February birds: RI/MA

Male Red-tailed Hawk, Great/Butterfly Farm, Lincoln, RI, Feb 1

Upon getting in to the states on Feb 1, I had a few hours to kill near my dad's office, so I went over to Butterfly Farm and quickly found the white red-tail and his normally colored mate. I then headed to Lonsdale marsh, where there was a stonefly hatch and remarkably a painted turtle sunning itself - the first I have ever seen in February! A huge amount of very fresh beaver damage was evident, too, in the vicinity of the old drive-in field. At CCRI Lincoln, a hardy catbird was in the thickets near the southeast corner of the parking lot and a remarkable four muskrats were out swimming around in the marshy area.

Pine Warbler, Wrentham Compost Facility, Feb 2

Today I checked out my local haunts and found this Pine Warbler hanging out with a flock of Eastern Bluebirds at the Wrentham compost facility. This is always a productive spot, probably because of insects and seeds in the compost, and held large flocks of Juncos and Starlings today as well.