territorial song that marks the very beginning of the spring nesting season.
Boiling Maple Sap
On Sunday February 12th, I tapped my soft maple trees to start off the maple syrup season for 2017. This is nearly one month ahead of schedule. However with temperatures in the 40's and forecasted temps approaching 60 degrees, I took a chance to hopefully harvest the first run of the season. Interestingly enough, the sap ran great on the 12th and 13th before shutting off for the next ten days. The nights simply didn't get cold enough to continue the flow. Fortunately the first two days provided me enough sap to justify boiling down batch number one. It takes 40 gallons of sap to yield one gallon of syrup.
Canoeing the Mississippi
With temperatures approaching 60 degrees on Saturday February 18th, John Tittle and I paddled my canoe on the Mississippi River from Colvill Park to Presbyterian Point at the Head of Lake Pepin. The river was wide open , but considerable pockets of ice debris could be observed along the riverbank. Our most interesting observations were the numerous mature and immature migrating bald eagles sighted in flight and perched in large cottonwood trees. It has not been very often that I have had the opportunity to experience an enjoyable canoe outing in mid-February.
Snow covered Maple sap collecting buckets
During the night of February 23rd, we experienced a good dose of reality with 12 inches of wet heavy snow. Hopefully with the snow and colder temperatures, the maple run will pick up again.
Highbush cranberries
In the meantime, it is exciting to know that winter is still alive and well in southern Minnesota. The sudden change in scenery and increased activity at the bird feeders is a pleasant surprise. Even though we are still in February, this type of snowstorm reminds me of the typical storms that would regularly occur in mid-March during the boys state basketball tournament. I would guess this is another example of the "new normal."