February 1st and our "January Thaw" continues. Mallards and hooded merganser on the open water, a kingfisher's raucus call, and a woodpecker working dead wood at the marsh edge.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Someone has been using the abandoned United Distillers site to fillet large fish. The vertebrae and other bones left behind have been cleaned and bleached white by the weather.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

February 16th and signs of an early spring abound. This beaver poked his head through the ice...

 

Mallards were out in numbers...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And I spotted a pair of otters far across the ice. (Sorry for the poor quality photos.)

 

As I watched the otters, I heard the first male red-winged blackbird calls of the year.

 

February 20th. Seven degrees and hoar frost.