We seem to be in one of those New England weather cycles recently. At first, warmer temperatures and rain created a late-January thaw. It melted away most of the snow on driveways and reduced the white blanket elsewhere to a thin covering that was spotted with puddles of water and patches of reemerged grass. Freezing temperatures returned yesterday, icing up the carpet and its many puddles. Then, above-freezing temperatures returned this morning with more rain to melt away more snow and ice. The fields now have significant areas of grass that our white-tailed deer can browse without digging.
Our local herd has been surviving this relatively mild winter very well, as illustrated by the yearling shown here as she sauntered by in yesterday’s first light and freezing temperature. She’s not only “bright-eyed and bushy-tailed,” her multi-layered coat is lustrously thick and apparently very warm. (Image taken in Brooklin, Maine, on January 27, 2023.)