Category Archives: Phenology

More Deer, Less Moose

Climate Change, Deer, Mammals, Phenology
Moose and deer (both photos from Wikimedia Commons)
Moose and deer (photos from Wikimedia Commons)

31 March 2015

What happens when the interval between spring thaw and leaf out gets longer?  More than half a century of detailed observations in New Hampshire’s Hubbard Brook Experimental Forest tell the tale.

In New Hampshire, where snow covers the ground all winter, spring thaw is a welcome event that finally exposes the soil.  A few weeks later, after lots of warm air and sunshine, the trees leaf out.  In between these two events the sun warms the soil, the plants emerge, and wildflowers bloom.

However climate change is separating spring’s above ground (air temperature) responses from the soil responses. When Hubbard Brook Experimental Forest analyzed their data on snowpack, leafout and fauna in BioScience in 2012, they found that the interval between spring thaw and leaf out has increased by 8 days. Meanwhile severe cold events during the longer post-thaw interval freeze the exposed soil and kill plant buds and invertebrates.

The record shows the mix of plants and animals is changing. A freeze without snow cover threatens some deciduous trees (yellow birch and sugar maple in New Hampshire) and birds find fewer invertebrates when they return on migration. 

There are even changes in large animals.  As snowpack declines, the new climate favors deer over moose and that seems to be happening at Hubbard Brook.

More deer, less moose.  If you consistently keep track over many years you can see the trends.

Read more here in Science Daily, December 2012.

(photo of moose by Ronald L. Bell, USFWS via Wikimedia Commons.  Photo of deer by josephamaker2018 via Wikimedia Commons. Click these links to see the original images.)

p.s. It should be “More Deer, Fewer Moose” but I am quoting one of the articles and happen to like the ungrammatical juxtaposition.

Early Flowering Signs of Spring

Phenology, Plants & Fungi

Harbinger of Spring, Cedar Creek, 29 March 2015 (photo by Kate St. John)

Despite this month’s cold weather yesterday’s outing* to Cedar Creek found two early-spring wildflowers.

Bright afternoon sunshine encouraged the wildflowers to bloom but it washed out the colors on the forest floor.  We all searched hard to find this Harbinger of Spring (Erigenia bulbosa).  Here’s a poor photo of the entire plant with an oak leaf for scale. It’s tiny! One leaf is sufficient to hide it.

Harbinger of Spring (photo by Kate St. John)

 

We also found a lot of Snow Trillium (Trillium nivale) in bloom but I had to be shown each flower because I couldn’t see them in the glare.   My best photo is of the one I stepped on.  Oh how embarrassing!

Snow trillium, 29 March 2015, Cedar Creek (photo by Kate St. John)

 

* This was a joint outing of the Wissahickon Nature Club and the Botanical Society of Western Pennsylvania.  Feel free to join us as we explore the flora and fauna in western Pennsylvania.  Click here for Wissahickon’s 2015 outing schedule (page 3 of the pdf) and here for the Botanical Society’s calendar.

 

(photos by Kate St. John)

Let The Leaves Begin

Phenology, Plants & Fungi

Incipient forsythia leaves, 25 March 2015 (photo by Kate St. John)
Closeup of bush honeysuckle leaves about to open, 25 March 2015 (photo by Kate St. John)

In my neighborhood bush honeysuckle is the first to show leaves in the spring.  Last Wednesday these tiny leaves broke the bud.  I was excited!  Spring was here!

Not today. This morning it’s 17F degrees and it was so cold yesterday that it set a new record.

The wind will swing from the south today and warmer weather is coming this week.  Let the leaves begin.  (Please!)

 

(photo by Kate St. John)

p.s. Bush honeysuckle is an alien invasive from Asia so its internal clock is out of synch with our seasons.

p.p.s  This morning’s walk in Schenley Park will be brief so we don’t freeze.

Spring Moves North …

Phenology, Plants & Fungi

Red tulip near Burlington, ON, 21 May 2014 (photo by Laslovarga via Wikimedia Commons)

The first crocuses bloomed in Pittsburgh last week but the rest of spring is taking its time.  Until today the month of March averaged 3F degrees below normal.  (Yesterday’s brought it up to -2.6.)  With that kind of track record, when will Spring get here?

Two years ago I wrote about the rule of thumb that “Spring moves north 13 miles a day“and showed how to watch it online at Journey North’s Tulip Test Garden.  I even used the rule of thumb to predict that the tulips would bloom at Clarion Area Elementary School’s Test Garden in Clarion, PA on April 20, 2013.

Was I right?  I looked up Clarion’s 2013 Tulip Test Garden results which said the tulips bloomed on April 22.  But … April 22 but was a Monday that year.  Maybe the tulips bloomed on Saturday, April 20 while the children weren’t at school to see them!  (The vagaries of data collection…)

Let’s try it this year.  Click here to read about the Rule of Thumb so you know how I’m doing this.  Then I’ll estimate …

On the 2015 Tulip Test Garden Map Durham, NC’s first tulip bloomed on March 20.  That’s 362 miles or about 28 days south of Clarion Area Elementary School (they’re participating again this year), so Clarion should bloom on April 17.

April 17 feels too early but we’ll see.  By the end of April we’ll know if “Spring moved north 13 miles a day” in 2015.

 

p.s. A big flock of American robins sang in the dark this morning in my neighborhood.  One more Sign of Spring!

 

(photo from Wikimedia Commons.  This tulip was photographed by Laslovarga on May 21, 2014 near Burlington, Ontario.)

The Crocus Report

Phenology, Plants & Fungi

Crocuses at Phipps, 18 March 2015 (photo by Kate St. John)

Ta dah!  We’ve reached a milestone in The Signs of Spring.  It’s time for the crocus report.

Yesterday morning the crocuses at Phipps Conservatory’s outdoor garden were just about to pop open.  The bright sun warmed the mulch and after another hour they had opened halfway.  I can say with confidence that they bloomed on March 18.

Crocuses opening at Phipps (photo by Kate St. John)

Is this late for crocuses?   I checked back through my blog posts, linked below, to collect their blooming history in Pittsburgh’s East End:

So … though this winter has seemed very cold the crocuses are not delayed too, too long.

 

(photos by Kate St. John)

p.s. They may have bloomed during Monday’s heat but I didn’t walk over to Phipps until yesterday.

Blackbirds and Coltsfoot: What to Expect in March

Phenology

Red-winged blackbird singing (photo by Bobby Greene)

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.

Early Singer

Bird Behavior, Phenology

Carolina wren (photo by Gregory Diskin)

Speaking of First Bird of the Year, who’s the first bird to sing in your neighborhood?  Have you heard any singing yet?

In Pittsburgh most birds stop singing in mid summer, though a few late-nesting residents keep it up until autumn.  They’ve been silent for months now.

A few hardy souls sing in January.  The First Singer in my backyard is usually a Carolina wren who pipes up just before dawn.  On a good morning his voice echoes off the hills and prompts competing wrens to respond.

… But this is not a good morning.  We have freezing rain today. 🙁

Even on a good day he’s silent within 15 minutes.  I’ll know it’s spring when he sings all day.

 

(photo by Gregory Diskin)