Posted on 03/04/2023 7:11:34 AM PST by Diana in Wisconsin
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5 Signs of Spring: Birds, Peepers, and Tree Buds
Every year, we patiently look for the first signs of spring in the air—leaves budding, birds singing, and butterflies migrating. Tell us: What are you observing in your neck of the woods?
Even if it’s still winter and your ground is covered in snow, observe closely! There are always subtle signs that spring is on the way. For example:
1. Birds are singing!
Backyard birds are one of the best predictors. There is a weather proverb that states, “Bluebirds are a sign of spring; warm weather and gentle south breezes they bring,” and this appears to be true in the northern tier of the United States. Bluebirds do not come north until all chance of winter has passed and they are assured an ample food supply.
We started hearing bird song in mid-February from chickadees, titmice, and red-winged blackbirds. The cardinals sing their “cheer, cheer, cheer” to say that we are turning a corner.
Many migrating birds are arriving as many as two weeks early compared to decades past (and some never leave!).
As the days gradually become lighter and temperatures start to lift, the chorus will become louder. In March, a chorus of birdsong fills the air as the migrating birds return. Warblers, sparrows, yellowthroat, and finch are more favorites. You may hear the knock of woodpeckers, too! Even ducks start to return to our lakes.
2. Trees are budding, sap is flowing!
Observe the buds on your trees. Some of the first trees to bud are the willows and silver maples, followed in March with the red maples.
Another sign is the flowing sap. The sugar sheds are firing up in New Hampshire right now!
Mmm … there’s nothing like the taste of maple syrup, liquid gold! The first to notice seem to be the squirrels, who start poking around the trees looking for oozing sap.
3. Peepers are peeping
As soon as the ponds and wetlands thaw—as early as mid-March—listen for the spring peppers (Pseudacris crucifer) and the western chorus frog (Pseudacris triseriata). These tiny amphibians sing loudly, creating quite a chorus at dusk!
Like its name, the spring peeper tends to call a high single “peep!” Put all those spring peepers together and it’s a “peep, peep, peep, peep!” The call of the chorus frog is hard to describe. It sounds a little bit like someone is running their thumb along a comb.
These tiny frogs live beneath logs or underground and are freeze-tolerant, and tend to like moist, wooded areas, ponds, and wetlands.
As they emerge from hibernation and begin to spawn, look for the appearance of small jelly-like egg masses. While it may seem like there are an overabundance of tadpoles, most (up to 90%) do not survive do to predators.
4. Fresh, soft scents
Ever notice that entrancing smell of spring? The Earth is awakening and it does indeed smell more, well, earthy. With warmer weather, misty mornings and soft wet smells fill the air.
5. Butterflies and Bumblebees Return
As warmer weather returns, you may start to see butterflies and bumblebees return. Both are pollination wizards.
To encourage butterflies to reside in your garden, it’s best to include food sources in the form of host plants for caterpillars and nectar plants for butterflies. See our article on plants which attract butterflies to the garden.
We adore the slow, fat, gentle bumbles. The first bumblebees are the queens who survived the winter months. If you wish to attract butterflies and butterflies, be sure to have available flowers and plants.
And more from our readers …
Some of our readers also have practical and often humorous observations. Winter will end shortly after…
The snow melts and reveals bumps, holes, and potholes in the road!
You are inside your warm home and you hear the sound of icicles crashing from the gutters and roofs to the ground below,
Whenever you feel motivated to peel off the 3M plastic you so meticulously taped and blow-dried tight to your windows,
When your mailbox stops getting knocked over by the plow,
When the kids lose a mitten and you don’t bother to replace it,
And the first time you can drive with your car window rolled down—best feeling ever!
https://www.almanac.com/5-signs-spring-birds-peepers-and-tree-buds
I have a four wheel garden cart with raised sides. It is about 50% larger than a large wheelbarrow. I have filled it two and a half foot deep with rose bush pruning six times. I have only about a fourth of the pruning cut up and loaded.
Help me with the math.
How many more times will I be thorn stuck?
Good Morning!
Wintery Mix today in my area of New England.
Daffodils are popping up here in the Ozarks.
The maple syrup guys are out tapping trees. Robbins all over. Can’t wait for spring!
- my Late Father
.
(Yes, yes, It's still too early...)
My crocuses, daffodils, and Lenten roses are popping up and beginning to open, too! Central Indiana.
So far my only harbingers of Spring are a few Robins singing and hopping around the yard. I’m waiting on the Red Winged Blackbirds, any geese in motion in the sky and Sandhill Cranes.
Most of the snow is gone, but that doesn’t mean we’re done - we can get snow until Mid-April.
Today is a good day to clean out the Greenhouse because the doors are no longer frozen, so I’m all over that. Beau promised me some additional shelving in there, too. Yay! Also starting Peppers this weekend, indoors. :)
The peepers started peeping a couple of weeks ago. That’s probably one of my earliest signs of Spring around here. I have been working on and successfully getting bluebirds to stay through the winter. I’m right on their dividing line between year-round and migration. When we first moved to Indiana 10 years ago, the bluebirds disappeared for the winter and would come back in February. Now I have them all year, except for late summer when they are training their younguns how to find real food. I can hear them out there, but they don’t come to my feeders. A lone red winged blackbird has reappeared, too. His mates should be arriving, soon.
We have heard the Sandhill Cranes a time or two, so you should begin seeing them soon!
LOL
I actually have some full sleeve leather gauntlets that will work with any glove. They are great but hot and with some four of my rose bushes I inherited being about seven feet in diameter, heavy wood and overgrown, I get stuck past my elbows.
We got 8-9” of snow last night in SE Michigan last night, what a mess.
We have had snowshoes, crocuses, and now daffodils!
Spring came on very quickly so I did not get my roses pruned beforehand, but having read numerous instructions, I have concluded you can prune as much as you want whenever you want.
I am hoping that as this plant has survived a great deal over the decades that it will survive my pruning...
And I am going to stick some of the cuttings into little pots to see if they root.
If I only had 2 or 3 cups, I would expect abject failure. I assume that the 15 cuttings I have cups will all root, leaving me with the problem of figuring out what to do with them all!
Major project on Tuesday of this past week:
Out with the OLD (30 – 35 year old azalea bushes) that are being cut back enough to keep them below the porch so that they no longer bloom … some are dying:
“Pro” tip from my brother – how to get bushes OUT in a hurry without breaking your back digging them up (fortunately, azaleas have a fairly shallow root system). In 3 hours (including time rounding up chains, strap, putting hitch on truck, etc.), all 14 bushes were out!
In with the NEW (once small roots are out, soil amended and prepared):
In twenty years, they should look like this (English boxwoods on another side of the house):
Happy almost-Spring everyone!
Meanwhile, I finished my front planter where nothing grows -
My young nephew made the fountain for me.
I've also got daffodils blooming - although some of them got hammered by the heavy rain:
And nasturtiums are coming in strong - had to pull out a few b/c they go crazy.
After a hard day of digging in the garden:
I have stinging nettles in my back yard - put on my usual pair of trusty gardening gloves and the nettles went right through the gloves! Really really hurt - I had to go in the house and use tweezers to pull out the stingers. Need to find my old rose gloves...
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