February 22

Our little red skittered among the maple branches at midday, under a warming sun that took the temperature near 40, following a night in the teens. His movements were at first peculiar, seeming to jump forward only a few inches at a time with his mouth touching the branch here and there.

Upon closer look through the binoculars, it was evident what I had suspected; little red was testing various points of the branches for wound sites, where building sap had begun to ease out in tiny amounts. And so little red would lick, move on, lick, and continue.

The timing is on schedule, and a reminder of our slow change in season. The warming day after such a cold night has created sufficient pressure difference in the maple, and what we anticipate in early spring, maple sugaring season will soon be upon us.

The sugar farmers won’t begin tapping just yet. No, we need more days of warm and nights of cold. Perhaps a week or two out, and then we’ll begin to see the taps and buckets hanging about the trees, put there by those still inclined to reap the maple’s bounty. For now, we enjoy the early harvesters, the squirrels and birds who also take in this special treat.