February is the last full month of winter. This year, we had the usual cycle of the month’s contradictions: snow storms that brought ephemeral beauty and white stuff that had to be plowed and shoveled; Arctic air that froze the ground followed by warm thaws that caused frost heaves; gray days followed by squinty-bright ones with the bluest of skies and seas.
This month’s cold weather and snows seemed to be no problem for our perenial winter neighbors: Wild Turkeys, Common Eiders, and White-Tailed Deer.
February is a good time for water-watching. The fresh water streams are full and robust; the coastal vistas are enchanting, and the sea often is glimmering and studded with sea ice.
The local lobster boats that remain in the water during February were transformed in December into scallop trawlers with booms and masts or they become platforms for diving for those scallops.
Ice-encrusted British Soldier Lichen (“The Red Coats are coming!”) and Rhododendrons curled into rockets show the effects of February’s temperatures and winds.
Neighbor Judith Fuller’s ever-changing roadside banners this February included commemoration of Super Bowl LIII (won by our New England Patriots) and Valentine’s Day.
New England architecture displays its practical beauty in February’s snowy days.
Finally, there are the extraordinary winter sunsets and their afterglows in February, often our last “cold gold” skies of the year.
(All images in this post were taken in Down East Maine in February 2019)