Wildlife Watch
March 9, 2026 – It’s 52 degrees here today, melting fast. Streams breaking open just last night and today. Snow dropped four inches yesterday, down to about a foot now, after 19.5 inches total in February from four storms.
Roads are muddy with four-inch deep ruts on the straight way from town (East Madrid Road from Rt 142). Conant Hill’s still so rough you can’t go over 15 mph.
Early February, I had tracks of a Gray Fox on the 13th. Moose tracks from Meacham Meadows behind my barn on the 12th. On the 17th, went to get my neighbor’s mail and heard a moose across the stream in the woods.
Lots of birds at the feeders. Chickadees were mostly a dozen, but peaked at 30 some days. Crows just one or two scattered. Doves averaging 12-16. Merlin was around often and caught a Blue Jay on the 2nd. Finches averaged 18, hit 32 high. Grosbeaks 13-15 usual, up to 38. Jays between 12-17 mostly, peaked at 48 early on. Gray Jay showed twice. Juncos are just a couple now and then. Red-breasted Nuthatches averaged two, more than five after the 17th. White-breasted one or two. Ravens were here in singles or pairs early in the month. Turkeys every day or other, there are three hens and one tom. Downies up to two females and two males at a time. Hairys up to two females and one male.
But it’s March’s list now. From March 2nd to 7th, I’ve been hearing Great Horned Owls (pictured above), four at a time on the 3rd and 5th, all hooting up on Meacham. Got a mess of ladybugs all over the place.
The State of Maine biologist planted salmon eggs on the 26th, like every year. In February, we had 24 visitors on the trail; some signed the book.
Warmer tomorrow, rain on Wednesday to take more snow off. Yesterday warmed enough that I broke the ice layer off the bridge.
Fire irons on the well out back are exposed—they’re a foot high. Snow melted around them, being metal. The rock out in the back field toward the corner pool isn’t exposed yet. When that shows, spring’s here. But it is starting to show the little signs that it might be showing up shortly.
Meet Carson Hinkley
Carson Hinkley is a seventh-generation resident of the historic East Madrid settlement in Maine’s High Peaks, where he stewards the Perham Stream Birding Trail from the farmhouse where he grew up and still lives today.
A lifelong observer of the natural world, he shares detailed notes on the birds, mammals, and seasonal changes he witnesses through “Wildlife Watch with Carson,” a regular feature highlighting the rich biodiversity and daily rhythms of the Perham Stream landscape.
