Winter was so long and cold that it’s been hard to predict when the birds will arrive and the flowers will bloom, but suddenly this week we are out of winter’s grip.

What else can we expect to see outdoors, now that Spring is springing?  Here’s a brief phenology for March.

• Ducks, geese and swans visit our lakes on migration.
• First-of-Year red-winged blackbirds, common grackles, killdeer, tree swallows, phoebes and meadowlarks arrive from the south.
• Large flocks of robins poke through soggy lawns and sing at dusk and dawn.
• Peregrine falcons court and lay eggs.  (Yes, we have seen courting!)
• Blooming later this month: coltsfoot, forsythia, snow trillium, harbinger of spring and violets.
• Frogs and salamanders will be courting and mating.  Listen for spring peepers and wood frogs.  Be careful not to kill salamanders that cross the road at night!
• It’s Mud Season and Jacket weather.  No more winter coats!

Have you seen these signs of Spring yet?

Yesterday I heard my first red-winged blackbird!  Soon they’ll be singing from the cattails, as in this photo by Bobby Greene.

(photo by Bobby Greene)

(*) definition of Phenology from Google: the study of cyclic and seasonal natural phenomena, especially in relation to climate and plant and animal life.