Explore Outdoors ~ Spring Comes In

 Spring officially started last week, but depending on where you live, signs of spring may have been sprouting up since February. Maybe it's the sound of running water (the creek at the bottom of the road is burbling along - noisy compared to a couple weeks ago!) or the abundance of bird calls. Maybe bits of green are poking up through the snow...

This week look for signs of spring!

Explore Outdoors ~ End of Winter

 Spring officially begins tomorrow!  So this is a great time to walk around and see what the dregs of winter look like, and what the beginning of spring brings. Down at a neighbor's yard I found some mummied cherries and a catkin just waking up from a long winter's nap.

 

 

 What end-of-winter changes do you see around your neighborhood?

 

Explore Outdoors ~ Letting Go of Winter

 

 

We're definitely tipping toward spring. I can feel the days lengthen, and new birds show up at the feeder. But there are days when, regardless of how bright the sun is, the air is still cold enough to freeze water dripping off the roof and onto stems below.

What do you see that indicates winter is on the wane?

Explore Outdoors ~ Signs of Spring

 

the music drops of sap make in a metal bucket

the burble of the creek, unfrozen

geese honking overhead

woodpeckers drumming on dead trees

we can see the grass

laundry hanging on clotheslines

 

What signs of Spring can you find?

 

Follow the Season - Spring

Despite this evening’s forecast – 20 degrees and snow – today really is the first day of spring. The vernal equinox. One of two magical days where the length of day is balanced by the length of night. From here on out the days get longer.

The last few days the air has smelled like spring – well, that and hot maple syrup. Chickadees have added upbeat songs to their repertoire; sparrows and juncos cluster on the lawn picking millet out of the dead grass. Spears of daffodil leaves have pushed up from the lawn and the soil smells fresh, sweet.

It’s noisy, too. In addition to the cooing of mourning doves there’s the sound of water running down hill, the gentle hum of honeybees stretching their wings, the schlook of mud beneath my sneakers.

Now is the time to grab a notebook and document the changing season. Maybe you want to map where the sun rises each morning, or keep a lookout for the first bumblebees. Or maybe you want to document when the first flowers bud and bloom.

There’s a whole field of study that documents the timing of biological events in plants and animals such as flowering, leafing, hibernation, reproduction, and migration. It’s called “phenology”, and scientists involved in this field are interested in the timing of such biological events in relation to changes in season and climate.

You can contribute to this research by getting involved in Project Budburst.

Map the Shifting Season

March is an uncertain month. This morning it was raining – now there’s so much snow falling that the weatherman says we’ll get close to a foot on the ground. Sure the groundhog promised spring soon, but sometimes we need proof that the season is changing.

Here’s a few ideas for mapping the change in the seasons:

Keep a journal. You can write or draw your what you see outside: how many birds show up at the feeder, how long it takes to shovel the driveway, how the color of the sky changes, how deep the snow is and how fast it’s melting.

Keep a photo-journal of pictures showing one particular area over the next few weeks.

If you like to draw treasure maps you might try mapping the change of seasons. For example, where does the snow melt fastest in your neighborhood? Where are the sunny spots, the shady spots, and the places where the squirrels hang out on a snowy day? When spring comes, where does X mark the spot?

What other ways can you collect information about the shifting season?