February 1, 2022

Last month my wife and I took a vacation to Puerto Aventuras in Quintana Roo, Mexico, for a live music festival. There wasn’t time to get too particular with plant/animal ID, but we did see two species of iguana, several other species of small lizard, spider monkeys, sereques, raccoons, two species of grackle, kiskadees, pelicans, bronzed cowbirds, tropical mockingbirds and doves, and lots of fish schooling around our calves. I often wondered if some of the birds we didn’t see but were likely not far away, were soon to be headed to their breeding grounds at our home back in Vermont.

Now that we’re back, I’ve picked my morning routine back up, of heading downhill from our house to our trail camera. Before temperatures dropped too far, I could do this wearing my PJs and a heavy coat, but now I wait until I’m fully showered and dressed, and I can feel my damp hair and beard freezing up as soon as I step outside. Lately a pileated woodpecker has been hanging around our woods, and yesterday morning I heard a brown creeper as I went to check the camera (deer). In about a month the red-winged blackbirds will return, with the rest of the migration soon to follow.

This winter I’ve also seen bluebirds from my window, and lots of juncos et al in the backyard. Apart from American tree sparrows, there hasn’t been anything too unusual, nor any irruptive species, but we’ve enjoyed the company of the regulars.