What to look for in nature in Maine this February

Which seals can you see on the Maine coast in February?

• Harp seals hauled out

  Usually from early or mid-January until the seals head north in March or April · Beaches, floats, docks, river ice and the occasional backyard along the coast

  Harp seals are pale gray with dark spots or, in older adults, a dark harp-shaped band across the back. Marine Mammals of Maine reports that they turn up on beaches, floats and ice floes from January on, ranging as far south as New Jersey before migrating north again in March or April. Ice seals lean on snow and ice for water, so a winter with little of either can leave them dehydrated. A seal lying quietly on the sand is often simply resting. Do not pour water on it, push it back into the sea or let a dog near it.

• Gray seal pups on the outer islands

  Born mid-December to early February, peaking in mid-January · Offshore islands such as Seal Island, Green Island, Matinicus Rock and Wooden Ball, off the midcoast

  Gray seals, the big seals with long, horse-like heads, give birth on land in the depth of winter. NOAA Fisheries says a newborn weighs about 35 pounds, wears a white coat called lanugo, and gains roughly three pounds a day on its mother’s rich milk during about three weeks of nursing before the white fur is shed. Seal Island National Wildlife Refuge, a 65-acre island 22 miles out from Rockland, holds the largest gray seal nursery in Maine and the third largest in the country, and pupping there runs to early February. Because each pup nurses for only about three weeks, by late February the season’s pups are weaned and on their own. The colonies are far offshore and closed to visitors, so this is a story to know rather than to see.

• The rules of seal watching

  All year · Anywhere on the coast

  Federal law, the Marine Mammal Protection Act, covers every seal, and handling one is illegal. NOAA asks people to watch from at least 50 yards and for no more than half an hour. The Maine Department of Marine Resources notes that seals bite and asks that anyone who finds a stranded, injured or sick seal call the Maine Marine Animal Reporting Hotline at 1-800-532-9551 rather than approach it.

When are black bear cubs born in Maine?

• Cubs born in the den

  Mostly January, with some from late December into February · Dens under fallen trees, brush piles, rock crevices and snow-covered thickets statewide

  Black bears breed in early summer, yet the embryo does not implant until fall, and only a well-fed mother carries her pregnancy through. After about 60 days of gestation, IFW says, a female gives birth in the den to one to four cubs. Each weighs around 12 ounces, about as much as a can of soup, and is nearly hairless. The cubs nurse and sleep against their mother while she stays in torpor, living off her fat. IFW’s 1999 bear assessment notes that a female usually has her first litter at four to six years old, often two cubs, with later litters averaging three.

• What biologists learn

  Each winter · Study areas in different parts of the state

  Between 50 and 100 females wearing radio collars are monitored each year. Biologists track them to their dens in winter and count the cubs, which tells IFW what share of females gave birth and how many young survive to their first birthday. The record now runs back several decades.

When do great horned owls and bald eagles nest in Maine?

• Great horned owls on eggs

  First eggs perhaps by mid-February, later in the north · Old hawk, heron or crow nests and tree cavities, often in conifers, statewide

  The Maine Nightjar Monitoring Project, run by the Maine Natural History Observatory, notes that the owls’ territorial hooting usually stops when the first eggs are laid, perhaps by mid-February, so a woodlot that rang with hoots in January may fall quiet now. That silence is a clue. The female sits tight, sometimes with snow on her back, while the male hunts and roosts nearby. Most calls come within an hour after sunset, and some research suggests clear, moonlit nights bring more of them. If you know of a nest, enjoy it from far off; the project strongly discourages getting close to nesting owls.

• Bald eagles repairing nests

  Courtship and nest building pick up in February and March; the earliest eggs come about February 25 on the coast · Big white pines and other tall trees near the coast, lakes and rivers

  IFW’s species assessment says Maine’s eagle pairs often stay attached to their nests through the winter, and that territorial claims, courtship flights and nest repairs all intensify in February and March. Watch for pairs soaring together, locking talons or carrying sticks. The earliest clutches of one to three eggs have been laid as early as February 25 along the coast, and inland clutches have been laid as late as early May. The eggs take about 35 days to hatch.

Is February mating season for coyotes and foxes in Maine?

• Eastern coyotes

  Breeding in February; pups born in April and May · Statewide, from farm country and suburbs to the North Woods

  IFW puts the winter coyote population at 10,000 to 12,000 animals and the breeding season in February. After a pregnancy of 63 days, the female has five to nine pups in April or May. An eastern coyote averages 30 to 35 pounds, and in deep snow pairs and family groups sometimes take turns chasing deer that are floundering. You may hear more howling and yipping on February nights, and you may find two sets of tracks traveling side by side, a sign of a mated pair.

• Red foxes

  Breeding from December through March, busiest around late January · Field edges, farmland and woods statewide

  IFW’s red fox assessment puts the peak of breeding in late January, with kits born in March and early April, five to a litter on average. Foxes are still restless in early February. Listen at night for the short, harsh barks and screams of foxes calling to each other, and look for the neat, single-file line of prints, one placed almost exactly in front of the other.

What are the first signs of spring in Maine in February?

• Snow fleas

  Mild, sunny days in late winter, and above all during thaws · On the snow around tree trunks, in footprints and along woodland trails

  Those black specks dotting the snow beside a maple trunk may suddenly jump. These are springtails, tiny relatives of insects, and the Maine Forest Service names two common species: the snowflea, which is dull sooty black, and the snowmelt springtail, which is a dull rusty red. They live in leaf litter and moss, feed on microscopic fungi and algae, and swarm on the snow surface during thaws. They do not bite, and a swarm lasts only a few days. Maine Audubon notes they gather especially around the bases of trees.

