February 2 - Think warm thoughts, think warm thoughts...

We've had a pretty good winter, especially if you like things cold. I've always believed in the mantra "if it's going to be this cold, it might as well snow." Cold without snow is just frustratingly bleak. Cold with snow is, in my opinion, the epitome of a New England winter. And there's no secret in the fact that I like to be outdoors enjoying the variability of the New England seasons. That definitely includes these colder days.

But there's a part of me that has been cold for long enough. I could go for a warm day here or there, one that thaws all the snow and gives at least a hint of late spring, or early summer. At least, though, I have a lot to look forward to this year, whether that warmth comes sooner or later.

In March, it'll be cold when we visit Nantucket, but it'll be worth it to see the mass flights of long-tailed ducks. Last year our Nantucket visit scored the first belted kingfisher and great egret seen on the island during the calendar year. We also tracked and found an Eurasian wigeon, part of the fun of three days on "the rock." It'll be much warmer in late April when we had for Sapsucker Woods and the birds of the Cayuga Lake area, and even warmer in May when I head down to Wilmington, North Carolina and Pensacola, Florida on maritime historian business. In June, things will be just about perfect when we head for the White Mountains to search for breeding Bicknell's thrushes. I know that downeast Maine will be ideal in July when we go for puffins on Machias Seal Island, my third trip in three years. And if last year's weather pattern holds for this year's trip to Block Island in September, well, that should be meteorologically delightful as well.

So there are warm thoughts ahead. In the meantime, we continue to seek wildlife in the cold of New England. Last Friday, January 25, we located a bald eagle on Great Herring Pond in Plymouth, and then headed for Scusset Beach Reservation to find a morphing northern harrier, a young male that was both splotchy gray and brown. Speaking of kingfishers, we found one there as well, the first one on our 2008 list. The beach also held horned larks, tree and savannah sparrows, including one of the "Ipswich" family.

While friends headed north for a second consecutive Sunday to miss the slaty-backed ghull, I did a half an hour in studio with Ray Brown on WATD 95.9 FM's Talkin' Birds to hype our Focus on Feeders event, which is taking place right now in the high winds that have followed last night's rain storm into the region. Looking out the window at our feeders here at the North River Wildlife Sanctuary, we've got a big fat zero going on.

Yesterday, we decided to stay local in our weekly search for avian species. The Daniel Webster Wildlife Sanctuary was alive with birds of prey, with as many as five rough-legged hawks, in both light and dark morphs, visible from Fox Hill at any moment. American tree sparrows have become regular winter residents in the treeline out near the hill, and our young northern shrike continues to be very visible atop the shrubs of the Piggery Loop. Two golden-crowned kinglets surprised us while we were looking for long-eared owls, which again have proven quite elusive for our Friday morning gang.

Twice in twenty-four hours we've visited Duxbury Beach. Yesterday's trip turned up an Ipswich savannah sparrow and a black guillemot. Today's brought a red-throated loon, a close Cooper's hawk and a flock of snow buntings. Neither trip brought what we had hoped for: snowy and short-eared owls. Like I said off the top, it can be frustrating: if it's going to be this cold, there might as well be snowies. No such luck.

Punxatawney Phil will have his say today, as will Mrs. G of our Drumlin Farm Wildlife Sanctuary in Lincoln. I get the feeling that we're in for more cold, but I know it can't last forever. That's only happened once in Massachusetts history, in a year known as eighteen-hundred-and-frozen-to-death, during which ships were ice-locked in Boston Harbor in May and June. Either way, I can think warm thoughts, and know that this year is going to be one filled with new sights, new sightings and plenty of days where I'm paid to be doing what I love - wandering trails under the sunshine and experiencing the wonder of the nature of Massachusetts and the northeast states.