SIGHTS, SOUNDS AND SMELLS OF SPRING

"Wha-cheer, cheer, whoit, whoit, whoit."  "Peter, peter, peter."  "Fee-bee, fee-bee."  The spring bird calls greet us as we step outside at sunrise.  (The three above are, Northern Cardinal, Tufted Titmouse, and the Black Capped Chickadee - the chickadee sings a fee-bee call when seeking a mate and establishing territory in the spring; it is a slower fee-bee than the Eastern Phoebe's call and Phoebes aren't here yet - no bugs to eat.)

Have you seen the sunrises the last few mornings?  WOW!

In spite of the fact that there is still almost three feet of snow in the yard, our year-round birds know spring is coming and they are intent upon claiming their territory.  It is that in-between time when the winter foraging groups are still intact, but pairs are beginning to break off.  Soon the large groups will disappear to be replaced by pairs looking for nesting material.  Don't throw away that dog fur that is shedding all over your furniture; pick it up and stuff it in the crooks of the tree branches, or better, get a suet feeder and put the fur in the suet feeder!  Soon, the birds will be all over it, picking out fur to take to their new nests.  You can also add bits of thread and people hair.  DO NOT use drier lint - the bits are too small and can cause respiratory problems.

And speaking of sounds...  sitting on the porch the other morning, we could hear at least five different woodpeckers drumming, as well as a few doing the "tap,tap" that means they are searching for food.  Watch one on a tree sometime: "tap, tap", then it will turn its head listen for a moment to see where the bugs are, then "tap, tap -- tap, tap" and it got a mouthful!  The woodpecker's drumming (more rapid, louder, and longer than the tapping) is like the bird song of the chickadee, cardinal and titmouse--the bird is trying to establishing his territory.  We have seen a pair of Pileated woodpeckers around recently; their drumming sounds like jackhammers!


I strapped on the snowshoes and walked down to the pond to get a picture of the open water (novel concept, open water!!!) and startled four black ducks seeking food in that little bit of open water.  These aren't the "American Black Ducks" that we usually have around here, they were ducks that were black: darker black, slimmer, pointed wings and seemed to have a bit of white on the back or rump.  (WHY didn't I have binoculars with me????)

Unidentified ducks that are black

But there is open water!!  Should we wish to, we could even launch a canoe and paddle around the edge for a ways (note the stern of my green canoe sticking out of the snow in the picture below).

Open water & at bottom right, stern of canoe peaking out of the snow

And the air smelled of spring!  For those of you totally done with this snow, there is hope!  But... with the warmth and spring come the ticks.  Sigh...  I have to say, I've enjoyed having a winter that was just plain cold and snowy cuz there was no thought of ticks being around.  However, as soon as it gets above 40 degrees, the ticks start coming out of hibernation, so beware!  Even though there is a lot of snow on the ground, the ticks could be in that tree above your head.  Duck so that you don't brush against the branches and if you've been in the puckerbrush, do a tick check when you come in.  Definitely check your children every night before bed if you live near the woods or the grassy fields.  Ick.  Sorry to dampen the joys of the arrival of spring after this snowy winter.  

Other sights, sounds and smells?  

• The drip of the ice off the roof.
• People walking and running, with and without dogs, and mostly WITHOUT heavy clothes!
• The trees filled with twittering birds in the afternoon!
• Daylight that lasts longer.
• Snow that smushes instead of crunches.
• Muddy puddles and dirty snow.   :-/
• Bushes & mailboxes reappearing from under the snowbanks.
• Childrens' voices outdoors after school.
• Oh, and the skunk just out of hibernation.  That was the smell that greeted Linda the other day as she stepped out of the house before dawn.
• Carol says she knows it is really spring when she can smell the pine sap.  We aren't quite there, yet!

Got any sights, sounds or smells to add to my list?  Leave them in the comments section below.

Even though it seems like spring is really just around the corner, this can be the hardest month for the birds if we don't help them out with our feeders.  Don't stop feeding now!  There are no bugs yet and no seeds for them to find.  They need us to continue feeding until such time as you are swatting mosquitoes!