• The chickadee’s spring song

  Late winter, on calm mornings · Woodlots, backyards and feeders statewide

  Maine’s state bird has two famous voices. Its chick-a-dee-dee-dee call is heard all year, but the clear, whistled fee-bee, the first note higher than the second, is the male’s song, used to court a mate and claim a territory. The Maine Secretary of State’s atlas describes it as the sound that begins just when Mainers are convinced winter will never end. Both the black-capped chickadee and, in the North Woods, the brown-capped boreal chickadee live here.

• Woodpeckers drumming

  Late winter into spring · Dead limbs, hollow snags and the occasional metal gutter

  A rapid burst of tapping that lasts a second or two and repeats from the same spot is not a woodpecker feeding. It is drumming, a woodpecker’s version of a song, meant to attract a mate and warn off rivals. Woodpeckers pick the most resonant branch they can find, and on a windless dawn the rattle can be heard far through the woods.

• Goldeneyes courting

  Late winter and early spring, before the ducks fly north · Open harbors, coves and river mouths along the coast

  The Harpswell Heritage Land Trust describes the common goldeneye drake’s head-throw kick: he snaps his head straight back until it touches his back and kicks so hard that his body pops up out of the water, often in front of a small group of females. Goldeneyes also have wings that whistle in flight, and on a quiet day you can hear a flock before you see it.

When does maple sugaring season start in Maine?

• The first runs in the south

  From mid-February in southern Maine; mid-March in the north · Sugarbushes and backyard maples, starting in York and Cumberland counties

  Extension’s guide to tapping puts the freeze-and-thaw season at mid-February to early April in southern Maine and mid-March to late April in northern Maine, so the first steam rises from sugarhouses near the coast while Aroostook is still locked in snow. Producers watch the forecast closely, and a warm spell can bring an early run.

• Tapping a tree at home

  Just before a forecast thaw · Healthy sugar or red maples, at least 10 inches across

  Leave any maple narrower than 10 inches alone, Extension advises, measuring the trunk about 4 1/2 feet off the ground. Sugar maples give the sweetest sap, though sap sugar runs only about 1.5 to 3 percent, so it takes 10 to 15 gallons of sap to boil down one quart of syrup. That is a lot of steam, so most home sugarmakers boil outdoors.

• Maine Maple Sunday

  The fourth Sunday in March · Sugarhouses statewide

  The Maine Maple Producers Association’s open-house weekend is always on the fourth Sunday of March, with some sugarhouses open on the Saturday too. It is outside this month, but February is when the sap season that leads up to it begins. The association lists participating farms ahead of time.

When is Maine’s free fishing weekend, and is the ice still safe in February?

• Free Fishing Weekend

  Saturday and Sunday, February 13 and 14, 2027 · Any water open to ice fishing

  On these two days, IFW says, anyone except a person whose license has been suspended or revoked may fish without a license, and all other laws and rules apply. It is a good chance to try tip-ups with a friend who already has the gear. Check the lawbook for the special rules on the lake you choose, since many waters have their own limits and seasons.

• Late-winter ice

  Through February, worse during thaws and rain · Inlets, outlets, springs, narrows, docks and anywhere snow sits deep

  By February the ice on most Maine lakes is thick, but it is also aging. A thaw or a rain can turn the surface to slush, a deep snow insulates the ice and loads it down, and current keeps eating at it from below near any stream. Old, cloudy or slushy ice is weaker than clear new ice of the same thickness. Drill test holes as you go, carry ice picks and a rope, never go alone, and give smelt shacks and pressure ridges a wide berth.

How much daylight does Maine gain in February?

Is February Maine’s snowiest month, and what might El Niño do?

What can you see in Maine’s night sky in February 2027?

• Mercury in the evening twilight

  Late January to about February 10; greatest elongation February 3 · Low in the west-southwest, 30 to 45 minutes after sunset

  For an evening look at Mercury, this is the season’s pick. On February 3 it reaches 18 degrees from the sun, its widest gap; a frozen lake or a big open field gives the low view you need. On Sunday evening, February 7, a crescent moon barely a day old hangs very close to it; binoculars will help you find both in the glow.

• Jupiter at opposition

  Wednesday, February 10, at 7:21 p.m. · Rising in the east at sunset, highest in the south around midnight

  At opposition Jupiter lies opposite the sun, about 405 million miles from Earth, and outshines every star at magnitude −2.5, visible from dusk to dawn. Hold binoculars steady against a fence post or a tree and you should pick out up to four of its largest moons in a line beside it, shifting from one night to the next.

• Mars at opposition

  Friday, February 19; nearest Earth February 20 · East at dusk, in Leo near Jupiter and the star Regulus

  Mars is a steady orange-red point this month, at its brightest of this two-year cycle. Its nearest approach, about 63 million miles, is fairly distant by Mars standards since Mars is nearly at aphelion, its greatest distance from the sun, and a telescope shows only a small disk. Overnight from Friday the 19th into Saturday, a nearly full moon slides right up beside Jupiter, and the next evening the full moon, Jupiter, Mars and Regulus make a bright group in Leo.

• The Snow Moon and a faint penumbral eclipse

  Saturday, February 20; full at 6:23 p.m., eclipse deepest at 6:13 p.m., over at 8:13 p.m. · Low in the east, rising around sunset

  February’s full moon rises around sunset in Maine with the eclipse already under way. Only the outer, pale part of Earth’s shadow touches it, so the most you can hope for is a slight dusky tint along one limb while the moon is still low in the twilight; many people will notice nothing at all. Call it a near-supermoon: a few almanacs give it the title, while EarthSky’s tighter list leaves it out. As for the annular solar eclipse on February 6, Mainers will miss it entirely, since even the partial phase stays over South America, Antarctica and southern and western Africa, nowhere near North America.

What can Maine families do outdoors in February 2027?

Safety notes for February in Maine