Snow amounts this week were average for modern winters, a couple inches of snow spread out over several days totalling about a half inch (0.53" plus a trace over four days). Temps were colder than what recent winters have been. Like a good part of the US and Canada, temps have been in the teens and single digits. Wind chill and dew point values have been in negative numbers. Water bodies, even deeper ones like Wachusett Reservoir, are frozen over and that hasn't happened in many years. 
A significant weather system has developed over much of the country and it's our turn today. Depending on different parts of the state, snowfall predictions range between one and two feet of snow. It has been several years since we have had snow measured in feet rather than inches. That is good news for the local ski operation. 
Most of the wildlife this week have been the birds in addition to the squirrels and rabbits. In addition to our usual birds, sparrows, Juncoes, and crows, blue jays, woodpeckers, nuthatches and cardinals have been gathering up at the feeder. The woodpeckers commonly seen are downy woodpeckers, but this morning there was a larger one, possibly a red-bellied woodpecker (according to the Peterson Field Guide). Also, a robin was spotted nearby. It's not usual to see robins here in the dead of winter. There may have been a red-tailed hawk yesterday too. The crows were enthusiastically alerting to something yesterday, and took off chasing whatever it was. Based on previous behavior, that was their usual reaction to hawks in the neighborhood. An animal left footprints in the snow this week, possibly a coyote. They have been seen in the area in recent years.
It's winter, conditions are more like winters past. Perhaps these colder temps will help kill off some of the more troublesome insects that have been migrating north with the warming climate conditions.